主谓宾
zhǔ wèi bīn
Basic sentence order
Chinese sentences run subject, then verb, then object — the same order as English, with none of the endings.
Subject + Verb (+ Object)
How it works
The core of a Chinese sentence is subject-verb-object, exactly as in English. 我爱你 is I-love-you, word for word. Nothing on the verb changes for person, number or tense; 我爱 and 他们爱 use the identical form 爱.
Everything else you learn at HSK 1 hangs off this skeleton. Time words go before the verb, place phrases go before the verb, and negation goes before the verb — the object stays put at the end. When a sentence feels wrong, the fix is almost always that something was placed after the verb that belongs in front of it.
Examples
wǒ ài nǐ
我爱你。
I love you.
tā hē chá
他喝茶。
He drinks tea.
xué shēng men kàn shū
学生们看书。
The students read books.
Common mistakes
- Don't add a form of "to be" before a verb: 我是喝茶 is wrong; 我喝茶 is the whole sentence.