Chinese Grammar: Tones, Pinyin and Measure Words

Short answer

Mandarin grammar is simple in form: words never change their endings, and English word order (subject, verb, object) mostly works. The work is in three other places: tones, which are pitch patterns that are part of every word; characters, which you learn by their building blocks; and small words such as 了 le, 吗 ma and measure words, which do the job that English endings do.

The four tones

Pinyin letters that sound different

Pinyin is the official way of writing Chinese sounds in the Latin alphabet. Most letters sound roughly as in English, but these seven do not. Learn them first and you can read any pinyin aloud.

Letter	Sounds like	Example
q	“ch” in cheese, with the lips spread	七 qī (chee)seven
x	“sh” in sheep, said with a smile	谢谢 xièxie (SHYEH-shyeh)thank you
zh	“j” in jam, with the tongue curled back	中国 Zhōngguó (JONG-gwaw)China
c	“ts” in cats	菜 cài (tsai)dish, vegetable
j	“j” in jeep, tongue flat	九 jiǔ (jyoh)nine
r	between “r” in run and “s” in measure	人 rén (ruhn)person
ü	say “ee” with rounded lips, like French “u”	女 nǚ (nyü)woman

How characters are built

Each character stands for one syllable with a meaning. Most are built from two parts: a radical, which hints at the meaning, and a phonetic part, which hints at the sound. Learning about 200 common parts lets you guess thousands of characters.

The character 马 mǎ, “horse”, works as a sound part in many others. Put “woman” beside it and you get 妈 mā, “mother”. Put “mouth” beside it and you get 吗 ma, the spoken question word. The tone can change, but the sound stays close.

About 80% of characters combine a meaning part with a sound part, so each new character is usually two things you already know.

Word order: subject, time, place, verb

Chinese words never change form, so word order carries the grammar. Time and place come before the verb, not after it as in English.

我wǒI是shìam学生xuéshengstudent

“I am a student.” No word for “a”, and 是 shì never changes: 他是 tā shì, “he is”.

我wǒI明天míngtiāntomorrow在家zài jiāat home工作gōngzuòwork

“I’m working at home tomorrow.” Time, then place, then the verb. The future is shown by “tomorrow”, not by changing the verb.

你nǐyou喝hēdrink茶chátea吗ma(question)

“Do you drink tea?” Add 吗 ma to the end of a statement to make a yes/no question. The word order stays the same.

Talking about time without tenses

English changes the verb to show time: eat, ate, have eaten. Chinese never changes the verb. Instead it adds a time word (yesterday, tomorrow) or a small marker that shows aspect: whether an action is finished, ongoing or has ever happened.

Finished: 了 le

我wǒI吃chīeat了le(done)饭fànmeal

“I ate. / I have eaten.” 了 after the verb marks the action as completed.

Ongoing: 在 zài

我wǒI在zài(in the middle of)吃饭chīfàneat-meal

“I am eating.” 在 before the verb means the action is happening now. The same word also means “at”.

Experience: 过 guo

我wǒI去qùgo过guo(ever)北京BěijīngBeijing

“I have been to Beijing.” 过 says something has happened at least once in your life.

Future: time word

我wǒI明年míngniánnext year去qùgo中国ZhōngguóChina

“I will go to China next year.” The time word alone shows the future. 要 yào, “going to”, can be added for emphasis.

Asking questions

Chinese never moves words around to ask a question. You keep the statement order and either add a particle at the end, or put the question word exactly where the answer will go.

Yes / no: 吗 ma

你nǐyou忙mángbusy吗ma(question)

“Are you busy?” A statement plus 吗 becomes a yes/no question. Chinese has no word for “are” before adjectives.

Verb-not-verb

你nǐyou去qùgo不bunot去qùgo

“Are you going (or not)?” Saying the verb, then 不 bù “not” and the verb again, asks the same thing without 吗.

Question word in place

你nǐyou去qùgo哪儿nǎrwhere

“Where are you going?” The question word sits where the answer goes: 我去北京 wǒ qù Běijīng, “I go to Beijing”.

And you? 呢 ne

我wǒI很好hěn hǎovery well你nǐyou呢neand…?

“I’m well. And you?” 呢 after a noun asks “what about…?” and saves repeating the whole question.

Measure words

A measure word (or classifier) sits between a number and a noun, like “sheet” in “two sheets of paper”. In Chinese every counted noun needs one. 个 gè is the general one; the others group nouns by shape or type.

Measure word	Used for	Example
个 gè	People and most things (general)	三个人 sān gè rénthree · (measure) · people
本 běn	Books and bound volumes	一本书 yì běn shūone · (volume) · book
杯 bēi	Drinks in a cup or glass	两杯咖啡 liǎng bēi kāfēitwo · cups · coffee
只 zhī	Many animals	一只猫 yì zhī māoone · (animal) · cat
张 zhāng	Flat things: paper, tables, tickets	一张票 yì zhāng piàoone · (flat) · ticket

Polite and casual Chinese

Mandarin grammar does not change with politeness the way Japanese does, but word choice does. Use the polite column with older people, customers and anyone you have just met; the casual one with friends.

Meaning	Polite	Casual	Why
you	您nín (neen)	你nǐ (nee)	您 is the respectful “you”, common in shops, offices and with older people.
hello	您好nín hǎo	嗨hāi (high)	嗨 is borrowed from English “hi” and used between friends.
excuse me (to ask)	请问qǐngwèn (CHING-wun)	那个…nèige (NAY-guh)	请问 literally means “please may I ask”; 那个 is a casual “um…” to get attention.
thank you	谢谢您xièxie nín	谢了xiè le	Adding 您 makes thanks more formal; 谢了 is a quick “thanks”.
goodbye	再见zàijiàn (dzai-JYEN)	拜拜báibái (by-by)	再见 literally means “see again”. 拜拜 comes from English “bye-bye”.

How to start learning Chinese

1Master pinyin and tonesSpend the first two weeks on sounds alone, saying every syllable with its tone.
2Learn the 100 most common radicalsThey make every new character easier to remember.
3Learn words, not single characters电脑 diànnǎo, “electric brain”, is “computer”: learn the pair as one word.
4Build sentences in time-place-verb orderPractise with your own day: “Today I at home work.”
5Follow the HSK word listsHSK is China’s official proficiency exam; its nine levels (since 2021) set out the words and grammar for each stage, up to full fluency.