Standard Chinese grammar relies more on word order and particles than on changes to word endings. This lesson introduces the language’s basic grammatical profile and shows how words are built from meaningful units.
Chinese words usually do not change form to show grammatical categories such as singular versus plural or past versus present. Instead, context, word order, time expressions, and particles help convey these meanings. Aspect particles, for example, can show whether an event is completed or ongoing without changing the verb’s ending.
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What is inflection?
A change in a word’s form that expresses grammatical information, such as tense or number. Standard Chinese uses relatively little inflection.
What is a morpheme?
The smallest unit of meaning in a language. A Chinese morpheme may be represented by one character, but characters and words do not always correspond one-to-one.
What is a classifier in Chinese?
A word placed between a numeral and a countable noun; the appropriate classifier depends on the noun and conventional usage.
What does the aspect marker guo indicate?
Placed after a verb, guo marks that the subject has experienced the event at some point.
What do the suffixes -huà and -xìng commonly form?
-Huà commonly forms verbs meaning ‘-ize’ or ‘make/become’; -xìng commonly forms nouns naming an attribute, such as ‘safety’.
Quiz questions
Where does a question word usually appear in a Chinese wh-question?Answer: In the grammatical position where the requested information would appear in a statement
How is a completed event commonly negated in Chinese?Answer: Use méi or méiyǒu and omit perfective le
Where does a classifier normally appear in a numeral–noun phrase?Answer: Between the numeral and the countable noun
In a comparison using bǐ, what role does bǐ play?Answer: It introduces the standard of comparison before the predicate
What does sentence-final ma typically do in a Chinese statement?Answer: It turns the statement into a yes–no question
Based on the Wikipedia article Chinese grammar, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.