Chinese grammar

In Chinese, the concept of words and the boundaries between them is not always transparent,[lower-alpha 2] and the Chinese script does not use spaces between words. Grammatically, some strings of characters behave as single words in some contexts, but are separable in others. Many English intransitive verbs are translated by verb+noun compounds, such as tiàowǔ (跳舞 literally "to jump a dance", meaning "to dance"); such items may be regarded as single lexical words, although the two parts can become separated by (for example) aspect markers, and in fact they generally behave grammatically as a verb plus an object. Sometimes the behavior of such compounds is anomalous, however; for instance guānxīn (关心; 關心, "to be concerned about") behaves as an inseparable word when the perfective particle le is attached, although it is separable in the phrase guān shénme xīn (关什么心; 關什麼心, literally "concern what about", meaning "to be concerned about what").[1]

Chinese morphemes, or minimum units of meaning, are mostly monosyllabic. Syllables, and thus in most cases morphemes, are represented as a rule by single characters. Some words consist of single syllables, but many words are formed by compounding two or more monosyllabic morphemes. These may be either free or bound – that is, they may or may not also be able to stand independently. Most two-syllable compound nouns have the head on the right, while in compound verbs the head is usually on the left.[2] Loanwords from other languages may be polysyllabic; they are usually written using selected pre-existing characters that have the right phonetic values, for example, shāfā (沙发; 沙發, "sofa") is written with the characters shā (沙, originally "sand") and fā (发; 發, originally "to send/to issue"). Native disyllabic morphemes such as zhīzhū (蜘蛛, "spider") have consonant alliteration.

Many monosyllabic words have alternative disyllabic forms with virtually the same meaning, such as dàsuàn (大蒜, literally "big garlic") for suàn (蒜, "garlic"). Many disyllabic nouns are produced by adding the suffix zi (子, originally meaning "child") to a monosyllabic word or morpheme. There is a strong tendency for monosyllables to be avoided in certain positions; for example, a disyllabic verb will not normally be followed by a monosyllabic object. This may be connected with the preferred metrical structure of the language.

Chinese, like English, is classified as an SVO (subject–verb–object) language. Transitive verbs precede their objects in typical simple clauses, while the subject precedes the verb. For example:[4]

• 他(tā) 喝(hē) 酒(jiǔ)。
  • Literal: He drink alcohol.
  • Translated: He drinks alcohol.

Chinese can also be considered a topic-prominent language:[5] there is a strong preference for sentences that begin with the topic, usually "given" or "old" information; and end with the comment, or "new" information. Certain modifications of the basic subject–verb–object order are permissible and may serve to achieve topic-prominence. In particular, a direct or indirect object may be moved to the start of the clause to create topicalization. It is also possible for an object to be moved to a position in front of the verb for emphasis.[6]

Another type of sentence is what has been called an ergative structure,[7] where the apparent subject of the verb can move to object position; the empty subject position is then often occupied by an expression of location. Compare locative inversion in English. This structure is typical of the verb yǒu (有, "there is/are"; in other contexts the same verb means "have"), but it can also be used with many other verbs, generally denoting position, appearance or disappearance. An example:

• 院子(yuànzi) 里(lǐ) 停着(tíngzhe) 车(chē)。 [院子裡停著車。/ 院子裏停着車。]
  • Literal: Courtyard in park vehicle.
  • Translation: In the courtyard is parked a vehicle.

Chinese is also to some degree a pro-drop or null-subject language, meaning that the subject can be omitted from a clause if it can be inferred from the context.[8] In the following example, the subject of the verbs for "hike" and "camp" is left to be inferred—it may be "we", "I", "you", "she", etc.

• 今天(jīntiān) 爬(pá) 山(shān)， 明天(míngtiān) 露(lù) 营(yíng)。 [今天爬山，明天露營。]
  • Literal: Today climb mountain, tomorrow outdoors camp.
  • Translated: Today hike up mountains, tomorrow camp outdoors.

In the next example the subject is omitted and the object is topicalized by being moved into subject position, to form a passive-type sentence. For passive sentences with a marker such as 被; bèi, see the passive section.

