Languages 1001

Ready to make your first real Chinese sentences? Let’s learn the simplest, most useful sentence in Mandarin: the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) sentence, also called the Verb-Object sentence (动词谓语句 dòngcí wèiyǔ jù). What’s a Verb-Object Sentence?
A verb-object sentence just means we put WHO is doing something + WHAT they are doing + WHAT/WHERE/WHO they are doing it to, like English “I eat bread” or “She watches TV.” Formula:
Subject + Verb + Object Just like: SVO = "Someone does something" (Easy, right?)

Example Sentence	Pinyin	Meaning
我买一个面包。	wǒ mǎi yí gè miànbāo	I buy a bread.
他不去医院。	tā bù qù yīyuàn	He does NOT go to the hospital.

Let’s break it down:

• 我 (wǒ) = I/me
• 买 (mǎi) = buy
• 一个面包 (yí gè miànbāo) = a bread
• 他 (tā) = he/him
• 去 (qù) = go
• 医院 (yīyuàn) = hospital
• 不 (bù) = not (negates the verb!)

Notice! The word 不 (bù, “not”) always goes in front of the verb (before qù or mǎi, etc) to say “don’t” or “not.” Let’s play mad scientist: Move around the words to make new sentences!

• 我不去学校。 I’m not going to school!
• Lili买书。 Lili buys (a) book(s).
• Haoran不吃米饭。 Haoran does not eat rice. (Sorry, Haoran’s on keto.)

Bonus tip: Chinese doesn’t use “a/an/the” as much as English—you can often leave them out, or use 一个 (yí gè, “one”) for “a.” Get ready to sound direct and efficient!

Complete the sentences with the correct words! (Use pinyin if you can’t type characters!)

1. 我 一个面包。 (I ___ a bread.)

2. 他 去 医院。 (He ___ go to hospital.)

3. 张莉莉 米饭。 (Lili ___ rice.)

4. 王浩然 学校。 (Haoran ___ to school.)

5. 你 书吗？ (Do you ___ books?)

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