Chinese
Grammar
Chinese
grammar can be simple yet can turn into a confusing jumble
of words. The key is to practice often.
Verbs
Verbs in Chinese are very different from those in English.
The verb form does not change as in English (I speak, he
speaks, etc.), but rather, stays the same.
|
I
talk
wǒ shuō
|
He
talks
tā shuō |
You
can tell what the person is saying by the pronoun he, and
I, but the verb stays the same.
In Chinese, the same verb can be used to express past, present
and future tenses. Same example:
|
I
talk
wǒ shuō
|
He
talks
tā shuō |
Add
an adverb, like today, tomorrow or now, and you can tell
when an event happened.
|
Tomorrow,
I will talk...
mīngtiān, wǒ shuō
|
Now,
he talks...
xiànzài, tā shuō
|
Now,
you have a basic understanding of how verbs function in
a sentence. Basically, a verb tells an action, but you need
other words to tell who, what, when and how.
