Learning guides

Examples and practical notes to help you work with Chinese.

Preparing a Chinese lesson from one word list

Reuse a small vocabulary set for reading, handwriting and a printable class activity.

Learning Chinese characters through components and words

Compare written structure and recurring sound clues while learning characters in useful words.

Choosing Chinese reading practice for beginners

Choose by topic, length and how much support you need, then read the same passage again.

Practising Mandarin tones without guessing from spelling

Listen to short contrasts, repeat a phrase and compare the whole utterance.

Choosing a Chinese name: sound, meaning and context

Explore a name as a whole, with its surname, pronunciation and possible associations.

How to start learning Chinese with a small daily routine

A practical first routine: learn the sounds, read short texts and keep words you actually use.

Tian zi ge, mi zi ge and blank Chinese writing paper

Choose a writing grid by the kind of support you need, then print a short practice sheet.

How to read Chinese with pinyin

Pinyin helps you get through a sentence. Use it as a reference while you learn to recognize the characters.

Idioms and literary wording

A four-character expression may carry a conventional meaning that cannot be recovered by translating each character. Check the whole expression and its register.

Measure words

A number or demonstrative before a noun often needs a measure word. 个 is common, but books, sheets and some other nouns prefer other measure words.

知道 and 认识

知道 commonly means knowing information. 认识 commonly refers to knowing or recognizing a person, word, or place through familiarity.

Time and place before the action

A common neutral order is subject, time, place, action. Time may also appear before the subject. More than one natural ordering can exist.

会 often describes learned skill or a prediction. 能 often describes ability or circumstances. 可以 often expresses permission or acceptability. Their uses overlap, so a single English gloss is not enough.

看完、看懂、看得到

A result complement states an outcome. A potential complement with 得 or 不 expresses whether an outcome is possible.

被: the affected participant

被 introduces a passive construction. It highlights the participant affected by an event; the person performing the action may be omitted.

把: what happens to an object

把 places a known or identifiable object before the verb and typically highlights its handling or resulting state. A bare verb is often insufficient.

Put the description before the noun

Chinese noun modifiers usually precede the noun. A longer describing phrase is commonly connected with 的.

的、地、得

的 links a modifier to a noun. 地 often links a manner expression to a verb. 得 follows a verb or adjective and introduces a complement. Spoken Mandarin often reduces these to de.

了 and 过

过 commonly marks experience. 了 commonly presents a particular realized event. Neither is simply the English past tense.

了: a completed event or a new situation

Verb + 了 often presents an event as realized. Sentence-final 了 often signals a changed situation. It is not a general past-tense ending; context matters.