能 (néng), 会 (hùi) and 可以 (kě yǐ) are used before a verb to 

express the ability to do something.

  我能举起这个 - I can lift this

To express negative form, place "不 (bù)" before the auxiliary 

verbs (e.g., 能, 会 or 可以), rather than the regular verbs:

  我不能喝酒 - I can't drink alcohol

会 (hùi) is often used to express an acquired ability to do 

something:

  我会说法语 - I can speak French

能 (néng) and 可以 (kě yǐ) can also be used to express one has the 

permission to do something:

  我可以抽烟吗? - May I smoke?

想 (xiǎng) is used before a verb to express desire/intention to 

do something (would like to / want to):

  我想吃中餐 - I would like to have a chinese dish.

得 (dé), 必须 (bì xū), 应该 (yīng gāi) or 应当 (yīng dāng) is used to 

express a strong obligation/necessity (must,should,ought/need to):

  你必须穿着正式 - You must be formally dressed

(Negative forms: 不用, 不必, 不应该, 不应当)

Other auxiliary verbs:

喜欢/爱 - like/love to

要 - want to, will, must

可能 - can (possibly, probably will)

准备 - be preparing to (planning to)

愿意 - be willing to

敢 - dare to

[Note: Of the auxiliary verbs listed above, these can also be 

used as Regular Verb (with a noun as object):

喜欢/爱 - to like or love (something or someone)

想 - to think about a person, to miss (home or family)

要 - to want something

会 - to know/understand, such as a language

准备 - to prepare (something)]

Word Order, Patterns and Tenses in Chinese

The default word order in Chinese is Subject - Verb - Object (SVO), for example, 我爱你 - I love you.

For certain sentence patterns, it may have the characteristics 

of SOV languages. Here are some of the patterns:

*** 把 (bǎ) construction

In this pattern, the word order is changed to:

  Subject + 把 (bǎ) + Object + Verb

  我把东西忘在房间里了 - I have left something in my room

(Note: 把 can be replaced with 将 (jiāng) and 拿 (ná):

  他将旗子举起了 - He raised the flag)

*** Sentences with an indirect object can be marked by the 

dative 给 (gěi) [(Subject +) 给 + Object + Verb]

  请给我买张票 - Please buy me a ticket

(Note: "为 wèi/替 tì + Object" can be used to express "for ...")

*** 被 (bèi) construction

In this pattern, the word order is changed to:

  Object + 被 (bèi) + Subject + Verb

  你被他愚弄了 - You were fooled by him

(Note: 被 can be replaced with 叫 (jiào) and 让 (ràng), etc.)

To express past tense, use the past particle 了 (le) after the 

verb or the object. But for verbs 是 and 在, don't use 了, 

instead, add a time specification after the subject. 曾 (céng) 

used before the verb also expresses the past tense.

  我看见你了 - I saw you

  我去年在德国 - I was in Germany last year

To express experiential perfective, use 过 (guò) after the verb: 

  我去过德国 - I have been to Germany

To express future tense, use 将 (jiāng)(要), 要 (yào) before the 

verb. 就(jiù)/要(yào) can be used to express an action in the 

near future.

  我将去美国 - I'll go to the United States

  我明天就到了 - I'll arrive tomorrow

To express progressive/continuous tense, use 正(zhèng)/在(zài)/正在 

before the verb, or 着 (zhe) after the verb

  我在看书 - I'm reading a book

  她唱着歌 - She is singing a song

To express perfect tense, use 已经 (yǐ jīng) before the verb, or 

完了 (wán le) after the verb, or 已经 + verb + (完)了:

  他已经去美国了 - He has left for the United States

To express negation, add "不 bù" before or after the Verb 

(Present tense):

  我不吃这个 - I don't eat this

  我找不到它 - I can't find it

For Past/Perfect tense, add "没 méi/还没 hái méi" before the Verb:

  我没听懂 - I didn't understand

  我还没吃 - I haven't eaten

Questions / Question Words

To form a simple questioning sentence, add question particle 吗 (ma) at the end of the non-questioning form.

  你是美国人吗? - Are you American?

Another form is to use 是不是 (is or is not) or an auxiliary verb 

with 不 (bù) in between (e.g., 会不会，能不能):

  你是不是中国人? - Are you Chinese?

    是的 - Yes    /   不是 - No

  你会不会说中文? - Can you speak chinese?

To express doubt/uncertainty or surmise, use 吧 (ba) at the end:

  你就是吴先生吧？- Are you Mr. Wu? (You are Mr. Wu, I suppose?)

  你最近很忙吧? - You must be very busy recently, right?

For more complicated questions, use the following interrogative 

personal pronouns. Put them at the place where the answer would 

normally appear. 呢 (ne) used as interrogative particle can be 

placed at the end of the sentence.

谁 (shéi/shuí) - who? - asking about persons

  他是谁(呢）？ - Who is he? 

什么 (shén me) - what? - asking about things

  那是什么(呢)？ - What's that?

为什么 (wèi shén me) / 干吗 (gàn ma) - why? - asking why

  你为什么没去？ - Why didn't you go?

  你干吗不去？ - Why didn't you go?

 Note: "干吗" if used alone, means "what to do".

   你在干吗呢？- What are you doing?

什么时候 (shén me shí hòu) - when? - asking about time

  你什么时候来? - When are you coming?

哪 (nǎ) / 哪些 (nǎ xiē) - which? - asking about things

  哪些书是你的？ - Which books are yours?

哪儿/哪里 (nǎr/nǎ li) - where? - asking about whereabouts

  你在哪儿? - Where are you?

怎么/怎么样 (zěn me/zěn me yàng) - how? / how about?

  到希尔顿饭店怎么走? - How can I get to Hilton Hotel?

多少 (duō shǎo) / 几(个) - how many? - asking quantity

  多少人来了?  - How many people came?

To express choices in questions, use 还是 (hái shì) in between 

the choices.

  你是吃中餐还是吃西餐?

  - Would you like to have chinese food or western food?

Particle 都 (dōu) can be used to express Every-, All-, etc.

  谁都 (shéi dōu) - everybody

  什么都 (shén me dōu) - everything

  每天都供应早餐吗? - Is breakfast served every day?

• ability [ə´biliti]   n.(办事)能力；才干   (初中英语单词)
• willing [´wiliŋ]   a.情愿的，乐意的   (初中英语单词)
• sentence [´sentəns]   n.判决 vt.宣判；处刑   (初中英语单词)
• reading [´ri:diŋ]   n.(阅)读；朗读；读物   (初中英语单词)
• complicated [´kɔmplikeitid]   a.结构复杂的；难懂的   (初中英语单词)
• western [´westən]   a.西的；西方的   (初中英语单词)
• negative [´negətiv]   a.否定的 n.否定词   (高中英语单词)
• particle [´pɑ:tikl]   n.微粒；极小量   (高中英语单词)
• formally [´fɔ:məli]   ad.形式地，正式地   (英语四级单词)
• indirect [,indi´rekt]   a.间接的；迂回的   (英语四级单词)
• specification [,spesifi´keiʃən]   n.详述；规格   (英语六级单词)
• surmise [´sə:maiz]   n.&a.推测(的)；猜疑(的)   (英语六级单词)