忽然 vs 突然: an analysis of the word “suddenly” in Chinese
When you want to express “all of a sudden” or “suddenly”, there are two words that come to mind: 突然 and 忽然. Both of these words can be used before…
A Summary of the Different Aspects of Chinese Action Expressions
In English, the verb is usually the key to show the different aspects of an action in English, such as be / be doing / was / was doing /…
Grammar Talk: The use of 是…的 (shì…de) Sentence Structure in Chinese
In our ‘Chinese Made Simple Level 1 course’, we studied the grammar structure of ‘是...的 (shì...de)’. In this article, we’re going to elaborate a bit more about it. The ‘是...的…
How to Tell Tenses in Chinese -Use the Adverbs and Nouns of Time Correctly
Unlike English and some other languages, Chinese doesn’t have a specialized pattern of verb changes to indicate tenses. So how do the Chinese tell the different tenses apart? Well, we…
Whoah! The same Chinese Characters but for Different Words? Tips to distinguish the homophones in Chinese
Before we start our topic today on Chinese homophones, let’s first look at the following two sentences: 一朵漂亮的花儿。(Yī duǒ piàoliàng de huār. )他今天花了一百元。(Tā zuátiān huā le yībǎi yuán.) We can…
The Different Ways to Say “BECAUSE” and “SO” in Chinese
You may be looking for a way to say “Because” or “So” in Mandarin Chinese. Or perhaps, you have learned how to say “Because” (“因为” yīnwèi), and “So” (“所以” suǒyǐ),…
The Many Ways to Say “I Think” in Chinese
Once Chinese learners reach the intermediate or advanced stage, they will encounter, “synonyms”, or words with similar meanings. Telling the difference between words with similar meanings is a key part…
Comparing 4 Chinese Words that Mean “the Future”
A real question many Chinese learners will encounter early is how to express future events. In Chinese, we have a series of time words to address that: “将来”(jiānglái), “未来”(wèilái), “以后”(yǐhòu)…
Making a Clean Sweep of all Basic Associated Constructions in Chinese
You may have hit a wall in the study of Function words in Chinese. Maybe you have mastered Function words like “着”, “了”, “过”, but the next step is to…