• 饭(fàn) 做(zuò) 好(hǎo) 了(le)。[飯做好了。]
  • Literal: Food make complete [perfective-aspect].
  • Translation: The food has been made or the food is ready.

Adverbs and adverbial phrases that modify the verb typically come after the subject but before the verb, although other positions are sometimes possible; see Adverbs and adverbials. For constructions that involve more than one verb or verb phrase in sequence, see Serial verb constructions. For sentences consisting of more than one clause, see Conjunctions.

Chinese nouns and other parts of speech are not generally marked for number, meaning that plural forms are mostly the same as the singular. However, there is a plural marker men (们; 們), which has limited usage. It is used with personal pronouns, as in wǒmen (我们; 我們, "we" or "us"), derived from wǒ (我, "I, me"). It can be used with nouns representing humans, most commonly those with two syllables, like in péngyoumen (朋友们; 朋友們, "friends"), from péngyou (朋友, "friend"). Its use in such cases is optional.[12] It is never used when the noun has indefinite reference, or when it is qualified by a numeral.[13]

The demonstrative pronouns zhè (这; 這, "this"), and nà (那, "that") may be optionally pluralized by the addition of xiē (些), making zhèxiē (这些; 這些, "these") and nàxiē (那些, "those").

The head noun of a noun phrase comes at the end of the phrase; this means that everything that modifies the noun comes before it. This includes attributive adjectives, determiners, quantifiers, possessives, and relative clauses.

Chinese does not have articles as such; a noun may stand alone to represent what in English would be expressed as "the ..." or "a[n] ...". However the word yī (一, "one"), followed by the appropriate classifier, may be used in some cases where English would have "a" or "an". It is also possible, with many classifiers, to omit the yī and leave the classifier on its own at the start of the noun phrase.

The demonstratives are zhè (这; 這, "this"), and nà (那, "that"). When used before a noun, these are often followed by an appropriate classifier (for discussion of classifiers, see Classifiers below and the article Chinese classifiers). However this use of classifiers is optional.[14] When a noun is preceded by a numeral (or a demonstrative followed by a numeral), the use of a classifier or measure word is in most cases considered mandatory. (This does not apply to nouns that function as measure words themselves; this includes many units of measurement and currency.)

The plural marker xiē (些, "some, several"; also used to pluralize demonstratives) is used without a classifier. However jǐ (几; 幾, "some, several, how many") takes a classifier.[15]

For adjectives in noun phrases, see the Adjectives section. For noun phrases with pronouns rather than nouns as the head, see the Pronouns section.

Possessives are formed by adding de (的)—the same particle that is used after relative clauses and sometimes after adjectives—after the noun, noun phrase or pronoun that denotes the possessor.

Chinese relative clauses, like other noun modifiers, precede the noun they modify. Like possessives and some adjectives, they are marked with the final particle de (的 ). A free relative clause is produced if the modified noun following the de is omitted. A relative clause usually comes after any determiner phrase, such as a numeral and classifier. For emphasis, it may come before the determiner phrase.[16]

There is usually no relative pronoun in the relative clause. Instead, a gap is left in subject or object position as appropriate. If there are two gaps—the additional gap being created by pro-dropping—ambiguity may arise. For example, chī de (吃的) may mean "[those] who eat" or "[that] which is eaten". When used alone, it usually means "things to eat".

If the relative item is governed by a preposition in the relative clause, then it is denoted by a pronoun, e.g. tì tā (替他, "for him"), to explain "for whom". Otherwise the whole prepositional phrase is omitted, the preposition then being implicitly understood.

For example sentences, see Relative clause → Mandarin.

Chinese nouns require classifiers called liàngcí (量词; 量詞; 'measure words') in order to be counted. That is, when specifying the amount of a countable noun,[lower-alpha 5] a classifier must be inserted which agrees with the noun. Hence one must say liǎng tóu niú (两头牛; 兩頭牛, "two head of cattle") for "two cows", with tóu being the measure word or classifier. This phenomenon is common in East Asian languages. In English, some words, as in the cited example of "cattle", are often paired with a noun used much like the Chinese measure word. Bottle in "two bottles of wine" or sheet in "three sheets of paper" are further examples. However, certain nouns representing units of measurement, time, or currency are themselves classifiers. These can therefore be counted directly.

