Chinese grammar

This article describes the grammar of Standard Mandarin. For the grammars of other forms of Chinese, see their respective articles via links on Chinese language and Spoken Chinese.
Chinese grammar—here referring to that of Standard Mandarin—shares a similar system of grammar with the many language varieties or dialects of the Chinese language, different from those employed by other language families, and comparable to the similar features found within, for instance, the Slavic languages or Semitic languages. Beyond genetic similarities within the Sino-Tibetan language family to which Chinese belongs, there are also strong similarities within the East Asian sprachbund, a group of mutually-influenced but not directly related languages, including Japanese and Korean.
One key feature of Chinese grammar is that all words have only one grammatical form, as the language lacks conjugation, declension, or any other inflection (there are minor exceptions). Functions such as number in nouns or tense in verbs are expressed through word order or particles. In other words, where nouns in other languages might be distinguished by singular and plural ("woman" and "women") or verbs by number or person ("I go", "he goes"), Chinese lexemes are typically invariant.

Bainian - Chinese New Year Greetings

When the first day of a new year comes, the first thing Chinese would do is Bainian, Chinese New Year greetings.
As Chinese would stay up on the New Year’s Eve till the early morning of the first day of the new year, when the very moment of the new year arrives people would say ‘Bainian, Bainian’to everyone around and some auspicious phrases, known as Chinese wishing, such as Gong Xi Fa Cai (wish you make plenty of money), Ji Xiang Ru Yi (wish you be lucky and everything goes as wished), He Jia Huan Le (wish your family is harmonious and every family member is happy), and Shen Ti Jian Kang (wish you healthy).
On the first day after getting up, kids should go Bainian to their grandparents and everyone to his/her parents. In the ancient times, the gesture that kids would make to their grandparents is Ketou, falling on kneels and placing palms and forehead downward onto the ground. And the wishes to the aged family members are always related health and longevity. When greeting people of the same age, Chinese would Zuoyi, making a bow with hands folded in front and also say something sounding auspicious.
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The Year of Niu - Chinese Ox Year

Chinese new year 2009 falls on January 26, 2009 when Chinese twelve-year circle will roll into the year of ox. In Chinese language, ox is pronounced as Niu. Niu, as an animal in general, was playing the role of dragging a plough in field before the invention of modern industrialized farm tools in Chinese history. The image of Niu in Chinese culture is hard-working and down-to-earth so that it is highly respected by Chinese.
When there are different terms, such as ox, bull, cattle, etc., to refer to different species of one kind, there is only one, Niu, for all those terms. And in Chinese there is no special term for beef but just the addition of a word, Rou which means meat in general, to Niu that forms a phrase of Niu Rou. Bull market in Chinese is called Niu Shi with shi standing for market. Niu is also a family name in China and a commonly used one.
Thanks to the shape of Niu, being strong and muscular, and its powerful moos, Niu has become a new slang frequently used by Chinese young and more and more Chinese of all ages. It, functioning as an adjective, is used to praise a capable person. And in most cases it is used humorously. Particularly, when the year of ox is coming around, Chinese are saying greetings mixing Niu the symbolic animal of the year and Niu the popularly used slang, such as wish you be Niu in the year of Niu, which means wish you a success in the year of ox.
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Chinese Culture_Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon（新月）on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon（满月）15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival（元宵节）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth（万物）, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
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Strokes of Chinese Characters

Every Chinese character is made up of a number of strokes, or single movements of the pen or writing brush. The order and direction in which the strokes are made are very important in producing uniform characters, and learning the basic rules of stroke order can also ease the process of learning to write.
In general -- and there are exceptions -- characters are written from left to right and top to bottom, and horizontal strokes before vertical ones. The outsides of enclosed characters are written before the insides, and dots, strokes that cut through a character, minor strokes and bottom enclosing strokes are written last.
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流行词语Popular Words

