Why learn Chinese sentence structure?
There are basically 4 reasons why a Chinese learner should learn Chinese sentence structure:-
- Communication: Understanding sentence structure allows you to form grammatically correct sentences and effectively express yourself.
- Comprehension: By understanding the Chinese structure, you can better comprehend written and spoken Chinese.
- Writing Skills: When writing in Chinese, knowing the correct sentence structure allows you to convey your ideas in a understandable and logical manner.
- Learning Efficiency: Chinese sentence structure is somewhat different from other language such as English. By specifically studying the sentence structure, you can avoid directly translating sentences from your native language, which may lead to errors or awkward phrasing.
Fishing trip
Let us learn common Chinese structure from this Chinese story. This is a story of a boy who went fishing with his father. Click here for video.
Grammar Points
~来 ~去
Verb+来+Verb+去” (Verb + lái + Verb + qù) is a common sentence structure in Chinese that is used to express the repetitive or continuous nature of an action. It is formed by adding the complements of direction 来(~lái) to a verb to show the action moving towards the speaker, and then adding another complements of direction 去” (~qù) to the same verb to indicate the action moving away from the speaker.
Sentence Example,
鱼在池塘里游来游去。
yú zài chí táng lǐ yóu lái yóu qù
The fish in the pond are swimming back and forth.
鸟在天上飞来飞去。
niǎo zài tiān shàng fēi lái fēi qù.
The birds in the sky are flying back and forth.
街上有很多人挤来挤去
Jiē shàng yǒu hěn duō rén jǐ lái jǐ qù.
There are many people pushing and shoving on the street.
一边~，一边~
她一边工作，一边讲电话。
tā yī biān gōng zuò, yī biān jiǎng diàn huà.
She’s talking on the phone while working.
她一边喝咖啡，一边看电视。
tā yī biān hē kā fēi, yī biān kàn diàn shì.
She’s drinking coffee while watching TV.
还好
“还好” (hái hǎo) is a commonly used Chinese phrase that has two different meanings depending on the context in which it is used.
1. It can be a respond to someone asking “how are you feeling or how something is going”, which means “It’s alright” or “I am ok”.
2. It can also be used to describe relief in a situation that could have turned out worse.
还好你没事。吓死我了
hái hǎo nǐ méi shì. xià sǐ wǒ le.
Thank goodness, you’re okay. You scared me to death.
下雨了！还好我有带伞
xià yǔ le! hái hǎo wǒ yǒu dài sǎn”.
It’s raining! Luckily I have an umbrella.
也和 ~ 一样
也和 ~ 一样” (yě hé ~ yī yàng) is a Chinese sentence structure that you can use to mean “also the same as “. The Chinese word “也” (yě) means “also” or “too”, and “一样” (yī yàng) means “the same”. They are usually used to compare two things, indicating that they are very similar or identical in some way. The sentence structure is comparison 1 + 也和 + comparison 2 + 一样.
她的手也和我的一样脏。
tā de shǒu yě hé wǒ de yí yàng zāng.
Her hands are as dirty as mine.
他的书包也和我的一样重。
tā de shū bāo yě hé wǒ de yí yàng zhòng.
His schoolbag is as heavy as mine.
考试时，彼得也和我一样紧张。
kǎo shì shí, bǐ tè yě hé wǒ yí yàng jǐn zhāng.
During the exam, Peter was also as nervous as me.
