Tag: Chinese Grammar

The verb 姓 (xìng) literally means "to be surnamed" or "to have the surname." You can use 姓 to tell someone your own surname, or that of someone else.

The verb 去 means "to go," and is an easy way to talk about going to places.Structure
With just a Place. Notice that you don’t need a word to express "to."
 Subject + 去 + Place

The verb 叫 (jiào) can seem a little weird to beginners. So it gets its own grammar point!The verb 叫 means both "to call" and "to be called".

总是 （zǒngshì）and 老是 （lǎoshì) have the same meaning. Both can be interchanged in the same sentence.

Expressing "all along" with 一直 (yīzhí) is pretty easy. Character for character, it literally means "one straight," and it’s sort of like saying "constantly."

有 (yǒu) can mean "to have," but it’s also used to express existence.Structure
The verb 有, "to have", can also be used to express existence. This is similar to saying "there is" or "there are" in English.

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".