Quán tou chăn pǐn拳头产品High quality product/s
Jià rì jīng jì假日经济Holiday economics. Refers to business peak periods which are usually holiday and festive seasons
Rè mén huà tí热门话题A popular topic; a subject of topical interest
Hōng dòng xiào yīng轰动效应A sensational effect
gōng zhòng rén wù公众人物A public figure; someone in the public eye
bó kè博 客Blog
lìng lèi另 类Out of the ordinary; different from the norm
huí tiē回 贴To write or give a response (on the Internet)
yù mèn郁 闷Gloomy; depressed
tòng biăn痛 扁To give someone a good or sound beating
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给“年青者”最诚肯的忠告

A bit of advice for those about to retire. If you are only 65, never move to a retirement community. Everybody else is n their 70s, 80s, or 90s. So when something has to be moved, lifted or loaded, they yell,"Get the kid."
这里想对将要退休者提一点忠告。如果你只有65岁的话，千万别进退休社区。
因为那里人人都七八十岁或者八九十岁了。每当要搬东西，抬东西或者装东西时，他们就叫喊，“让小的干吧。”
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How to Use Chopsticks?

Rest one chopstick on the 3rd and 4th fingers with thumb on top of the middle part of the chopstick.Hold the other chopstick on the index and middle fingers, by using the tip of the thumb to keep the chopstick in place.Level Chopsticks, pick up food with movement of the upper chopstick, keep the lower chopstick stationary at all times.
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Second language

A mother mouse was out for a stroll with her babies when she spotted a cat crouched behind a bush. She watched the cat, and the cat watched the mice. Mother mouse barked fiercely, "Woof, woof, woof!" The cat was so terrified that it ran for it's life. Mother mouse turned to her babies and said, "Now, do you understand the value of a second language?" 一只母老鼠带着孩子出来散步，突然她看见一只猫正在灌木丛中虎视耽耽。 母老鼠向着猫叫道：“汪，汪，汪”，猫听了非常害怕，拼命跑走了。 母老鼠回过头洋洋自得的对孩子说：“现在你知道外语的重要性了吧。”
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Part-time Job业余工作

When my son was a hign-school sophomore, he got a part-time job sacking groceries at a supermarket. He came home all smiles.
"How was your first day?" I asked.
"It was great, Dad," he replied. "I got to talk to some good-looking girls."
Since Stephen is not very talkative, I asked, "What did you say to them?"
"Do you prefer paper or plastic?"
我儿子在一所中学读二年级时，在一家超级市场找到了一份包装商品的业余工作。他满面笑容地回到了家。
“第一天感觉如何？”我问。
“好极了，爸爸。”他答道，“我跟许多漂亮的女孩子讲了话。”
由于斯蒂芬不善言谈，我问道：“你跟他们说了些什么？”
“你是喜欢纸包装还是塑料包装？”
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Chinese Culture-Terminology and Symbolism

Flowers: Flowers are an important part of the New year decorations. In old China, much use was made of natural products in celebrations as well as in daily life. The two flowers most associated with the New Year are the plum blossom and the water narcissus
Lai-See Envelopes: (Also called Hong-Bao) Money is placed in these envelopes and given to children and young adults at New Year’s time, much in the spirit as Christmas presents. Presents are also often exchanged between families.
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Lucky Character: The single word " FOOK ", or fortune, is often displayed in many homes and stores. They are usually written by brush on a diamond-shaped piece of red paper.
Plum Blossoms: stand for courage and hope. The blossoms burst forth at the end of winter on a seemingly lifeless branch. In Chinese art, plum blossoms are associated with the entire season of winter and not just the New Year.

Virtue 美 德

Many years after receiving my graduate degree, I returned to the State University of New York at Binghamton as a faculty member. One day in a crowded elevator, someone remarked on its inefficiency. I said the elevators had not changed in the 20 years since I began there as a student.
When the door finally opened, I felt a compassionate pat on my back, and turned to see an elderly nun smiling at me. "You'll get that degree, dear," she whispered. "Perseverance is a virtue."
获取研究生学位多年以后，我回到位于宾翰顿的纽约州立大学当教员。一天，电梯里很拥挤，有人抱怨电梯效率太低。我说自我在那里当学生起，20年来电梯一直没有换过。
最后当电梯门打开时，我感到有人在我的背上同情地拍了一下，回过头来我看到一位年长的修女正在朝我微笑。“你会拿到学位的，亲爱的，”她低声说道：“坚持不懈是一种美德。”
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Chinese Lunar Calendar

