18IntermediateChineseSentencePatternsYou

NeedtoLearn
Ipreviouslywroteanarticlethatfocusedonsentencepatternsforbeginners,
10EssentialChineseSentencePatternsEveryBeginnerShouldKnow.Hopefully
youvecoveredthose10patterns,anditstimetomoveontomore
intermediatesentencepatterns.

1.(de)toemphasise

(sh)canbeomittedfromthesentence.Thephraseinbetween(sh)and
(de)isthefocusontheemphasis.

()(wshzudtilide)Imtakingthemetro.

()(wshgnpngyoukndinyng)MyfriendsandI
sawthemovie.

2.toindicate2actionsoccurring
atthesametime

(ybin)isusedbeforeeachverbphrase:

Subject++verbphrase+verbphrase.

(wxhuanybinhkfiybinknsh)I
liketodrinkcoffeeandreadabook.

3.tolinkadjectivalverbs

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(yu)canbeusedtoindicatebothand

adjadj

(zhgejingzhyunngyuxing)Thesauceisboth
thickandrich.

4.toexpresschangeovertime

(yuliyu)expressesasituationthatbecomesmoreandmoreover
time.

subject+adj

.(tyuliyuhushuhnyle)HisChineseisimproving
moreandmore.

5.meaningseveraltimes

(jc)canbeusedtoexplainfrequencyamount,whenusedinaquestion,
itsbecomeshomemanytimes?

(wfngwnlenigmngrnhojc)Ive
interviewedthiscelebritymanytimes.

(nmigxngqshngyndngjc)Howmany
timesaweekdoyouworkout?

6.tomarkacomplement
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(de)canbequitechallengingtolearn,asthereisnoEnglishequivalent.
Followthissentencepatterntousethe(de)particle:

adj/verb+

(tshudehnho)Shespeakswell.

(tkidetikui)Hedrivestoofast.

Youlearnmoreabouttheotherdeparticlesinourarticle,Howtousethede
particles,andinChinese.

7.toindicateknowhowto

(thushuhny)HecanspeakChinese.

Youcanlearnmoreabout(hu)andtheotherwaysyoucansaycanin
Chineseinourarticle,The3Cans:WhatstheDifferenceBetween,and
?

8.todescribedistance

(l)meansapartorawayfrom.(yun)meansfarand(jn)isnear.

Nounphrase++nounphrase+intensifier+

(tshgunlgngyunhnjn)Thislibraryiscloseto
thepark.

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(wjilwgngsyun)Myhomeisfarfrommy
company.

Totalkaboutaspecificdistanceusethefollowingpattern:

Nounphrase++nounphrase++distance

(xuxiolwjiyusgngl)Theschoolis4miles
frommyhome.

9.tomeanquite

ThisisprimarilyusedinspokenChinese.

adj

(wjiltngxiode)Myhomeisquitesmall.

10.particle

(ne)hastwomainuses:1.Toreplytoaquestion,2.Toaskwhere.

(nhoma)Howreyou?

(hnho.Nne?)Imgreat,you?

Theseconduseistheequivalentof(zinl)meaningiswhere?

Thing+

(wynjngne?)Wherearemyglasses?

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LearnaboutalltheChinesemodalparticleshere.

11.meaningso

(zhme)canbeusedtoexpressthatsomethingissoorsomuch.

adj

(zhmegu)Soexpensive

12.meaningpleasant

When(ho)isplacedbeforeaverbitformsanadjectivemeaningpleasant.

+verb

(hokn)good-looking

(hoh)tastesgood

(hoch)delicious

(hown)interesting/fun

13.tocompare
(b)meansthanandisusedtocomparedifferences.

Nounphrase++nounphrase+adj

(tbwgo)Heistallerthanme.

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(wdeshntbyqinhole)Myhealthisbetter
thanbefore.

Youcanlearnmoreaboutcomparinginourarticle,bandmiyu:
MakingComparisonsinMandarinChinese.

14.Intensifiers

Intensifiersareusedbeforeadjectiveandverbstoshowemphasis.

Intensifier+adj/v

Examplesofintensifiers:

(hn)(hnho)verygood

(zhn)(zhnho)good/great

(tbi)(tbiho)especiallygood

(fichng)(fichngho)prettygood

(ti)(tihole)verygood

(zu)(zuho)best

15.meaningmore,evenmore

(gng)canbeusedtomakeacomparisonandcomesbeforetheadjective.

+adj

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(tngguzhpinbodo,wdu

zhngguyulegngdudelioji)Accordingtothisnewsreport,Iknow
moreaboutChina.

16.meaninghalf

(bn)isusedbeforethemeasureword(g)tosayhalfanhour

(bngexiosh)halfanhour

Whenindicatingxhoursandahalf,thenplace(bn)after(g).

(linggbnxiosh)Twoandahalfhours.

Toshowhalfaminute,place(bn)beforeor

(bnfnzhng)halfaminute

(bnmiozhng)halfasecond

Toindicatexminutesandahalfplaceaftertheminute/secondwords.

(yfnbn)oneminuteandahalf

(lingmiobn)twoandahalfseconds

17.showsthehighestdegreeofsomething

Toexpressthehighestdegree,orsuperlativemeaningusetheintensifier,
(zu)meaningmost

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adj

(tshwzuxhuandelosh)Heismyfavourite
teacher.

18.meaningjust

(ji)hasmanyuses,andoneistoindicatejustoronly.

(wjiygbizi)Ionlyhave1cup.

Ifyouhaveanyquestionsorcommentspleaseleavethembelow!

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