Chinese Sentence Structure [Complete Guide 2021]

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Sentence structures are important: without grasping them, you won’t have a solid foundation for your foreign language knowledge. Sentence structures vary from language to language. Fortunately, Chinese sentence structure is similar to English. This article will help you get to grips with them.

 

Simple Sentence Pattern

Chinese sentence structure: sentence pattern

Chinese, like English, is classified as an SVO (subject-verb-object) language, so its basic sentence patterns won’t be too difficult to master. Within the SVO framework, the simplest sentence patterns are as follows:

  • Subject + Verb 

我同意。

wǒ tóngyì

I agree.

  • Subject + Verb + Object

我想你。

wǒ xiǎng nǐ

I miss you.

  • Subject + Noun

明天雷阵雨。

míngtiān léizhènyǔ

A thunderstorm tomorrow.

  • Subject + Adjective

 妈妈(很)忙。

māmā (hěn) máng

Mom is very busy.

房子(比较)大。

fángzi (bǐjiào) dà

The house is relatively big.

⚠ Note that the Subject + Adjective pattern needs an adverb, such or 很, or 比较.

 

Take a look at the following chart for more examples. 

S + V + O  S + V  S + Adj S + N
你吃饭。 我放弃(了)。 她(比较)漂亮。 今天星期五。
nǐ chīfàn wǒ fàngqìle tā (bǐjiào) piàoliang jīntiān xīngqíwǔ
You eat. I gave up. She is more pretty. Today is Friday.
我爱你。 我走(了)。 房子(很)大。 右边火车站。
wǒ ài nǐ wǒ zǒule fángzi (hěn) dà  yòubiān huǒchē zhàn
I love you. I left. The house is very big. The railway station is on the right
她说中文。 你们看! 妈妈(很)开心。 明天国庆节。
tā shuō zhōngwén nǐmen kàn māmā (hěn) kāixīn míngtiān guóqìng jié
She speaks Chinese. Look! Mom is very happy. Tomorrow is National Day.

 

Chinese Sentence structure: Components

sentence components

Every sentence should contain at least one subject and one predicate (e.g. SV, SAdj, and SN), and other components can be added to express more complex meanings. In Chinese, there are six sentence components:

  • Subject 主语 (zhǔ yǔ): can be a person or a thing.
  • Predicate 谓语 (wèi yǔ): most of the time the predicate is a verb, but sometimes it can be an adjective, a noun, a noun phrase, or a numeral-measure word
  • Object 宾语 (bīn yǔ): a noun governed by a verb.
  • Attributive 定语 (dìng yǔ): modifies a noun, a pronoun or a noun phrase, which should be put before the noun or pronoun
  • Adverbial 状语 (zhuàng yǔ): modifies or qualifies an adjective or a verb expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc., which comes before the adjective or the verb.
  • Complement 补语 (bǔ yǔ): completes the meaning of the predicate and provides additional information associated with the predicate, such as degree, result, direction, time duration or possibility. The main point in terms of word order is that they occur after the verb.

Examples:

Attributive Subject Adverbial Predicate Complement Attributive Object
衣服。
mǎi yīfu
I buy clothes.
正在 衣服。
zhèngzài mǎi yīfu
I am buying clothes.
正在 一件红色(的) 衣服。
zhèngzài mǎi yī jiàn hóngsè (de) yīfu
I am buying a red dress.
已经 那件 衣服(了)。
yǐjīng mǎi hǎo nà jiàn yīfu(le)
I have already bought that nice dress.
这件 衣服 已经 干净(了)。
zhè jiàn yīfu yǐjīng gānjìng(le)
This dress has been washed.
旁边(的) 教室 出来 他(的) 笑声。
pángbiān (de) jiàoshì chuán chūlái tā (de) xiào shēng
Her laughter came from the classroom next to her.
有(的) 学生 现在 想(得) 太简单。
yǒu (de) xuéshēng xiànzài xiǎng (de) tài jiǎndān
Some students think simply now.
小明 激动(地) 说(了) 好多 话。
Xiǎomíng jīdòng (de) shuō(le) hǎoduō huà
Xiaoming said a lot of things excitedly.

⚠ Note that the above six components don’t include function words, such as 了, 着, 过, 的, 地, 得, etc.

 

Exercise:

excercise

Please mark all components of each of the following sentences. Highlight to see the answer.

