Traditional Chinese grammar

One point at a time.

Mandarin grammar, with every example in traditional characters. The grammar is identical to the simplified reference — 我把书看完了 and 我把書看完了 are one sentence — so this is the same sixty points written the way Taiwan and Hong Kong write them.

A1 20 points

Saying what something is with 是

A + 是 + B

是 joins two nouns. It never goes with an adjective.
Adjectives are verbs, and take 很

Subject + 很 / 非常 + Adjective

我很累 is “I’m tired”, and 很 is not doing the work you think.
Asking yes/no questions with 嗎

Statement + 嗎？

Put 嗎 on the end of a statement. Nothing else moves.
A-not-A questions

Subject + Verb + 不 + Verb？

你去不去？ — offer both answers and let them pick one.
Question words stay where the answer goes

Statement, with a question word in the answer’s place

你去哪兒？ — nothing moves to the front.
Saying no with 不

Subject + 不 + Verb / Adjective

不 covers the present, the future and every habit. The past has its own word.
Saying it didn’t happen with 沒

Subject + 沒(有) + Verb

沒 is for the past. 不 cannot do this job, and 了 cannot join in.
有 — having, and there being

Subject + 有 + Object · Place + 有 + Thing

One verb covers “I have a car” and “there’s a car outside”.
的 — whose it is, and which one

Owner + 的 + Thing

的 is the apostrophe-s, the “which”, and the “mine”, all in one character.
Measure words

Number + Measure word + Noun

You cannot say 三書. Something has to go between the number and the noun.
Numbers

Tens + 十 + Units · 百 / 千 / 萬 · 兩

Ten-one is eleven, two-ten is twenty. After that you are just reading it aloud.
這 and 那 — this and that

這 / 那 + Measure word + Noun

這本書, not 這書. Pointing still needs a measure word.
Time and place come before the verb

Subject + Time + Place + Verb + Object

我明天去北京, not 我去北京明天.
Telling the time, and dates

Number + 點 + Number + 分 / 半 / 刻 · Month + 月 + Day + 號

兩點半 — two o’clock half. Read it left to right and it comes out.
在 — where something is, and where you do it

Subject + 在 + Place · Subject + 在 + Place + Verb

我在家 is “I’m at home”. 我在家吃飯 is “I eat at home”. Same 在, different job.
也 and 都 — too, and all

Subject + 也 / 都 + Verb

Both go in front of the verb. Neither can end a sentence.
想, 要, 會, 能 — wanting and being able

Subject + 想 / 要 / 會 / 能 + Verb

Four words where English has two, and 不要 does not mean “don’t want”.
了 — the action finished

Verb + 了 (+ Object)

Not a past tense. A finished action, which is often but not always in the past.
請 and 吧 — asking nicely

請 + Verb · Sentence + 吧 · Verb + 一下

A bare verb is already an order. 請 and 吧 are how you take the edge off.
比 — comparing two things

A + 比 + B + Adjective · A 跟 B 一樣

我比他高. No word for “more”, and no room for 很.

A1 20 points

Saying what something is with 是

Adjectives are verbs, and take 很

Asking yes/no questions with 嗎

A-not-A questions

Question words stay where the answer goes

Saying no with 不

Saying it didn’t happen with 沒

有 — having, and there being

的 — whose it is, and which one

Measure words

Numbers

這 and 那 — this and that

Time and place come before the verb

Telling the time, and dates

在 — where something is, and where you do it

也 and 都 — too, and all

想, 要, 會, 能 — wanting and being able

了 — the action finished

請 and 吧 — asking nicely

比 — comparing two things

A2 20 points

了 at the end — something changed

過 — have you ever

在 before the verb — happening now

著 — and it stayed that way

Result complements — 看完, 聽懂, 找到

Directional complements — 來 and 去

Potential complements — 聽不懂, 找得到

把 — what you did to the thing

被 — the passive, used far less than you would expect

得 — how well you do it

就 and 才 — sooner or later than expected

還是 and 或者 — two words for “or”

因為…所以… and 雖然…但是…

如果…就… — if, then

一…就… — as soon as

是…的 — it was “then”, it was “there”

又, 再 and 還 — three kinds of again

How long you did it for

Saying the verb twice — 看看, 試試

快要…了 — about to happen

B1 20 points

的, 得 and 地 — three de, one sound

越來越 and 越…越… — more and more

除了…以外 — except, and also

連…都 — even

不但…而且… — not only, but also

Verbs that come apart — 見面, 幫忙, 睡覺

起來, 下去 and 出來 when nothing moves

無論 / 不管…都 — no matter what

即使…也 — even if

一邊…一邊… — two things at once

讓 and 使 — making things happen

好像 — seems, and I think

差點兒 — nearly, and nearly not

對…來說, 對於 and 關於 — regarding

通過, 根據 and 按照 — through, according to, in line with

於是, 因此 and 結果 — and so, therefore, in the end

到底 and 難道 — pressing, and disbelieving

呢, 啊 and 嘛 — the words that carry the tone

又…又… — both, and

上, 中 and 裡 where there is no place