Classifiers are generally associated with certain groups of nouns related by meaning, such as tiáo (条; 條) for long, thin objects or animals, like ropes, snakes or fish; bǎ (把) for objects with handles, like knives or umbrellas; or zhāng (张; 張) for flat, sheet-like objects like photographs, or fur. While there are dozens of classifiers, which must be memorized individually for each noun, a majority of words use the general classifier gè (个; 個). Many nouns that are associated with other classifiers can also use gè if the speaker chooses. The classifiers for many nouns appear arbitrary. The word zhuōzi (桌子, "table") is a zhāng noun, probably because a table-top is sheet-like; while yǐzi (椅子, "chair") is a bǎ noun, likely because a chair is moved by lifting something like a handle. Dèngzi (凳子), another word for chair or stool, is a gè noun.

Classifiers are also used optionally after demonstratives, and in certain other situations. See the Noun phrases section, and the article Chinese classifier.

The Chinese personal pronouns are wǒ (我, "I, me"), nǐ (你; 你/妳,[lower-alpha 6] "you"), and tā (他/她/牠/它, "he; him/she; her/it (animals)/it (inanimate objects)". Plurals are formed by adding men (们; 們): wǒmen (我们; 我們, "we, us"), nǐmen (你们; 你們, "you"), tāmen (他们/她们/它们/它们; 他們/她們/牠們/它們, "they/them"). There is also nín (您), a formal, polite word for singular "you". The alternative "inclusive" word for "we/us"—zán (咱) or zá[n]men (咱们; 咱們), referring specifically to the two people "you and I"—is not widely used. The third-person pronouns are not often used for inanimates, with demonstratives used instead.

Possessives are formed with de (的), such as wǒde (我的, "my, mine"), wǒmende (我们的; 我們的, "our[s]"), etc. The de may be omitted in phrases denoting inalienable possession, such as wǒ māma (我妈妈; 我媽媽, "my mom").

The demonstrative pronouns are zhè (这; 這, "this", colloquially pronounced zhèi) and nà (那, "that", colloquially pronounced nèi). They are optionally pluralized by the addition of xiē (些). There is a reflexive pronoun zìjǐ (自己) meaning "oneself, myself, etc.", which can stand alone as an object or a possessive, or may follow a personal pronoun for emphasis. The reciprocal pronoun "each other" can be translated from bǐcǐ (彼此), usually in adverb position. An alternative is hùxiāng (互相, "mutually").

Adjectives can be used attributively, before a noun. The relative marker de (的)[lower-alpha 7] may be added after the adjective, but this is not always required; "black horse" may be either hēi mǎ (黑马; 黑馬) or hēi de mǎ (黑的马; 黑的馬). When multiple adjectives are used, the order "quality/size – shape – color" is followed, although this is not necessary when each adjective is made into a separate phrase with the addition of de.[17]

Gradable adjectives can be modified by words meaning "very", etc.; such modifying adverbs normally precede the adjective, although some, such as jíle (极了; 極了, "extremely"), come after it.

When adjectives co-occur with classifiers, they normally follow the classifier. However, with most common classifiers, when the number is "one", it is also possible to place adjectives like "big" and "small" before the classifier for emphasis. For example yí dà ge xīguā (一大个西瓜; 一大個西瓜, "one big [classifier] watermelon").[15]

Adjectives can also be used predicatively. In this case they behave more like verbs; there is no need for a copular verb in sentences like "he is happy" in Chinese; one may say simply tā gāoxìng (他高兴; 他高興, "he happy"), where the adjective may be interpreted as a verb meaning "is happy". In such sentences it is common for the adjective to be modified by a word meaning "very" or the like; in fact the word hěn (很 , "very") is often used in such cases with gradable adjectives, even without carrying the meaning of "very".

It is nonetheless possible for a copula to be used in such sentences, to emphasize the adjective. In the phrase tā shì gāoxìng le, (他是高兴了; 他是高興了, "he is now truly happy"), shì is the copula meaning "is", and le is the inceptive marker discussed later.[18] This is similar to the cleft sentence construction. Sentences can also be formed in which an adjective followed by de (的) stands as the complement of the copula.

