Word Order

Basic Word Order in Mandarin

• Mandarin sentences typically follow a subject–verb–object (SVO) word order.
• Example: 我吃饭 (I eat rice). 我 (subject) is performing the action 吃 (verb), and 饭 (object) is the receiver of the action.

Location Words in Mandarin

• Place or location words usually come before the verb.
• Example: 我在学校学习 (I study at school). 在学校 (place) comes before 学习 (verb).

Time Words in Mandarin

• In Mandarin, time words (like ‘today’, ‘yesterday’, ‘next year’) typically go after the subject but before the verb.
• Example: 我昨天看电影 (I watched a movie yesterday). 昨天 (time word) comes after 我 (subject) but before 看电影 (verb).

Using ‘了’ in Mandarin

• The word ‘了’ is often used to indicate completed action. It usually goes at the end of a sentence or after a verb.
• Example: 我看了电影 (I have watched a movie). ‘了’ comes after 看 (verb).

Doubling Verbs in Mandarin

• Sometimes Mandarin requires doubling of the verb, the first verb is usually precedes the object, and the second follows.
• Example: 看书看得很快 (Read books read very fast). Here, 看 is repeated before and after 书 (object).

Don’t forget, Mandarin is a flexible language. The aforementioned rules are more guidelines and not strict rules. Practising more real-world dialogues is the best way to understand the word order in Mandarin.