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88 basic Chinese grammars for beginners

Learn 1 grammar point every day, after 2 months to complete these 88 points, you will have mastered the basic grammar knowledge of Chinese, which is about the level of HSK 3 to HSK 4.

These grammar points are written in the English way of thinking, and it will be very easy to understand these Chinese grammar points.

Word Order

• Basic word order
• Action and location: someone does something somewhere
• Action and time: when somebody does something
• Word order for expressing WHEN something happened
• Word order for duration of time: how long someone did something
• Placement of “why” in a question

Time Expression

• Expressing simultaneous actions
• To say “again”: zài 再 vs. yòu 又
• “After”/“later”: yǐhòu 以后 vs. ránhòu 然后
• Use of hòulái 后来 vs. ránhòu 然后
• “Last week, this week, next week” and “last month, this month, next month” follow the same pattern, with shàng 上 indicating “last . . . ,” zhè/zhèi 这 indicating “this . . . ,” and xià 下 indicating “next . . . ,” 

Noun

• All (of some noun): dōu 都 vs. suǒyǒude 所有的
• Expressing  the indefinites
• Location words
• Nouns for nationalities and languages
• not even one bit of something
• Plurals in Chinese
• This and that
• When counting things, measure-words must always be used between the number and the noun

Verbs

• Past tense
• Present tense
• Future tense
• Word “it” is usually implied by the verb
• Tā 它 can be used to refer to animals
• Tā 它 can be used for direct objects with the bǎ 把 pattern
• Going, coming, returning
• Bǎ 把 pattern with verbs
• Shì . . . de 是 . . . 的 pattern for past tense actions
• Different ways to express passive voice (“was . . . by . ..”)

Nearly Verbs

• “Afraid”: know the difference between “to be afraid,” hàipà 害怕, “to be afraid of . . . ,” pà 怕, and “to be afraid that . . . ,” kǒngpà 恐怕
• Difference between “to like” xǐhuān 喜欢 and “would like to” xiǎng 想
• Difference between “to think that . . . ,” xiǎng 想, and “to feel . . . ,” juéde 觉得
• “I don’t think that . . . ”: don’t even THINK about using bùxiǎng 不想
• “Produce”: The difference between shēng chǎn 生产, “to produce something concrete like coal, manufactured goods, etc.,” and chǎnshēng 产生, “to produce something abstract, some phenomenon, like dissatisfaction, unrest, etc.,”
• “Receive”: know the difference between the two characters pronounced shou in Chinese (shōu 收, shòu 受), both of which mean “receive,”
• Rude vs. refined: yào 要 vs. xiǎngyào 想要
• “To ask” depends on the meaning of “ask”: wèn 问 vs. qǐng 请 vs. jiào 叫
• “To be a . . . (profession, friend, etc.)”: differences between shì 是, dāng 当, and zuò 做
• “To help”: bāng 帮, bāngzhù 帮助, and bāngmáng 帮忙
• “To know”: zhīdao 知道 vs. rènshi 认识 vs. huì 会
• “To look like” and “to seem like”: xiàng 像 and hǎoxiàng 好像
• “To leave”: zǒu 走 vs. líkāi 离开 vs. liú 留
• “To lose”: diū 丢 vs. shīqù 失去 vs. shū 输 vs. mílù 迷路
• “To see”: kàn 看 vs. kànjiàn/kàndào 看见/看到 vs. kànchūlái 看出来 vs. jiàn 见 vs. jiànmiàn 见面 vs. jiàndào, 见到 vs. guānguāng 观光 vs. míngbái 明白
• “To take”: ná 拿 vs. dài 带 vs. zuò 坐 vs. xuǎn 选 vs. pāizhào 拍照
• “To tell” depends on the meaning of “tell”: shuō 说 vs. jiǎng 讲 vs. jiào 叫 vs. gàosu 告诉 vs. ràng 让
• “To want someone to be . . .”: xiǎngyào 想要 vs. xīwang 希望 vs. bìxū 必须
• “To want/would like (to do something)”: xiǎng 想 vs. yào 要 vs. xiǎngyào 想要
• “Worry”: the subtle differences between dānxīn 担心, cāoxīn 操心, fāchóu 发愁, and zhāojí 着急

Adjectives

• Adjectives
• “bad” depends on the meaning of “bad,”
• Use búcuò 不错, “not bad,” when you mean “quite good,”
• Different ways to say “nice,”
• Different ways to say “pretty” or “beautiful,” depending on the subject
• Comparisons: A bǐ 比 B
• Negative comparisons: A is not as [adjective] as B

Particle Le

• particle Le 了 is used after action verbs in the past tense
• particle Le 了is used after adjectives to express “change of status,” i.e. “became . . . ,”
• particle Le 了 is used after verbs to express “imminent action,” i.e., something just about to happen
• particle Le 了 is used with verbs or adjectives in the negative to express “not any more,”

Particle De

• particle de, use of 的
• particle de, use of 得
• particle de, use of 地

Conjunctions

• Different ways to say “and” depend on usage
• “or” in Chinese

Adverbs

• “actually” depends on usage
• “Almost” = chàbùduō 差不多 vs. chàyìdiǎn 差一点
• “Although”: suírán . . . , kěshi . . . 虽然 . . . , 可是 .. . means “although . . . , but . . . ,”
• cái 才：three ways to say “unless . . . ”; “only if . . .,”
• Difference between the two ways to say “first”: xiān 先 and shǒuxiān 首先
• “Every time”: měicì . . . de shíhou 每次 . . . 的时候 vs. měidāng/měiféng . . . de shíhou 每当/每逢 . . . 时候
• “From”: cóng 从 . . . dào 到 vs. lí 离

Subordinate Clauses

• Connecting sentences with “who”/“that,”
• “If . . . then . . .” is expressed in three levels of formality
• “As soon as . . . (then) . . .” = yī . . . jiù . . . 一 .. . 就 . . . 
• “Even . . . (also) . . . ” = lián . . . , yě/dōu . . . 连. . . , 也/都 . . .
• “It doesn’t matter . . .” = wúlùn . . . dōu . . . 无论 .. . 都 . . .
• “Because . . . , so . . .” = yīnwei . . . , suǒyǐ . . . 因为. . . , 所以 . . .
• “Besides . . . ” = chúle . . . yǐwài 除了 . . . 以外

Helping Verbs

• duì 对 as a verb by itself means “to face.” Therefore, as a helping verb, it has the idea of “vis-à-vis” or “concerning/in regard to.” It can be translated as “toward(s),” “to,” “in,” “as far as,” “about,” etc.
• gěi 给, meaning “to give,” also functions as a helping verb
• gēn 跟 by itself means “to follow,” but as a helping verb, besides meaning “and,” most frequently gēn 跟 means “with,”
• yòng 用 by itself is a verb meaning “to use.” But as a helping verb, yòng 用 has the idea of “using. . . . ” It can be translated as “with” in the sense of “using something,”
• Use different translations of the preposition “for,” depending on the meaning
• Use tì 替 to express “for” in the sense of “substituting for”; “in place of,”
• Use wèi 为 to express “for (someone or something’s sake),”

Can

• “can,” how to express

Letter Writing

• letter writing: greetings, salutations, and forms of address