Adverbs and adverbial phrases normally come in a position before the verb, but after the subject of the verb. In sentences with auxiliary verbs, the adverb usually precedes the auxiliary verb as well as the main verb. Some adverbs of time and attitude ("every day", "perhaps", etc.) may be moved to the start of the clause, to modify the clause as a whole. However, some adverbs cannot be moved in this way. These include three words for "often", cháng (常), chángcháng (常常) and jīngcháng (经常; 經常); dōu (都, "all"); jiù (就, "then"); and yòu (又, "again").[19]

Adverbs of manner can be formed from adjectives using the clitic de (地).[lower-alpha 8] It is generally possible to move these adverbs to the start of the clause, although in some cases this may sound awkward, unless there is a qualifier such as hěn (很, "very") and a pause after the adverb.

Some verbs take a prepositional phrase following the verb and its direct object. These are generally obligatory constituents, such that the sentence would not make sense if they were omitted. For example:

• 放(fàng) 本(běn) 书(shū) 在(zài) 桌子(zhuōzi) 上(shàng) [放本書在桌子上]
  • Put the book on the table[20]

There are also certain adverbial "stative complements" which follow the verb. The character dé (得)[lower-alpha 9] followed by an adjective functions the same as the phrase "-ly" in English, turning the adjective into an adverb. The second is hǎo le (好了, "complete"). It is not generally possible for a single verb to be followed by both an object and an adverbial complement of this type, although there are exceptions in cases where the complement expresses duration, frequency or goal.[21] To express both, the verb may be repeated in a special kind of serial verb construction; the first instance taking an object, the second taking the complement. Aspect markers can then appear only on the second instance of the verb.

The typical Chinese word order "XVO", where an oblique complement such as a locative prepositional phrase precedes the verb, while a direct object comes after the verb, is very rare cross-linguistically; in fact, it is only in varieties of Chinese that this is attested as the typical ordering.[22]

Comparative sentences are commonly expressed simply by inserting the standard of comparison, preceded by bǐ (比, "than"). The adjective itself is not modified. The bǐ (比, "than") phrase is an adverbial, and has a fixed position before the verb. See also the section on negation.

If there is no standard of comparison—i.e., a than phrase—then the adjective can be marked as comparative by a preceding adverb bǐjiào (比较; 比較) or jiào (较; 較), both meaning "more". Similarly, superlatives can be expressed using the adverb zuì (最, "most"), which precedes a predicate verb or adjective.

Adverbial phrases meaning "like [someone/something]" or "as [someone/something]" can be formed using gēn (跟), tóng (同) or xiàng (像) before the noun phrase, and yīyàng (一样; 一樣) or nàyàng (那样; 那樣) after it.[25]

The construction yuè ... yuè ... 越...越... can be translated into statements of the type "the more ..., the more ...".

The Chinese copular verb is shì (是). This is the equivalent of English "to be" and all its forms—"am", "is", "are", "was", "were", etc. However, shì is normally only used when its complement is a noun or noun phrase. As noted above, predicate adjectives function as verbs themselves, as does the locative preposition zài (在), so in sentences where the predicate is an adjectival or locative phrase, shì is not required.

For another use of shì, see shì ... [de] construction in the section on cleft sentences. The English existential phrase "there is" ["there are", etc.] is translated using the verb yǒu (有), which is otherwise used to denote possession.

There are on-going debates over whether tense exists in Chinese or not.[26][27]

Chinese does not have grammatical markers of tense. The time at which action is conceived as taking place—past, present, future—can be indicated by expressions of time—"yesterday", "now", etc.—or may simply be inferred from the context. However, Chinese does have markers of aspect, which is a feature of grammar that gives information about the temporal flow of events. There are two aspect markers that are especially commonly used with past events: the perfective-aspect le (了) and the experiential guo (过; 過). Some authors, however, do not regard guo (or zhe; see below) as markers of aspect.[33] Both le and guo immediately follow the verb. There is also a sentence-final particle le, which serves a somewhat different purpose.

