Build your first Chinese sentences

Start with who does what

• 我 is the subject, 喝 is the verb and 茶 is the object: person + action + thing.
• Keep that structure while changing one item. 他喝茶 means “He drinks tea”. 我喝水 means “I drink water”.
• Chinese verbs do not change endings to agree with I, you or they. Time and context help tell you when an action happens.

Put time before the action

• 今天 tells us when. A useful beginner pattern is subject + time + verb + object.
• The time can also come first: 今天我学习汉语. This sets the time before naming the person.
• Do not translate an English sentence word by word and leave 今天 after 汉语. Learn the whole pattern: 我 / 今天 / 学习 / 汉语.

Put the location before the action

• 在学校 answers “where?”. For an action happening somewhere, use subject + 在 + place + verb + object.
• Combine time and place: 我今天在学校学习汉语. The order here is who, when, where, action, object.
• This pattern describes where an action takes place. It is not a rule that every place word must precede every verb. With a destination, for example, 我去学校 means “I go to school”.

Ask a yes-or-no question

• Add 吗 to a statement to ask a yes-or-no question. The subject and verb keep their order.
• Answer with the verb when appropriate: 喝 means “Yes, I do”; 不喝 means “No, I do not”. Chinese does not require one universal word for “yes”.
• For a question with a question word, keep that word where the answer would go: 你喝什么？ means “What do you drink?”. Do not also add 吗 to that ordinary question.

Avoid adding 是 to every sentence

• 是 connects a person or thing with a noun description, as in “I am a student”.
• A simple adjective description usually does not need 是. 我很忙 is a natural standalone way to say “I am busy”. In this pattern, 很 need not carry a strong “very” meaning.
• Compare one noun sentence with one adjective sentence before trying longer descriptions. The English word “am” does not tell you which Chinese structure to use.

Build and check