  • 勤奋的哥哥在中国学过三年中文。

qínfèn dí gēge zài zhōngguó xuéguò sān nián zhōngwén

My diligent brother learned Chinese for three years in China.

⇒ “勤奋”— Attributive; “哥哥”— Subject; “在中国” — Adverbial; “学” — Predicate; “过” and “三年” — Complement; “中文” — Object.

  • 中国的风景非常吸引我。

Zhōngguó de fēngjǐng fēicháng xīyǐn wǒ

The view in China attracts me a lot.

“中国” — Attributive; “风景” — Subject; “非常” — Adverbial; “吸引” — Predicate; “我” — Object.

  • 他拿出来一张纸。

tā ná chūlái yī zhāng zhǐ

He took out a piece of paper.

“他” — Subject; “拿” — Predicate; “出来” — Complement; “一张” — Attributive; “纸” — Object.

  • 我妹妹今年考上大学

wǒ mèimei jīnnián kǎo shàng dàxuéle

My sister went to college this year.

⇒ “我” — Attributive; “妹妹” — Subject; “今年” — Adverbial; “考” — Predicate; “上” — Complement; “大学” — Object.

 

Chinese Word Order

Learn Chinese Word Order
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In Chinese, one sentence can have different types of adverbials that express time, place, or manner of action, as well as multiple attributives or complements. How to deal with the word order of the more complicated structure?

# Time: a time word that is always adverbial in Chinese sentence has two positions: at the beginning of the sentence or after the subject. You will never see it appearing at the end of the sentence.

Subject + Time + Predicate + Object

Subject Adverbial (Time) Predicate (Verb)  Object
今天 衣服。
jīntiān yīfu
I wash clothes today.
每天 篮球。
měitiān lánqiú
He plays basketball every day.

Time + Subject + Predicate + Object

Adverbial (Time) Subject Predicate (Verb) Object
周二 妈妈 会。
zhōu’èr  māma kāi huì
Mom will have a meeting on Tuesday.
明年 小花 幼儿园。
míngnián Xiǎohuā shàng yòu’éryuán
Xiaohua will go to kindergarten next year.

# Duration: duration is considered as the time measure complement that should be put after the predicate (verb or verb phrase).

Subject + Time + Predicate + Duration + Object

Subject Adverbial (Time) Predicate (Verb) Complement (Duration) Object
今天 看(了) 三个小时 电视。
jīntiān kàn(le) sān gè xiǎoshí diànshì
I watched TV for three hours today.
每天 两个小时 篮球。
měitiān liǎng gè xiǎoshí lánqiú
He plays basketball for two hours a day.
哥哥 去年 学(了) 三个月 中文。
gēge qùnián xué(le) sān gè yuè zhōngwén
My brother studied Chinese for three months last year.
小花 周天 听(了) 一天 歌。
Xiǎohuā zhōu tiān tīng(le) yītiān
Xiaohua listened to music for a day on Sunday.

# Place: generally, the place word is preceded by “在”, such as “在中国/zài zhōngguó/in China”, “在桌子上/zài zhuōzi shàng/on the table”. It is also the adverbial in a sentence, which should be placed between the subject and the predicate. If there is a time word in the sentence, the place word should be after the time word.

Subject + Time + Place + Predicate + Object

Subject Adverbial Predicate (Verb) Object
Time (When) Place (Where)
今天 在上海 看了 比赛。
jīntiān zài shànghǎi kàn(le) bǐsài
I watched the game in Shanghai today.
每天 在体育场 篮球。
měitiān zài tǐyùchǎng lánqiú
He plays basketball in the stadium every day.
哥哥 去年 在中国 学了 中文。
gēge qùnián zài zhōngguó xué(le) zhōngwén
My brother learned Chinese in China last year.
小花 周天 在客厅 电视
Xiǎohuā zhōu tiān zài kètīng kàn diànshì
Xiaohua was watching TV in the living room on Sunday.

However, there are some exceptions: place words should come after such verbs as 留/liú/stay, 放/fàng/put, 住/zhù/live, 装/zhuāng/pack, 关/guān/be enclosed, 坐/zuò/sit, 站/zhàn/stand, 躺/tǎng/lie: 妈妈住在加拿大。/ māma zhù zài jiānádà / Mom lives in Canada.