The perfective le presents the viewpoint of "an event in its entirety".[34] It is sometimes considered to be a past tense marker, although it can also be used with future events, given appropriate context. Some examples of its use:

• 我(wǒ) 当(dāng) 了(le) 兵(bīng)。 [我當了兵。]
  • Literal: I serve-as LE soldier.
  • Translation: I became a soldier.
    • Using le (了) shows this event that has taken place or took place at a particular time.
• 他(tā) 看(kàn) 了(le) 三(sān) 场(chǎng) 球赛(qiúsài)。 [他看了三場球賽。]
  • Literal: He watch LE three [sports-classifier] ballgames.
  • Translation: He watched three ballgames.
    • This format of le (了) is usually used in a time-delimited context such as "today" or "last week".

The above may be compared with the following examples with guo, and with the examples with sentence-final le given under Particles.

The experiential guo "ascribes to a subject the property of having experienced the event".[35]

• 我(wǒ) 当(dāng) 过(guo) 兵(bīng)。 [我當過兵。]
  • Literal: I serve-as GUO soldier.
  • Translation: I have been a soldier before.
    • This also implies that the speaker no longer is a soldier.
• 他(tā) 看(kàn) 过(guo) 三(sān) 场(chǎng) 球赛(qiúsài)。 [他看過三場球賽。]
  • Literal: He watch GUO three [sports-classifier] ballgames.
  • Translation: He has watched three ballgames up to now.

There are also two imperfective aspect markers: zhèngzài (正在) or zài (在), and zhe (着; 著), which denote ongoing actions or states. Zhèngzài and zài precede the verb, and are usually used for ongoing actions or dynamic events – they may be translated as "[be] in the process of [-ing]" or "[be] in the middle of [-ing]". Zhe follows the verb, and is used mostly for static situations.

• 我(wǒ) [正(zhèng)] 在(zài) 挂(guà) 画(huà)。 [我[正]在掛畫。]
  • Literal: I [in-middle-of] hang pictures
  • Translation: I'm hanging pictures up.
• 墙(qiáng) 上(shàng) 挂(guà) 着(zhe) 一(yì) 幅(fú) 画(huà)。 [牆上掛著一幅畫。]
  • Literal: Wall on hang [ongoing] one [picture-classifier] picture
  • Translation: A picture is hanging on the wall.

Both markers may occur in the same clause, however. For example, tā zhèngzai dǎ [zhe] diànhuà, "he is in the middle of telephoning someone" (他正在打[着]电话; 他正在打[著]電話; 'he [in-middle-of] [verb form] [ongoing] telephone').[36]

The delimitative aspect denotes an action that goes on only for some time, "doing something 'a little bit'".[37] This can be expressed by reduplication of a monosyllabic verb, like the verb zǒu (走 "walk") in the following sentence:

• 我(wǒ) 到(dào) 公园(gōngyuán) 走(zǒu) 走(zǒu)。 [我到公園走走。]
  • Literal: I to park walk-walk
  • Translation: I'm going for a walk in the park.

An alternative construction is reduplication with insertion of "one" (一 yī). For example, zǒu yi zǒu (走一走), which might be translated as "walk a little walk". A further possibility is reduplication followed by kàn (看 "to see"); this emphasizes the "testing" nature of the action. If the verb has an object, kàn follows the object.

Some compound verbs, such as restrictive-resultative and coordinate compounds, can also be reduplicated on the pattern tǎolùn-tǎolùn (讨论讨论; 討論討論), from the verb tǎolùn (讨论; 討論), meaning "discuss". Other compounds may be reduplicated, but for general emphasis rather than delimitative aspect. In compounds that are verb–object combinations, like tiào wǔ (跳舞; 'to jump a dance', "dance"), a delimitative aspect can be marked by reduplicating the first syllable, creating tiào-tiào wǔ (跳跳舞), which may be followed with kàn (看).

