(Bu4)
goes infront of the main verb:
I don't watch
the television:
Subject
|
+
|
Negation
|
+
|
Verb
|
+
|
Object
|
. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wo3
|
|
Bu2
|
|
Kan4
|
|
Dian4shi4
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
我
|
|
不
|
|
看
|
|
电视
|
Be careful: when
a syllable with four tones goes infront a word with the same tone, the
first is pronounced in the second tone.
For example, in the
case of Bu4+ kani4, you pronounce Bu2 instead of Bu4.
When you are asking a
question, the order of the sentence does not change. This makes it a
very different language to many western languages (we will look at this
later in the course).
The compliment of place,
time or condition is usually placed before the main verb. Normally the
compliment of place and time does not have a special order, you can
say either the place or time first(depends on the situation).
I study
chinese at home:
Subject
|
+
|
time,
place or condition |
+
|
Verb
|
+
|
Object
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wo3
|
|
Zai4
jia1 |
|
Xue2xi2
|
|
Han4yu3
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
我
|
|
在家
|
|
学习
|
|
汉语
|
I work in
the office
Subject
|
+
|
time,
place or condition |
+
|
Verb
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wo3
|
|
Zai4
ban4gong1shi3 |
|
Gong1zuo4
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
我
|
|
在办公室
|
|
工作
|
|
|
He
works in the morning
Subject |
+
|
time,
place or condition |
+
|
Verb
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ta1
|
|
Shang4wu3
|
|
Gong1zuo4
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
他
|
|
上午
|
|
工作
|
|
|
We dance
at night
Subject
|
+
|
time,
place or condition |
+
|
Verb
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wo3men5
|
|
Wan3shang5
|
|
Tiao4wu3
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
我们
|
|
晚上
|
|
跳舞
|
|
|
I dance
with him
Subject
|
+
|
time,
place or condition |
+
|
Verb
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wo3
|
|
He2
ta1 |
|
Tiao4wu3
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
我
|
|
和他
|
|
跳舞
|
|
|
When there
are adverbs in the sentences they usually go before the verb in the
simple forms, and between the auxiliary and the main verb in the compound
forms.
He
frequently studies chinese.
Subject
|
+
|
Adverb
|
+
|
Verb
|
+
|
Object
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ta1
|
|
Jing1chang2
|
|
Xue2xi2
|
|
Han4yu3
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
他
|
|
经常
|
|
学习
|
|
汉语
|
He doesn't
study chinese frequently.
Subject
|
+ |
Auxiliary
|
+
|
Adverb
|
+
|
Verbo
|
+
|
Object
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ta1
|
|
Bu4
|
|
Jing1chang2
|
|
Xue2xi2
|
|
Han4yu3
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
他
|
|
不
|
|
经常
|
|
学习 |
|
汉语
|
Vocabulary
English
|
Chinese
(phonetic) |
Chinese
(written) |
| |
|
|
No
|
Bu4
|
不
|
In |
Zai4
|
在 |
At
home |
Zai4jia1
|
在家
|
In
the office |
Zai4
ban4gong1 shi3 |
在办公室
|
In
the morning |
Shang4wu3
|
上午
|
In
the afternoon |
Xia4wu3
|
下午
|
At
night |
Wan3shang4
|
晚上
|
frequently
|
Jing1
chang2 |
经常
|
Chinese
Character
