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[Customs]
Winding River (1)
Winding River (1)
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[Songs]
A Visit to Qiantang Lake in Spring
A Visit to Qiantang Lake in Spring
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[Grammar]
过 (guò) in Chinese grammar: past experiences, past actions
The particle 过 (guò) is used to talk about past experiences or past actions in Chinese grammar.
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[Grammar]
Comparing 吗 and 呢
As you can see above, these two particles are fairly similar. But what are the important differences? Let’s have a look at a few here.
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[Grammar]
How to use the particles 呢 (ne)
The particle 呢 has more uses than 吗, but we’ll look at the most important one here: forming queries, or asking bounce-back questions.
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[Grammar]
How to use the particles 吗 (ma)
As mentioned above, 吗 is a question particle that is used to turn statements into yes-no questions.
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[Grammar]
How to use the particles 吗 (ma) and 呢 (ne) in Chinese grammar
The particles 呢 (ne) and 吗 (ma) are extremely common in Chinese. This article explains the two particles for beginners.
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[Grammar]
Chinese grammar Rule #5: Chinese is logical
This is very true in Chinese vocabulary, as you can usually see very clearly the logic behind most words.
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[Grammar]
Chinese grammar rules #4: Aspect, not tense
Another big difference between European languages and Chinese is aspect and tense. European languages usually indicate both of these things in a sentence, whereas Chinese tends to only indicates
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[Grammar]
Chinese grammar rule #3:Chinese is topic-prominent
This is a rule that English-speakers often find hard to get used to. Chinese is topic prominent.
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[Grammar]
Chinese grammar rule #2: Words do not change
In Chinese, you don’t conjugate verbs and you don’t make adjectives agree. According to Chinese grammar rules, a word is a word.
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[Grammar]
Chinese grammar rule #1: What precedes modifies what follows
This rule sounds a little bit complicated when you first see it, but it’s actually quite straightforward.
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[Grammar]
Ask yes/no questions with 吗 (ma)
Finally, use 吗 (ma) to ask yes / no questions in Chinese. These questions are also known as polar questions or binary questions.
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[Grammar]
Link nouns with 和 (hé)
The most common way to express “and” in Chinese is probably 和 (hé). Remember, though, that 和 can only be used to link nouns. You can’t link verbs together with 和.
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[Grammar]
Mark possession with 的 (de)
The most common character in Chinese is 的 (de). That’s because 的 is used all the time to mark possession.
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[Grammar]
Negate everything else with 不 (bù)
Every other verb apart from 有 is negated with 不 (bù). 不 is pretty much equivalent to “not” or “don’t” in English. It goes before a verb and negates it.
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[Grammar]
Negate 有 (yǒu) with 没 (méi)
To talk about “not having” something, you negate the word 有 (yǒu) with 没 (méi). Remember this important point: if you negate 有, always use 没. The two words go together.
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[Grammar]
Talk about wanting things with 要 (yào)
You can talk about directly wanting something with the word 要 (yào). This word is also used to talk about the future, as in “I’m going to do” something.
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[Grammar]
是 (shì) is not exactly the same as “to be”
The closest equivalent of the English word “to be” in Chinese is 是 (shì). This is used to link nouns to other nouns.
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[Grammar]
Talk about having things with 有 (yǒu)
You can talk about having things with the word 有 (yǒu) - “to have”. Remember that you don’t need to conjugate (change) verbs in Chinese, so 有 is always 有 no matter whom you’re talking abo