Chinese Grammar

Your home base for learning all about Mandarin Chinese grammar, this one-stop comphrensive resource is useful to learners of all levels. Get started with our basic Chinese grammar guide to understand the fundamentals, or finesse your Chinese grammar expertise with our guides organized by difficulty and take your Chinese skills to the next level.

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danshi keshi buguo difference compare

DANSHI vs KESHI vs BUGUO: 3 ‘BUT’ in Chinese Compared Head to Head

但是 (dànshì), 可是 (kěshì), 不过 (búguò). Are you confused about the three different words for saying “but” in Chinese? It can be tricky as all of them have the same translation in English. Then what’s the difference between 但是 (dànshì), 可是 (kěshì) and 不过 (búguò)? Well, at the end of the article you definitely won’t

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Expressing Distance with 离 (lí) in Chinese Everything You need

Expressing Distance with 离 (lí) in Chinese: Everything You Need

离 (lí) is considered one of the core, ‘basic’ words in Chinese. The way it works might not seem too intuitive to an English speaker. And no wonder: the concept of 离 (lí) barely exists in English, and to use it correctly, you need to resort to a seemingly twisted sentence structure. But let’s try to make it less

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how to use 呢 (ne) in chinese

How to Use 呢 (ne) in Chinese: The Ultimate Guide

呢 (ne) is one of the most common particles you will encounter in Mandarin Chinese. Since there is not any equivalent word in English or any other language, it could be a bit tricky for beginners in Chinese to comprehend and use the word properly. Well, by the end of this article, you definitely won’t

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A1 Chinese Grammar

introduce yourself in Chinese
A1 Grammar

How to Introduce Yourself in Chinese: All You Need to Know

Learning how to introduce yourself in Chinese is definitely the very first skill that you’ll need in order to make a great first impression to win over new Chinese friends. Sure, if you’ve ever done a Chinese language course, you’ve probably spent a considerable amount of time learning how to introduce yourself in Chinese. But

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tell time in Chinese
A1 Grammar

Telling Time in Chinese – The Complete Guide for Beginners

Time plays a fundamental role in our everyday life. Whether you want to schedule meetings, make travel plans, meet up with your friends, or simply want to share your story, knowing how to tell the time in Chinese can make a world of difference. The Chinese time system is easy and straightforward – once you have

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dates in Chinese
A1 Grammar

Dates in Chinese (Years, Months, Days): A Comprehensive Guide

Whether you want to organize meetings, make holiday reservations, or plan social activities, you most likely won’t be able to accomplish that without knowing how to say dates in Chinese. Dates in Mandarin Chinese work quite differently than in English. To start with, they follow a different word order. But don’t worry, Chinese can be easier since

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how to say days of the week in Chinese
A1 Grammar

Days of the Week in Chinese: The Ultimate Guide

Knowing how to talk about days of the week is crucial in any language. After all, how else would you have been able to set up meetings with other people? And if you want a simple, thorough guide on how to say days of the week in Chinese, you’ve come to the right place.  In

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basic Chinese grammar
A1 Grammar

Chinese Grammar 101: Ultimate Guide for Overwhelmed Beginners

If you are looking to build a solid foundation in Mandarin Chinese grammar, or simply want to have a basic understanding of how the Chinese language works, you’ve come to the right place.   As one of the world’s biggest websites about learning Chinese, we’ve helped thousands of people improve their grammatical skills, and speak

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Introducing Your Family Surname in Chinese with XING
A1 Grammar

Introducing Your Family Surname in Chinese with ‘XING’: The Quick Guide

Family is a key part of Chinese culture. Confucianism believes that the concept of family is as important as that of a nation or the world. This is why Chinese people attach great importance to their family surnames. Consequently, when you first get to know a Chinese person, it’s customary to ask his family name instead of his full name or given

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A2 Chinese Grammar

chinese-grammar-you-you-structure
A2 Grammar

又 (yòu)…又 (yòu)… Structure in Chinese: All You Need to Know

又 (yòu)…又 (yòu)… is considered one of the most essential, “basic” patterns in Chinese grammar. It’s included in pretty much every Chinese textbook and course. That’s because it’s really common in daily conversation and super useful! It can be used to express “both A and B” or “both do A and do B”, depending on what comes after it

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Expressing Distance with 离 (lí) in Chinese Everything You need
A2 Grammar

Expressing Distance with 离 (lí) in Chinese: Everything You Need

离 (lí) is considered one of the core, ‘basic’ words in Chinese. The way it works might not seem too intuitive to an English speaker. And no wonder: the concept of 离 (lí) barely exists in English, and to use it correctly, you need to resort to a seemingly twisted sentence structure. But let’s try to make it less

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Expressing Exclamation in Chinese with 真 (zhēn)
A2 Grammar

Expressing Exclamation in Chinese with 真 (zhēn): A Quick Guide

The adverb 真 (zhēn) is one of the most basics words in Mandarin Chinese. It corresponds to “really” or “truly” in English and is often used before adjectives and verbs to intensify the degree. In this post, we’ll look at how to use 真 (zhēn) to express exclamation in Chinese. Afterward, we’ll explore the differences between 真 (zhēn), 很 (hěn), 非常 (fēicháng) and 真的 (zhēn de) which

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B1 Chinese Grammar

danshi keshi buguo difference compare
B1 Grammar

DANSHI vs KESHI vs BUGUO: 3 ‘BUT’ in Chinese Compared Head to Head

但是 (dànshì), 可是 (kěshì), 不过 (búguò). Are you confused about the three different words for saying “but” in Chinese? It can be tricky as all of them have the same translation in English. Then what’s the difference between 但是 (dànshì), 可是 (kěshì) and 不过 (búguò)? Well, at the end of the article you definitely won’t

Read More »
suiran danshi
B1 Grammar

Chinese Pattern 虽然… 但是… (suīrán… dànshì…): A Quick Guide

虽然 (suīrán)… 但是 (dànshì)… is considered one of the core, basic patterns in Chinese grammar. You can use it to express adversative transitions like “Although …, …” and “…, but…”, however, to use it correctly, you need to pay attention to a bunch of distinctions that don’t exist in English. In this article, we’ll take a look at

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B2 Chinese Grammar

jinguan danshi
B2 Grammar

Chinese Pattern 尽管… 但是… (jǐnguǎn… dànshì…): The Complete Guide

You might have been familiar with the pattern 虽然 (suīrán)… 但是 (dànshì)… for a while, but when you reach an intermediate level in Chinese, another common pattern 尽管 (jǐnguǎn)… 但是 (dànshì)… shouldn’t be something new. It’s very much like the expression “Even though …, ….” in English. However, to use it correctly, you need to pay attention to a few details

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