Category: Chinese Grammar

One of the most often confused words are 后来 (hòulái) and 然后 (ránhòu). They are similar on the surface, meaning something like "and then," but their usage is fairly different.

刚 (gāng) and 刚才 (gāngcái) are similar, but they have somewhat different uses. Both Come Before the Verb, But Have Different Emphasis

对 (duì) and 对于 (duìyú) maybe be confused by Chinese learners as they advance into more complex grammar. This article will help in distinguishing the the two!

When describing spatial relationships, the words 之间 (zhījiān) and 中间 (zhōngjiān) will come in handy to express the concepts of "between" and "among." Both have a few particular uses, though.

When describing others, we can use the word 人家 (rénjia) or 别人 (biéren). But 人家 also has other grammatical uses, which we will explore in this article.

Both 还是 (háishì) and 或者 (huòzhě) mean “or” and are used to present a choice. However, 还是 can only be used when asking a question and 或者 can only be used in a declarative sentence.