How to use 主语谓语宾语
Subj. + Verb (+ Obj.)
Many simple Mandarin action sentences begin with a subject and continue with a verb. If the verb takes an object, that object commonly follows it. This basic order resembles English and is a useful foundation for describing who does what. Some complete utterances need only a subject and a suitable verb.
An object is not compulsory for every verb, and shared context can supply information left unstated. When expanding a sentence, do not assume that every new element follows English placement. Time expressions, locations, and adverbs such as 也 have their own common positions. Start with the subject and action relationship, then add each extra element according to the construction it belongs to.
Examples with pinyin and English
你们吃。
You eat.
他笑。
He laughs.
我读。
I read.
你去。
You go.
他们吃肉。
They eat meat.
你喝茶吗？
Do you drink tea?
What to remember
- Identify who acts and what happens.
- Place ordinary objects after their verbs.
- Check adverb and time word placement separately.
Practise the pattern
Use one example as a model. Change the people, objects or situation, keeping the grammar pattern in the same order. Read the explanation again to check how your sentence uses the construction.
Look up the grammar words
Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.