# Manner: it indicates the manner of action. Most of these words or phrases are adverbs, so the placement is optional, but they usually precede the verb.

Subject + Time + Place + Manner + Predicate + Object

Subject Adverbial Predicate (Verb) Object
Time (When) Place (Where) Manner (How)
今天 在上海 激动(地) 看(了) 一场比赛。
jīntiān zài shànghǎi jīdòng (de) kàn(le) yī chǎng bǐsài
I excitedly watched the game in Shanghai today.
每天 在体育场 高兴(地) 篮球。
měitiān zài tǐyùchǎng gāoxìng (de) lánqiú
He plays basketball happily in the stadium every day.
哥哥 去年 在中国 孤独(地) 中文。
gēge qùnián zài zhōngguó gūdú (de) xué  zhōngwén
My brother learned Chinese alone in China last year.
小花 周天 在客厅 乖乖(地) 电视
Xiǎohuā zhōu tiān zài kètīng guāiguāi (de) kàn diànshì
Xiaohua was quiet watching TV in the living room on Sunday.

# Instrument: it indicates the instrument of action, which is preceded by “用/yòng/use” and comes before the verb. 

Subject + Time + Place + Instrument + Predicate + Object

Subject Adverbial Predicate (Verb) Object
Time (When) Place (Where) Instrument (How)
刚刚 在厨房 用刀子 菜。
gānggāng  zài chúfáng yòng dāozi qiē  cài
I cut vegetables with a knife in the kitchen just now.
昨天 在家 用洗衣机 衣服。
zuótiān zài jiā yòng xǐyījī  yīfu
He used the washing machine to wash clothes at home yesterday.

# Target: it indicates the aim of action, and is usually put before the verb because of its adverbial function.

Subject + Time + Place + Instrument + Target + Predicate + Object

Subject Adverbial Predicate (Verb) Object
Time (When) Place (Where) Instrument (How) Target (To whom)
刚刚 在厨房 用刀子 帮妈妈 菜。
gānggāng  zài chúfáng yòng dāozi bāng māma qiē  cài
I help mom cut vegetables with a knife in the kitchen today.
昨天 在家 用洗衣机 给女朋友 衣服。
zuótiān zài jiā yòng xǐyījī  gěi nǚ péngyǒu yīfu
He used the washing machine to wash clothes for his girlfriend at home yesterday.

# Multiple attributives: sometimes nouns can have multiple attributives. They should be used in the following order:

+ Possessives such as “your,” “her,” or “Annie’s.” 

+ Demonstrative pronouns 

+ Number 

+ Measure word 

+ Any adjectives that you want to use to describe the noun 

+ The noun or noun phrase

Attributives Noun
Possessives Demonstrative pronouns Number Measure word Adjectives
妈妈 红色(的) 裙子
māma sān  tiáo hóngsè (de)  qúnzi
Mom’s three dresses
他(的) 电脑
tā (de) zhè  tái  jiù  diànnǎo
His five old computers

 

Word order in the question sentence

Learn Chinese

In Chinese, the word order of a question sentence is much easier if you have already mastered the basic Chinese sentence structure. The main point is to place a question word in the place of the thing you want to ask about and there is nothing that needs to be rearranged.

为了谁
中文?

Subject

Adverbial

Predicate Complement Object
Who when (time) where (place) how (manner) how (instrument) to whom (target) do for how long (Time duration) what
去年 在中国 耐心(地) 学(了) 三个月 中文
什么时候 在中国 学(了) 中文 ?
去年 在哪里 中文 ?
怎么 中文 ?
用什么 中文 ?
去年 在中国 学(了) 多久 中文 ?
去年 在中国 做(了) 什么 ?

 

Topic-prominent Language 

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Unlike English (and similarly to Japanese and Korean), Chinese is a topic-prominent language, which means that sometimes the subject of a sentence is different from its topic. 

Topic Subject Adverbial Predicate (Verb)  Complement Object
when where degree result duration
这个男生, 欣赏 他。
I admire this boy very much.
饭, 已经 过(了)。
I have eaten the meal.
这件衣服, 妈妈 当时 喜欢。
Mom liked this dress very much back then.
这幅画, 爸爸 在家 画(了) 三天。
Dad painted this picture for three days at home.

As shown above, the topic precedes the subject and is separated from it with a comma. This sentence pattern is great for emphasizing certain information.

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