Grammar Basics

This page provides an overview of the main features of Chinese grammar.

1. SVO word order

As in English, the basic word order in Chinese is SVO: subject + verb + object.

2. Modifier precedes modified

In Chinese, nominal modifiers come before the nouns or pronouns they modify. For example, adjectives, relative clauses, and possessives all precede the noun.

Verbal modifiers come before verbs and adjectives they modify. For example, modal verbs come before the verbs they modify, and adverbs come before the verbs or adjectives they modify.

3. Types of predicates

In Chinese, there are three types of predicates: verbal predicates, adjectival predicates, and nominal predicates.

Verbal predicates are verbs used as the predicate of a sentence, as in English.

Adjectival predicates are adjectives used as the predicate of a sentence. Unlike in English, they do not need to be preceded by the verb ‘to be’.

Nominal predicates are certain nouns, especially those referring to age, time, and dates, that can function as the predicate of a sentence. Unlike in English, they do not need to be preceded by a verb.

4. Topic-comment structure

When the object of an action is already known to both speakers, it can appear at the beginning of the sentence as the topic. The rest of the sentence then functions as the comment about it. In these cases, the word order is OSV: object + subject + verb.

5. Logical-temporal sequence principle

Unlike in English, information in a Chinese sentence is often arranged according to the natural time order of events. For example, imagine that Mark travels from Rome to Beijing by plane to study Chinese. In real life, he first boards the plane, then the plane departs from Rome, arrives in Beijing, and finally Mark studies Chinese. This sequence of events is reflected in the order of elements in the Chinese sentence.

This principle also applies when clauses are joined by conjunctions. For example, in causative sentences, the cause (sickness) normally comes before the consequence (absence from school), whereas English allows greater flexibility in the order of clauses.

This principle also applies to all verb-complement constructions. For example, the result complement is placed after the verb because the action that must occur before its result becomes visible; the degree complement is placed after the verb because the action must occur before its degree or intensity can be perceived; the direction complement is placed after the verb because the movement happens first, and only then does the direction become clear. In the same way, the quantity, duration, and frequency of occurrence of an action become identifiable only after it takes place, which is why quantitative complements are also placed after the verb.