As mentioned above, the fact that a verb is intended to be understood in the passive voice is not always marked in Chinese. However, it may be marked using the passive marker 被 bèi, followed by the agent, though bèi may appear alone, if the agent is not to be specified.[lower-alpha 10] Certain causative markers can replace bèi, such as those mentioned in the Other cases section, gěi, jiào and ràng. Of these causative markers, only gěi can appear alone without a specified agent. The construction with a passive marker is normally used only when there is a sense of misfortune or adversity.[38] The passive marker and agent occupy the typical adverbial position before the verb. See the Negation section for more. Some examples:

• 我们(wǒmen) 被(bèi) 他(tā) 骂(mà) 了(le)。 [我們被他罵了。]
  • Literal: We by him scolded [perfective-aspect]
  • Translation: We were scolded by him.
• 他(tā) 被(bèi) 我(wǒ) 打(dǎ) 了(le) 一(yí) 顿(dùn)。 [他被我打了一頓。]
  • Literal: He by me beaten [perfective-aspect] one [event-classifier]
  • Translation: He was beaten up by me once.

The most commonly used negating element is bù (不), pronounced with second tone when followed by a fourth tone. This can be placed before a verb, preposition or adverb to negate it. For example: "I don't eat chicken" (我不吃鸡; 我不吃雞; wǒ bù chī jī; 'I not eat chicken'). For the double-verb negative construction with bù, see Complement of result, below. However, the verb yǒu (有)—which can mean either possession, or "there is/are" in existential clauses—is negated using méi (没; 沒) to produce méiyǒu (没有; 沒有; 'not have').

For negation of a verb intended to denote a completed event, méi or méiyǒu is used instead of bù (不), and the aspect marker le (了) is then omitted. Also, méi[yǒu] is used to negate verbs that take the aspect marker guo (过; 過); in this case the aspect marker is not omitted.[39]

In coverb constructions, the negator may come before the coverb (preposition) or before the full verb, the latter being more emphatic. In constructions with a passive marker, the negator precedes that marker; similarly, in comparative constructions, the negator precedes the bǐ phrase^{Not clear} (unless the verb is further qualified by gèng (更, "even more"), in which case the negator may follow the gèng to produce the meaning "even less").[40]

The negator bié (别) precedes the verb in negative commands and negative requests, such as in phrases meaning "don't ...", "please don't ...".

The negator wèi (未) means "not yet". Other items used as negating elements in certain compound words include wú (无; 無),wù (勿), miǎn (免) and fēi (非).

A double negative makes a positive, as in sentences like wǒ bú shì bù xǐhuān tā (我不是不喜欢她; 我不是不喜歡她, "It's not that I don't like her" ). For this use of shì (是), see the Cleft sentences section.

In wh-questions in Chinese, the question word is not fronted. Instead, it stays in the position in the sentence that would be occupied by the item being asked about. For example, "What did you say?" is phrased as nǐ shuō shé[n]me (你说什么?; 你說什麼？, literally "you say what"). The word shénme (什么; 什麼, "what" or "which"), remains in the object position after the verb.

Other interrogative words include:

• "Who": shuí/shéi (谁; 誰)
• "What": shénme (什么; 什麼); shá (啥, used informally)
• "Where": nǎr (哪儿; 哪兒); nǎlǐ (哪里; 哪裡)
• "When": shénme shíhòu (什么时候; 什麼時候); héshí (何时; 何時)
• "Which": nǎ (哪)
  • When used to mean "which ones", nǎ is used with a classifier and noun, or with xiē (些) and noun. The noun may be omitted if understood through context.
• "Why": wèishé[n]me (为什么; 為什麼); gànmá (干吗; 幹嘛)
• "How many": duōshǎo (多少)
  • When the number is quite small, jǐ (几; 幾) is used, followed by a classifier.
• "How": zěnme[yang] (怎么[样]; 怎麼[樣]); rúhé (如何).

Disjunctive questions can be made using the word háishì (还是; 還是) between the options, like English "or". This differs from the word for "or" in statements, which is huòzhě (或者).

Yes-no questions can be formed using the sentence-final particle ma (吗; 嗎), with word order otherwise the same as in a statement. For example, nǐ chī jī ma? (你吃鸡吗?; 你吃雞嗎？; 'you eat chicken MA', "Do you eat chicken?").

