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Getting Grammatical (语法)Who, What, When, Where Posted by on Apr 15, 2010 in Uncategorized, Vocabulary

Many followers of this Blog have requested some basic grammar rules with explanation, so today lets focus on the basics of a sentence:

Who (谁 shéi)
What (什么 shénme)
When (什么时候 shénme shíhou)
Where (在哪儿 zàinǎr)
*Note Why is not among this list, because it is a little more complicated in terms of grammar*

Let’s start with a basic sentence in English. Someone asks you what you’ve been up to lately and your response is: “Yesterday afternoon, I went to see a movie with my friends at a New York Cinema”.

Now in English, there are a variety of ways to rephrase this sentence, as you can move the subject, verb and object all throughout. Examples:” I went to see a movie at New York Cinema, yesterday afternoon, with my friends” or “Yesterday, at a New York Cinema, my friends and I saw a movie” etc…

But in Chinese, the rules of grammar (thankfully) are much more fixed and simplistic, often following a prescribed order.

The basic order is the following:

When (this includes sequentially, the Date, part of day (afternoon, everning, morning), and then time respectively), Where (location), Who (Subject), and What (verb).

To give a Chinglish format: Yesterday afternoon at 7pm, in a New York Cinema, My friends and I, saw a movie.

Now for the Chinese: 昨天下午在纽约电影院上,我跟朋友们看电影.

Here’s the pinyin: zuótiān xiàwǔ,zài niǔ yuē diànyǐng yuàn shang, wǒ gēn péngyoumén kàn diànyǐng

Here 昨天下午 is the when, 在纽约电影院上 is the where (在。。。上 is a pattern for at, in, on the premises/location), 我跟朋友们 is the who (subject) and lastly 看电影 is the what (verb).

If you follow this order, you will be grammatically correct in your Chinese. However, I will note that there are some exceptions to the rule (such as the subject 我 can precede the when and where). If you are a beginner or intermediate Chinese learner, however, I recommend sticking to this pattern until you are fully comfortable with it. Please feel free to make your own sentences.

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About the Author: Stephen

Writer and blogger for all things China related. Follow me on twitter: @seeitbelieveit -- My Background: Fluent Mandarin speaker with 3+ years working, living, studying and teaching throughout the mainland. Student of Kung Fu and avid photographer and documentarian.


Comments:

  1. dk:

    very good explanation thanx for the pinyin and hanzi all on the right time.


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