Word order
Who, then when, then how and where, then the verb and what it acts on: 我明天在学校学习. Time words come early in the sentence, and at Higher the topic can come first.
Learn
Word order, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Build a sentence in the order subject, verb, object
The basic order is the same as in English: 我喜欢音乐。 (I like music). A Chinese verb never changes its form, whoever does the action and whenever it happens, so 我去, 她去 and 他们去 all use the same 去. Time words and small particles show when something happens, not the verb.
Use the pronouns, with 们 for more than one
我 (I, me), 你 (you), 他 (he, him) and 她 (she, her) add 们 to become plural: 我们, 你们, 他们, 她们. 您 is a polite you, for a teacher or an adult you don't know, and 大家 means everyone: 大家好！ A pronoun stays the same whether it does the action or receives it: 我爱她, 她爱我.
Put the time before the verb
When something happens comes early, before the verb: 我明天去北京。 You can also start the sentence with it: 明天我去北京。 It never goes at the end, where English often puts it, so "I'm going to Beijing tomorrow" can't finish on 明天.
Put the place where you do something before the verb
The place an action happens, with 在, comes before the verb too: 我在学校吃午饭。 Word for word that is "I at school eat lunch". Only the place you go to follows the verb: 我去学校。
Line up a longer sentence: who, when, with whom or how, where, then the action
Each part has its slot. 我每天跟朋友在公园打篮球。 is who (我), when (每天), with whom (跟朋友), where (在公园) and then the action (打篮球): every day I play basketball with friends in the park. How you travel takes the same slot as with whom: 我周末坐火车去伦敦。
Go from the biggest unit to the smallest
Chinese starts big and gets smaller. A date runs year, month, day: 2026年10月9日. A time runs day, part of the day, then the hour: 明天上午九点 is 9 a.m. tomorrow. A place runs from the country down: 中国北京.
Point to things with 这 and 那
这 is this and 那 is that. At the start of a sentence they stand alone: 这是我的书。 那是我妹妹。 Before a noun they need a measure word: 这个人, 那本书. Here and there are 这儿 and 那儿.
Put the topic first, then say something about itHigher only
You can bring the thing you are talking about to the front and then comment on it: 这本书我看过。 (This book, I've read it.) 饺子我很喜欢。 (Dumplings, I really like.) It sounds natural in speech and varies a Higher answer, though the plain order is always fine.
Word order key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Subject
- The person or thing doing the action, which comes first: the 我 in 我喜欢音乐.
- Verb
- The action word. In Chinese it never changes for the person or the time: 去 is the same for I, she and they.
- Object
- The person or thing the action is done to, after the verb: the 音乐 in 我喜欢音乐.
- Time word
- A word for when, such as 今天, 明天 or 每天. It goes before the verb, never at the end.
- Place phrase
- 在 with a place, such as 在学校, saying where an action happens. It comes before the verb.
- 们
- The ending that makes a pronoun plural: 我们, 你们, 他们.
- 您
- The polite word for you, used to a teacher, to an adult you don't know and in a formal letter.
- 大家
- Everyone, or all of you: 大家好 greets a whole room.
- TopicHigher only
- The thing a sentence is about, put first and then commented on: 这本书 in 这本书我看过.
Common mistakes in Word order
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Putting the time at the end, as in 我去北京明天.
Time comes before the verb: 我明天去北京 or 明天我去北京. Think who, then when, then the action.
Putting the place after the verb, as in 我吃午饭在学校.
Where you do something goes before the verb, with 在: 我在学校吃午饭.
Putting "with my friends" at the end, as in 我打篮球跟朋友.
Who you do it with comes before the verb, after the time: 我周末跟朋友打篮球.
Looking for a past ending on the verb, the way English adds -ed.
A Chinese verb never changes. A time word, such as 昨天, and 了 after a finished action do that work: 我昨天看了一个电影.
Leaving the measure word out after 这 or 那, as in 这书.
Before a noun, 这 and 那 need a measure word: 这本书, 那个人.
Practice
Try a Word order question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Three of these sentences work. Which one does not?
- 我住在伦敦。
- 我在伦敦住。
- 我学习在伦敦。
- 我在伦敦学习。
Show the answer and the working
Answer: 我学习在伦敦。
Most verbs need 在 + place before them, so 我学习在伦敦 does not work. 住 (to live) is one of the few verbs that can also take 在 + place after it.
- The usual order: 在 + place, then the verb.
- 住 can go either way: 住在伦敦, 在伦敦住.
- 学习 cannot: only 在伦敦学习.