Mandarin Chinese word order

As mentioned above, basic Mandarin word order is SVO: subject + verb + object. Remember that this is just what’s typical in Mandarin. Different word orders can certainly appear.One major reason for this is that the idea of a “subject” isn’t as clear in Mandarin as it is in many other languages. The subject is often omitted, and Mandarin is more interested in the topic of a sentence; it’s a topic-prominent language.Still, SVO is a good place to start. Here are some examples of basic Mandarin SVO sentences, colour coded for subject (red), verb (green) and object (blue).我爱你。 Wǒ ài nǐ. I love you.他喜欢猫。 Tā xǐhuan māo. He likes cats.你吃面条。 Nǐ chī miàntiáo. You eat noodles. 他们去公园。 Tāmen qù gōngyuán. They go to the park. As you can see from the colour coding, the word order of these basic sentences is the same in Mandarin and English.

Auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs are also known as helper verbs. English is full of them, and so is Mandarin. In Mandarin, auxiliary verbs are placed before the main verb just as they are in English. Some more examples, with the auxiliary verb colour coded in purple. 她会说中文。 Tā huì shuō zhōngwén. She can speak Chinese. 他们可以帮助你。 Tāmen kěyǐ bāngzhù nǐ. They can help you.

Negation

English is a bit funny about negation. It doesn’t like negating main verbs, so if there isn’t an auxiliary verb it will insert one and negate that. In Mandarin you can just negate the main verb (negation colour coded in pink): 我不喜欢他。 Wǒ bù xǐhuan tā. I don’t like him. 他们不吃肉。 Tāmen bù chī ròu. They don’t eat meat. 她不喝咖啡。 Tā bù hē kāfēi. She doesn’t drink coffee. When there is an auxiliary verb, Mandarin prefers to negate that. Some examples: 他们不会说中文。 Tāmen bù huì shuō zhōngwén. They can not speak Chinese. 她不要去。 Tā bùyào qù. She will not go. 我不应该告诉你。 Wǒ bù yìng gāi gàosu nǐ. I should not tell you. Note how in English the negation occurs after what’s being negated, whereas in Chinese it comes before. This is because of a general rule in Chinese: modifiers precede what they modify .

Common conjunctions

和 (hé): and – 和 can only link words and phrases, not sentences Example:

她喜欢茶和咖啡。

tā xǐhuan chá hé kāfēi

She likes tea and coffee.

或 (huò) : or – 或 can only link words and phrases, not sentences 或者 (huòzhě): or – 或者 can be used with words, phrases and sentences 还是 (háishì) : or – 还是 used in questions Examples:

我想买一瓶橙汁或一瓶苹果汁。	wǒ xiǎng mǎi yī píng chéngzhī huò yī píng píngguǒzhī.	I would like to buy a bottle of orange juice or apple juice.
我想出去跳舞或者在家看电视.	wǒ xiǎng chūqù tiàowǔ huòzhě zài jiā kàn diànshì.	I would like to go dancing or to stay at home and watch TV.
你喝茶还是咖啡?	nǐ hē chá háishì kāfēi?	Do you drink tea or coffee?

如果 (rúguǒ): if

如果我有钱，我就买一辆新车。

rúguǒ wǒ yǒuqián, wǒ jiù mǎi yī liàng xīn chē

If I had money, I would buy a new car.

可是 (kěshì): but

我喜欢听流行音乐，可是我朋友喜欢听古典音乐。

wǒ xǐhuān tīng liúxíng yīnyuè, kěshì wǒ péngyou xǐhuān tīng gǔdiǎn yīnyuè.

I like listening to pop music, but my friend likes listening to classical music.

因为 (yīnwèi): because

我学中文，因为我要去中国旅行。

wǒ xué zhōngwén, yīnwèi wǒ yào qù zhōngguó lǚxíng.

I am studing Chinese because I want to go and travel in China.

所以 (suǒyǐ): therefore

她太忙了, 所以不出去跳舞。

tā tài máng le, suǒyǐ bù chūqù tiàowǔ.

She is very busy, therefore she can’t go out dancing.

虽然 (suīrán): although

虽然他很忙, 他还是邀请我们去他家。

suīrán tā hěn máng, tā háishì yāoqǐng wǒmen qù tā jiā.

Although he is very busy, he has invited us to his home.

除了 … 以外 (chúle … yǐwài): except

除了北京以外，我没去过其他地方。

chúle běijīng yǐwài, wǒ méi qù guò qítā dìfang.

Apart from Beijing I have not been to any other places.

就 (jiù): 就 is often used to create a link between the idea in the preceeding clause and the current clause.

如果你想看电视，我们就呆在家里。

rúguǒ nǐ xiǎng kàn diànshi, wǒmen jiǔ dāi zài jiā lǐ.

If you want to watch TV, we can stay at home.

Adverbials: time, manner and place

The structure is getting a little more complicated now. Words that add information about the verb such as time, manner and place are known as adverbials. In Mandarin these nearly always come before the verb. This is different to English which tends to put them all over the place depending on the situation. Another difference between the two languages is that Mandarin has a specific order for this extra information: time first, then manner and then place. This sequence is a general rule. Some examples with adverbials in turquoise: 我明天要去上海。 Wǒ míngtiān yào qù shànghǎi. I will go to Shanghai tomorrow. 他慢慢地吃饭。 Tā màn man de chī fàn. He eats slowly. 你在这里等我。 Nǐ zài zhèlǐ děng wǒ. Wait for me here. 我今天下午用电邮发。 Wǒ jīntiān xiàwǔ yòng diànyóu fā. I will send it by email this afternoon. 我们意外地在箱子里找到了一只猫。 Wǒmen yìwàide zài xiāngzi lǐ zhǎodàole yī zhī māo. We unexpectedly found a cat in the box. 我上个星期匆匆地在我的房间里看了四本书。 Wǒ shàng gè xīngqí cōngcōngde zài wǒ de fángjiān lǐ kànle sì běnshū. Last week I quickly read four books in my room.

Complements

Complements are a tricky topic in grammar. Mandarin has a few kinds of special complements that come after the verb: directional, degree, result and potential. The grammar of these is pretty complicated. The main point in terms of word order is that they occur after the verb. Some examples with complements marked in orange: 我会下来。 Wǒ huì xiàlái. I will come down. 他说得很好。 Tā shuō de hěn hǎo. He speaks well. 我看到了他。 Wǒ kàndàole tā. I saw him. 她听得懂。 Tā tīng dé dǒng. She understands.

A note on adjectives

Adjectives are placed before what they modify, as in English. This follows the general Chinese rule of modifiers preceding what they modify.

Some example sentences with adjectives colour coded in turquoise (as they are modifiers just like adverbials): 所有人都喜欢大的比萨。 Suǒyǒu rén dōu xǐhuan dà de bǐsà. Everyone likes bigpizzas. 瘦的男人杀死了胖的男人。 Shòu de nánrén shā sǐle pàng de nánrén. The thin mankilled the fat man. 那辆红色的汽车撞到了蓝色的卡车。 Nà liàng hóngsè de qìchē zhuàng dàole lánsè de kǎchē. That red car hit the blue van.

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