Tag: Chinese Grammar

The verb 在 (zài) expresses existence in a place, similar to the English "to be located in".

Chinese particle 吧 (ba) can be used to make suggestions or soften the tone of commands.吧 makes the suggestion sound more tentative and more polite.

Chinese particle 呢(ne) can be used to ask reciprocal questions, also known as "bounce back" questions. 呢 can also be used to ask questions such as "what about" or "how about".

In Chinese, possession is marked with the particle 的 (de). This particle works in a similar way to 's (apostrophe s) in English, but is used much more widely.

Today we will introduce Chinese grammar: N1+N2. Sometimes you don't need 的 (de) to indicate possession. Normally possession is expressed with the particle 的. However, in some cases you can omit 的.

Chinese Rhetorical questions with "nandao" Rhetorical questions use the form of a question to emphasize a point, and as such the question does not require an answer. A typical English rhetorical question might be: "you're not saying you actually believe him are you?". In Chinese, 难道 (nándào) is used as a marker to form this kind of question. Note that 难道 can only be used for rhetorical questions which could be answered with yes or no, and generally end with 吗.

This is one of the simplest of all Chinese particles, one which you probably encountered in Chapter 1 of your textbook. The mother of all Newbie conundrums: 了.