HSK 1Lesson 8 of 13 · 7 grammar points

The main parts of a sentence

Find the subject and predicate first, then locate the object, noun modifiers, adverbials and complements. These roles are not determined by word count: a whole clause can later fill a single role. At this level, practice with transparent short sentences.

Learning goals (7)

Subjects.
Nominal predicates.
Verb and adjective predicates.
Objects.
Attributive modifiers.
Adverbials.
Action counts.

这个学生

Subjects

A noun, pronoun or noun phrase can identify who or what the predicate is about. Chinese does not require subject–verb agreement endings.

这个学生喜欢看书。

Zhè ge xué shēng xǐ huān kàn shū.

This student likes reading.

Pitfall: Do not add a plural or person ending to 喜欢.

十八岁

Nominal predicates

Age, dates and certain short nominal descriptions can act as predicates without 是. This does not license omitting 是 in all identification sentences.

他今年十八岁。

Tā jīn nián shí bā suì.

He is eighteen this year.

Pitfall: 我是学生 normally needs 是; an age predicate behaves differently.

很大

Verb and adjective predicates

Verbs state actions; adjectives can directly describe the subject. 很 is common in neutral adjective statements but does not always mean strongly very.

这个房间很大。

Zhè ge fáng jiān hěn dà.

This room is big.

Pitfall: Do not normally say 这个房间是很大 as a neutral basic description.

这本书

Objects

The object follows its verb and may be a whole noun phrase. It can represent a person, thing or content selected by the verb.

我喜欢这本书。

Wǒ xǐ huān zhè běn shū.

I like this book.

Pitfall: Identify the whole 这本书 as the object, not only 书.

两本新书

Attributive modifiers

Place ownership, descriptive and quantity expressions before the noun. 的 often links a longer descriptive phrase to the noun.

这是两本新书。

Zhè shì liǎng běn xīn shū.

These are two new books.

Attributive examples at this level: 我的书 (possessor), 很好的老师 (descriptive phrase), 两本书 (quantity). Do not assume every modifier requires 的; 新书 and 两本书 ordinarily do not.

Pitfall: Quantity and descriptive modifiers precede the head noun; 两本新书 does not need 的 between every component.

明天在家

Adverbials

Time, location and manner expressions frame the action. Time can appear before the subject or between subject and verb; location usually precedes the action.

我明天在家学习。

Wǒ míng tiān zài jiā xué xí.

I will study at home tomorrow.

Time before subject: 明天我去学校. Time after subject: 我明天去学校. Place before action: 我在学校学习. Adverb before verb: 我也去. Scope and the larger context can license variation, so learn these as basic defaults.

Pitfall: Avoid copying English final-location order into every Chinese sentence.

一下

Action counts

A count complement says how many times an action happens. 一下 can mark one brief action; counts occur after the verb.

请看一下。

Qǐng kàn yī xià.

Please take a quick look.

Pitfall: Action counts differ from counting the object itself.

Source details (official syllabus)

Subjects
Syllabus item
名词、代词或名词性短语作主语
Grammar ID
grammar-L1-035
PDF page
387 (printed 384)
Nominal predicates
Syllabus item
名词、代词、数词或数量短语作谓语
Grammar ID
grammar-L1-036
PDF page
387 (printed 384)
Verb and adjective predicates
Syllabus item
动词或动词性短语、形容词或形容词性短语作谓语
Grammar ID
grammar-L1-037
PDF page
387 (printed 384)
Objects
Syllabus item
名词、代词或名词性短语作宾语
Grammar ID
grammar-L1-038
PDF page
387 (printed 384)
Attributive modifiers
Syllabus item
名词性词语、形容词性短语、数量短语作定语
Grammar ID
grammar-L1-039
PDF page
387 (printed 384)
Adverbials
Syllabus item
副词、形容词作状语表示时间、处所的词语作状语
Grammar ID
grammar-L1-040
PDF page
387 (printed 384)
Action counts
Syllabus item
动词+动量补语
Category
数量补语1
Grammar ID
grammar-L1-041
PDF page
387 (printed 384)