An alternative is the A-not-A construction, using phrases like chī bu chī (吃不吃, "eat or not eat").[lower-alpha 11] With two-syllable verbs, sometimes only the first syllable is repeated: xǐ-bu-xǐhuān ( 喜不喜欢; 喜不喜歡, "like or not like"), from xǐhuān (喜欢; 喜歡, "like"). It is also possible to use the A-not-A construction with prepositions (coverbs) and phrases headed by them, as with full verbs.

The negator méi (没; 沒) can be used rather than bù in the A-not-A construction when referring to a completed event, but if it occurs at the end of the sentence—i.e. the repetition is omitted—the full form méiyǒu (没有; 沒有) must appear.[41]

For answering yes-no questions, Chinese has words that may be used like the English "yes" and "no" – duì (对; 對) or shì de (是的) for "yes"; bù (不) for "no" – but these are not often used for this purpose; it is more common to repeat the verb or verb phrase (or entire sentence), negating it if applicable.

Second-person imperative sentences are formed in the same way as statements, but like in English, the subject "you" is often omitted.

Orders may be softened by preceding them with an element such as qǐng (请, "to ask"), in this use equivalent to English "please". See Particles for more. The sentence-final particle ba (吧) can be used to form first-person imperatives, equivalent to "let's...".

Chinese makes frequent use of serial verb constructions, or verb stacking, where two or more verbs or verb phrases are concatenated together. This frequently involves either verbal complements appearing after the main verb, or coverb phrases appearing before the main verb, but other variations of the construction occur as well.

Chinese has a number of sentence-final particles – these are weak syllables, spoken with neutral tone, and placed at the end of the sentence to which they refer. They are often called modal particles or yǔqì zhùcí (语气助词; 語氣助詞), as they serve chiefly to express grammatical mood, or how the sentence relates to reality and/or intent. They include:[47]

• ma (吗; 嗎), which changes a statement into a yes-no question
• ne (呢), which expresses surprise, or produces a question "with expectation"
• ba (吧), which serves as a tag question, e.g. "don't you think so?"; produces a suggestion e.g. "let's..."; or lessens certainty of a decision.
• a (啊),[lower-alpha 13] which reduces forcefulness, particularly of an order or question. It can also be used to add positive connotation to certain phrases or inject uncertainty when responding to a question.
• ou (呕; 噢), which signals a friendly warning
• zhe (着; 著), which marks the inchoative aspect, or need for change of state, in imperative sentences. Compare the imperfective aspect marker zhe in the section above)
• le (了), which marks a "currently relevant state". This precedes any other sentence-final particles, and can combine with a (啊) to produce la (啦); and with ou (呕; 噢) to produce lou (喽; 囉).

This sentence-final le (了) should be distinguished from the verb suffix le (了) discussed in the Aspects section. Whereas the sentence-final particle is sometimes described as an inceptive or as a marker of perfect aspect, the verb suffix is described as a marker of perfective aspect.[48] Some examples of its use:

• 我(wǒ) 没(méi) 钱(qián) 了(le)。 [我沒錢了。]
  • Literal: I no money [perfect-aspect].
  • Translation: I have no money now or I've gone broke.
• 我(wǒ) 当(dāng) 兵(bīng) 了(le)。 [我當兵了。]
  • Literal: I work soldier [perfect-aspect].
  • Translation: I have become a soldier.
    • The position of le in this example emphasizes his present status as a soldier, rather than the event of becoming. Compare with the post-verbal le example given in the Aspects section, wǒ dāng le bīng.
• 他(tā) 看(kàn) 三(sān) 场(chǎng) 球赛(qiúsài) 了(le)。 [他看三場球賽了。]
  • Literal: He watch three [sports-classifier] ballgames [perfect-aspect].
  • Translation: He [has] watched three ballgames.
    • Compared with the post-verbal le and guo examples, this places the focus on the number three, and does not specify whether he is going to continue watching more games.

The two uses of le may in fact be traced back to two entirely different words.[49][50] The fact that they are now written the same way in Mandarin can cause ambiguity, particularly when the verb is not followed by an object. Consider the following sentence:

• 妈妈(māma) 来(lái) 了(le)！ [媽媽來了！]
  • Literal & Translation: Mom come LE.

