Chinese Sentences




Definition: People can define a sentence as a grammatical unit that is composed by one or more clauses.

The structure of a Chinese sentence is generally the same that a phrase. A Chinese sentence can be divided in different parts, each part play a different grammatical role in the sentence.

The most common elements of a Chinese sentence are:

Subject: Generally, The subject comes at the beginning of the sentence; it’s followed by the predicate part. Of course, the subject is the theme of the statement.

Example:
  • My mother will travel on May.
  • 我的母親將前往五月.
  • Wǒ de mǔqīn jiāng qiánwǎng wǔ yuè.

  • The dog of Ms. Wong is very cute.
  • 黃女士的狗很可愛.
  • Huáng nǚshì dì gǒu hěn kěài

Predicate: This part states the subject.

Examples:
  • Mary and John like to eat chocolate cake.
  • 瑪麗和約翰喜歡吃巧克力蛋糕.
  • Mǎlì hé yuēhàn xǐhuan chī qiǎokèlì dàngāo.

  • He speaks Chinese language very well.
  • 他講中文非常好.
  • Ta kōjū bun hijō kō.

A Chinese language has some types of sentences these are:

  • Interrogative sentences: These sentences are composed by using 吗 - (Ma) or 没有 - (Méiyǒu) at the end of a declarative sentence or a simple sentence.

    • Examples:
    • Has she finished her homework?
    • 有她完成功課吗？
    • Yǒu tā wánchéng gōngkè ma?

    • Do you want this apple?
    • 你想這個蘋果吗?
    • Nǐ xiǎng zhège píngguǒ ma?

    • Have they lost their wallets?
    • 又失去了自己的錢包没有？
    • Yòu shīqù le zìjǐ de qiánbāo méiyǒu?

    • Does Mary come to dinner?
    • 瑪利亞來到吃飯没有?
    • Mǎ lì yǎ lái dào chīfàn méiyǒu?

  • Declarative Sentences: This kind of sentence is just the common sentence composed by Subject + Verb + Complement.

    • Examples:
    • Mary likes to sing sad songs.
    • 瑪麗喜歡唱悲傷的歌.
    • Mǎlì xǐhuan chàng bēishāng de gē.

    • They don't know math as well as we.
    • 他們不知道數學以及我們.
    • Tāmen bù zhīdào shùxué yǐjí wǒmen.

    • China is a global leader country.
    • 中國是全球領先的國家.
    • Zhōngguó shì quánqiú lǐngxiān de guójiā.

    • Chinese people like to eat rice.
    • 中國人喜歡吃米飯.
    • Zhōngguó rén xǐhuan chī mǐfàn.

  • Negative Sentences: These sentences are formed by placing 没 - (Méi) or 没有 - (Méiyǒu) in the front of the main verb in the sentence.

    Examples:
    • She doesn't know the answer.
    • 她没知道答案.
    • Tā méi zhīdào dáàn.

    • Mary and Taylor don't dance together.
    • 瑪麗和泰勒没一起跳舞.
    • Mǎlì hé tàilēi méi yīqǐ tiàowǔ.

    • He doesn't attend to Chinese language class.
    • 他没有參加中文學習班.
    • Tā méiyǒu cānjiā zhōngwén xuéxí bān.

    • We don't like this kind of food.
    • 我們没有喜歡這種食物.
    • Wǒmen méiyǒu xǐhuan zhè zhǒng shíwù.


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Chinese Grammar
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