\tThe most common character in Chinese is \u7684 (de). That’s because \u7684 is used all the time to mark possession. That means that it’s used to talk about things belonging to other things, or to attach qualities to things.<\/p>\n
\t\u7684 is extremely versatile in Chinese. Pretty much any relationship where one thing belongs to another, or is the property of another, can be described with \u7684.<\/p>\n
\t\u7684 is kind of equivalent to ’s (apostrophe s) in English. It goes between two things to indicate possession. But it’s used very widely to attach any kind of quality or possession.<\/p>\n
\tSome examples:<\/p>\n
\t\u8fd9\u662f\u4f60\u7684\u3002
\tZhè shì n\u01d0de.
\tThis is yours.
\t\u90a3\u662f\u5c0f\u674e\u7684\u4e66\u3002
\tNà shì Xi\u01ceo L\u01d0 de sh\u016b.
\tThat is Xiao Li's book.
\t\u8fd9\u662f\u6211\u7684\u7535\u8bdd\u53f7\u7801\u3002
\tZhè shì w\u01d2de diànhuà hàom\u01ce.
\tThis is my phone number.
\t\u8fd9\u662f\u4ed6\u4eec\u7684\u623f\u5b50\u3002
\tZhè shì t\u0101mende fángzi.
\tThis is their house.
\t\u8fd9\u6761\u88e4\u5b50\u662f\u9ed1\u8272\u7684\u3002
\tZhè tiáo kùzi shì h\u0113isè de.
\tThese trousers are black.
\t\u5979\u662f\u4e00\u4e2a\u5f88\u91cd\u8981\u7684\u4eba\u3002
\tT\u0101 shì y\u012bgè h\u011bn zhòngyào de rén.
\tShe is a very important person.
\tYou might want to have a look at a more challenging example sentence for \u7684. Don’t worry if this is beyond your ability at the moment, though:<\/p>\n
\t\u6211\u4eca\u5929\u5b66\u7684\u4e1c\u897f\u5f88\u6709\u610f\u601d\u3002
\tW\u01d2 j\u012bnti\u0101n xué de d\u014dngxi h\u011bn y\u01d2uyìsi.
\tThe things I have learnt today are very interesting.
\tThe main point to remember is that \u7684 can attach pretty much anything to anything else. You’ll get more used to it the more you read and listen to Chinese.<\/p>\n