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  <title>Basic sentence order</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../Styles/main.css"/>
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<body>
  <h1>Basic sentence order</h1>

  <p>In its most basic form, Chinese <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Word_order" title="Word order">word order</a> is very similar to English word order. These similarities definitely have their limits, though; don't expect the two languages' word orders to stay consistent for anything past the very basic sentence orders outlined below.</p>

  <h2 id="sigil_toc_id_184">Contents</h2>

  <div class="contents">
    <ul>
      <li><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Basic_sentence_order#Subject-predicate"> 1 Subject-predicate</a> 

      <ul>
        <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Basic_sentence_order#Structure"> 1.1 Structure</a></li>

        <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Basic_sentence_order#Examples"> 1.2 Examples</a></li>
      </ul></li>

      <li><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Basic_sentence_order#Subject-verb-object"> 2 Subject-verb-object</a> 

      <ul>
        <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Basic_sentence_order#Structure_2"> 2.1 Structure</a></li>

        <li><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Basic_sentence_order#Examples_2"> 2.2 Examples</a></li>
      </ul></li>

      <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Basic_sentence_order#When_it_all_falls_apart"> 3 When it all falls apart</a></li>

      <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Basic_sentence_order#See_also"> 4 See also</a></li>

      <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9"><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Basic_sentence_order#Sources_and_further_reading"> 5 Sources and further reading</a></li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <h2 id="sigil_toc_id_185"><span id="Subject-predicate">Subject-predicate</span></h2>

  <p>The most basic word order in Chinese is:</p>

  <h3 id="sigil_toc_id_186"><span id="Structure">Structure</span></h3>

  <div class="deux">
    Subj. + Verb
  </div>

  <p>You can form very simple sentences with just two words.</p>

  <h3 id="sigil_toc_id_187">Examples</h3>

  <table class="table big-text table-striped table-bordered">
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <th>
          Subject
        </th>

        <th>
          Verb
        </th>

        <th>
          Translation
        </th>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">你们</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Nǐmen</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">吃。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">chī.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          You eat.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">他</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Tā</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">笑。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">xiào.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          He laughs.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">我</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Wǒ</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">读。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">dú.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          I read.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">你</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Nǐ</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">去。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">qù.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          You go.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">你们</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Nǐmen</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">看。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">kàn.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          You look.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">你</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Nǐ</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">来。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">lái.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          You come here!
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">我</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Wǒ</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">说。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">shuō.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          I speak.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">孩子</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Háizi</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">哭。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">kū.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          Children cry.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">谁</span> <br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Shéi</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">要 学？</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">yào xué?</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          Who wants to study?
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">谁</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Shéi</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">想 玩？</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">xiǎng wán?</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          Who wants to play?
        </td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>

  <h2 id="sigil_toc_id_188"><span id="Subject-verb-object">Subject-verb-object</span></h2>

  <p>A basic sentence usually has an object, and is formed with this structure:</p>

  <h3 id="sigil_toc_id_189"><span id="Structure_2">Structure</span></h3>

  <div class="deux">
    Subj.+ Verb + Obj.
  </div>

  <p>This is the same as in English, and is commonly referred to as <b>SVO</b> word order. You can express a huge variety of things with this simple structure.</p>

  <h3 id="sigil_toc_id_190"><span id="Examples_2">Examples</span></h3>

  <table class="table big-text table-striped table-bordered">
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <th>
          Subject
        </th>

        <th>
          Verb
        </th>

        <th>
          Object
        </th>

        <th>
          Translation
        </th>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">他们</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Tāmen</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">吃</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">chī</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">肉。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">ròu.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          They eat meat.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">你</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Nǐ</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">喝</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">hē</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">茶 吗？</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">chá ma?</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          Do you drink tea?
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">我</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Wǒ</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">去</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">qù</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">学校。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">xuéxiào.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          I go to school.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">他</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Tā</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">说</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">shuō</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">中文。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Zhōngwén.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          He speaks Chinese.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">你</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Nǐ</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">喜欢</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">xǐhuan</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">孩子 吗？</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">háizi ma?</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          Do you like kids?
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">我们</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Wǒmen</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">要 买</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">yào mǎi</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">电脑。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">diànnǎo.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          We want to buy a computer.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">你们</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Nǐmen</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">想 吃</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">xiǎng chī</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">中国 菜 吗？</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Zhōngguó cài ma?</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          Do you want to eat Chinese food?
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">我</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Wǒ</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">爱</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">ài</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">你 和 爸爸。</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">nǐ hé bàba.</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          I love you and dad.
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">他们</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Tāmen</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">要 做</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">yào zuò</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">什么？</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">shénme?</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          What do they want to do?
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">你</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">Nǐ</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">想 去</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">xiǎng qù</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          <span class="hanzi">什么 地方？</span><br/>

          <span class="pinyin">shénme dìfang?</span>
        </td>

        <td>
          What place do you want to go?
        </td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>

  <h2 id="sigil_toc_id_191"><span id="When_it_all_falls_apart">When it all falls apart</span></h2>

  <p>Despite the convenient word order similarities highlighted above, things start to break down as soon as you start adding in such simple sentence elements as <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/The_%22also%22_adverb" title="The &quot;also&quot; adverb" class="mw-redirect">the "also" adverb <span class="hanzi">也</span> (yě)</a>, <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Time_words_and_word_order" title="Time words and word order">a time word</a>, or <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Using_%22zai%22_with_verbs" title="Using &quot;zai&quot; with verbs" class="mw-redirect">a location where something happened</a>.</p>

  <p>Don't worry; the more complicated Chinese structures aren't hard, they're just different! (If Chinese word order were really the same as English word order, that would be just a little too convenient, wouldn't it?)</p>

  <h2 id="sigil_toc_id_192">See also</h2>

  <ul>
    <li><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Word_order" title="Word order">Word order</a> (a more in depth article)</li>

    <li><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Time_words_and_word_order" title="Time words and word order">Time words and word order</a></li>

    <li><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Topic-comment_sentences" title="Topic-comment sentences">Topic-comment sentences</a></li>

    <li><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Simple_%22noun_%2B_adjective%22_sentences" title="Simple &quot;noun + adjective&quot; sentences">Simple "noun + adjective" sentences</a></li>

    <li><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Using_%22zai%22_with_verbs" title="Using &quot;zai&quot; with verbs" class="mw-redirect">Using "zài" with verbs</a></li>

    <li><a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_location_with_%22zai...shang/xia/li%22" title="Expressing location with &quot;zai...shang/xia/li&quot;" class="mw-redirect">Expressing location with "zài...shàng/xià/lǐ"</a></li>
  </ul>

  <h2 id="sigil_toc_id_193">Sources and further reading</h2>

  <ul>
    <li>New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (<span class="hanzi">新实用汉语课本1</span>)</li>

    <li>New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (<span class="hanzi">新实用汉语课本1</span>)(2nd ed) (pp. 11, 249)</li>

    <li>Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (p. 76)</li>
  </ul>
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