This le might be interpreted as either the suffixal perfective marker or the sentence-final perfect marker. In the former case it might mean "mother has come", as in she has just arrived at the door, while in the latter it might mean "mother is coming!", and the speaker wants to inform others of this fact. It is even possible for the two kinds of le to co-occur:[51]

• 他(tā) 吃(chī) 了(le) 饭(fàn) 了(le)。[他吃飯了]。
  • Literal: He eat [perfective-aspect] food [perfect-aspect]
  • Translation: He has eaten.
    • Without the first le, the sentence could again mean "he has eaten", or it could mean "he wants to eat now". Without the final le the sentence would be ungrammatical without appropriate context, as perfective le cannot appear in a semantically unbounded sentence.

There is a construction in Chinese known as the shì ... [de] construction, which produces what may be called cleft sentences.[52] The copula shì (是) is placed before the element of the sentence which is to be emphasized, and the optional possessive particle de (的) is placed at the end of the sentence. For example:

• 他(tā) 是(shì) 昨天(zuótiān) 买(mǎi) 菜(cài) [的]([de])。 [他是昨天買菜[的]。]
  • Literal: He SHI yesterday buy food [DE].
  • Translation: It was yesterday that he bought food.

If an object following the verb, is to be emphasized in this construction, the shì precedes the object, and the de comes after the verb and before the shì.

• 他(tā) 昨天(zuótiān) 买(mǎi) 的(de) 是(shì) 菜(cài)。 [他昨天買的是菜。]
  • Literal: He yesterday buy DE SHI vegetable.
  • Translation: What he bought yesterday was vegetable.

Sentences with similar meaning can be produced using relative clauses. For example, "yesterday was the time he bought food" can be said zuótiān shì tā mǎi cài de shíjiān (昨天是他买菜的时间; 昨天是他買菜的時間, literally "yesterday is he buy food DE time").[53] These may be called pseudo-cleft sentences.

Chinese has various conjunctions (连词; 連詞; liáncí) such as hé (和, "and"), dànshì (但是, "but"), huòzhě (或者, "or"), etc. However Chinese quite often uses no conjunction where English would have "and".[54]

Two or more nouns may be joined together by the conjunctions hé (和, "and") or huò (或 "or"); for example dāo hé chā (刀和叉, "knife and fork"), gǒu huò māo (狗或貓, "dog or cat").

Certain adverbs are often used as correlative conjunctions, where correlating words appear in each of the linked clauses, such as búdàn ... érqiě (不但 ... 而且; 'not only ... (but) also'), suīrán ... háishì (虽然 ... 还是; 雖然...還是; 'although ... still'), yīnwèi ... suǒyǐ (因为 ... 所以; 因為...所以; 'because ... therefore'). Such connectors may appear at the start of a clause or before the verb phrase.[55]

Similarly, words like jìrán (既然, "since/in response to"), rúguǒ (如果) or jiǎrú (假如) "if", zhǐyào (只要 "provided that") correlate with an adverb jiù (就, "then") or yě (也, "also") in the main clause, to form conditional sentences.

In some cases, the same word may be repeated when connecting items; these include yòu ... yòu ... (又...又..., "both ... and ..."), yībiān ... yībiān ... (一边...一边..., "... while ..."), and yuè ... yuè ... (越...越..., "the more ..., the more ...").

Conjunctions of time such as "when" may be translated with a construction that corresponds to something like "at the time (+relative clause)", where as usual, the Chinese relative clause comes before the noun ("time" in this case). For example:[56]

• 当(dāng) 我(wǒ) 回(huí) 家(jiā) 的(de) 时候(shíhòu) , ...(...) [當我回家的時候...]
  • Literal: At I return home DE time
  • Translation: When I return[ed] home...

Variants include dāng ... yǐqián (当...以前; 當...以前 "before ...") and dāng ... yǐhòu (当...以后; 當...以後, "after ..."), which do not use the relative marker de. In all of these cases, the initial dāng may be replaced by zài (在), or may be omitted. There are also similar constructions for conditionals: rúguǒ /jiǎrú/zhǐyào ... dehuà (如果/假如/只要...的话, "if ... then"), where huà (话; 話) literally means "narrative, story".

• Classical Chinese grammar
• Cantonese grammar

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• A Summary of Chinese Grammar