Learning Objective
Chinese Grammar
The Chinese grammar section explains the main grammatical structures you need to know in order to make your own sentences. There are example sentences to show how the language is used.
Watch our videos to help you understand grammar and listen our audios to help you pronounce the language in an interactive, clear and simple way.
In this unit, learn to:
Use “一边…一边…” to indicate two actions that occur simultaneously
Use “一边…一边…” to express that two actions happen at the same time.
We use the phrase “一邊…一邊…” to express that two actions happens at the same time.
The grammatical structure is “Subj + 一邊 + action1 + 一邊 + action2”.
Examples:
妈妈一边做饭一边听音乐。
Mother is listening to music while cooking.
爸爸一边坐公交车一边看手机。
Dad is riding on the bus while using his mobile phone.
Conditional : 只有…才
Use a conditional structure “只有…才” to express the condition of one action being connected with another action
We use the conditional structure “只有…才…” to express that only upon fulfilling a condition of the first clause of an action, then the second clause of an action can start to take place. In other words, “只有” means "only if" and is connected with “才” to indicate that only satisfying the first course of an action will bring about the desired result of second course of an action.
The grammatical structure is “只有 + First Clause of Action + 才 + Second Clause of Action”
Examples:
只有努力不懈,才会有好成绩。
Only unremitting efforts will have good results.
只有休息,才会让病情好转。
Only rest can improve the condition.
Chinese Vocabulary and Writing
The Chinese vocabulary and writing section introduces new Chinese vocabulary you need to know in order to understand the language. For each new vocabulary, you learn what it means, how to pronounce and write it.
Having a good vocabulary will help you improve your language level and become a more confident speaker of Mandarin. Practising Chinese writing is often one of the best ways to improve your vocabulary.
Chinese character copybooks available online or in printed format enable you to practise your Chinese writing in a stroke by stroke manner.
In this unit, learn how to pronounce and write new vocabulary below:
阿姨 [ ā yí ] (n) aunt
爱好 [ ài hào ] (n) hobby; interest
比赛 [ bǐ sài ] (n) match; competition
变化 [ biàn huà ] (v) to change
故事 [ ɡù shì ] (n) story
刮风 [ ɡuā fēnɡ ] (v) to be windy
花园 [ huā yuán ] (n) garden
句 [ jù ] (m) a measure word used for sentences
上网 [ shànɡ wǎnɡ ] (v) to surf the internet
叔叔 [ shū shu ] (n) uncle
同意 [ tónɡ yì ] (v) to agree
一边 [ yì biān ] (adv) indicating two actions taking place at the same time
一会儿 [ yí huìr ] (n) a moment
游戏 [ yóu xì ] (n) game
愿意 [ yuàn yì ] (v) would like to
月亮 [ yuè liɑnɡ ] (n) moon
只有…才 [ zhǐ yǒu …cái ] (conj) only...(that/can)