The Chinese calendar will often show the dates of both the Gregorian (Western) calendar and the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The Gregorian dates are printed in Arabic numerals, and the Chinese dates in Chinese numerals. Chinese Lunar Calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, and is constructed in a different fashion than the Western solar calendar.
Chinese Zodiac: The rotating cycle of twelve animal signs was a fok method for naming the years in traditional China. The animal signs for one another in an established order, and are repeated every twelve years. 1976 was the Year of the Dragon, 1977 was the year of the Snake.
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Chinese Lunar Calendar

The Chinese calendar will often show the dates of both the Gregorian (Western) calendar and the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The Gregorian dates are printed in Arabic numerals, and the Chinese dates in Chinese numerals. Chinese Lunar Calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, and is constructed in a different fashion than the Western solar calendar.
Chinese Zodiac: The rotating cycle of twelve animal signs was a fok method for naming the years in traditional China. The animal signs for one another in an established order, and are repeated every twelve years. 1976 was the Year of the Dragon, 1977 was the year of the Snake.
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Chinese Culture-Lantern Festival - 15th Day

The New Year celebrations ended on the 15th of the First Moon with the Lantern Festival. On the evening of that day, people carried lanterns into the streets to take part in a great parade. Young men would highlight the parade with a dragon dance. The dragon was made of bamboo, silk, and paper, and might stretch for more than hundred feet in length. The bobbing and weaving of the dragon was an impressive sight, and formed a fitting finish to the New Year festival.

Everybody’s Birthday
The entire first week was a time for socializing and amusement. On the streets, the stores were closed and an air of gaiety prevailed. There were numberous lion dances, acrobats, theatrical shows, and other diversions. Firecrackers, which symbolized driving away evil spirits, were heard throughout the first two weeks of the New year. The Seventh Day of the New Year was called "everybody’s birthday" as everyone was considered one year older as of that date. (In traditional China, individual birthdays were not considered as important as the New Year’s date. Everyone added a year to his age at New Year’s time rather than at his birthday.)

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A Useful Lesson 有益的教训

Mr． Thompson used to go to a bar near his house quite often，but he never took his son，Tom，because he was too young． Then when Tom had his eighteenth birthday， Mr．Thompson took him to his usual bar for the first time．They drank for half an hour， and then Mr．Thompson said to his son，“Now， Tom，I want to teach you a useful lesson．You must always be careful not to drink too much． And how do you know when you've had enough？ Well， I'll tell you．Do you see those two lights at the end of the bar？ When they seem to have become four，you've had enough and should go home．”
“But， Dad，” said Tom，“I can only see one light at the end of the bar．”
汤普森先生以前常常去他家附近的一个酒吧喝酒，但他从来不带他的儿子汤姆去，因为他年纪太小。后来，当汤姆年满十八岁的时候，汤普森先生第一次带他去他常去的那家酒吧。他们喝了半个小时，而后，汤普森先生对他儿子说：“汤姆，现在我要告诉你一个有益的教训。你必须时时小心不要喝得太多。你怎么知道你喝够了呢？好，我来告诉你。你看见酒吧那头有两盏灯吗？当那两盏灯看起来变成四盏的时候，你就喝够了，应该回家了。
“可是，爸爸。”汤姆说：“在酒吧那头我只能看见一盏灯。”
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can his football come out to play

George knocked on the door of his friend's house. When his friend's mother answered he asked, “can Albert come out to play? ”
“ No,” said the mother, “it's too cold. ”
“ Well, then, ” said George, “ can his football come out to play ? ”
乔冶敲着他朋友家的门。当朋友的妈妈来应门时，他问：“阿尔伯特可以出来玩吗？ ”
“ 不行， ” 那位妈妈说， “ 天气太冷了。 ”
“ 噢，那么， ” 乔冶， “ 他的足球可以出来玩吗？
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Chinese Culture-Lai-See

On New Year’s Day, the children were given Red Lai-See Envelopes , good luck money wrapped in little red envelopes. On New Year’s day, everyone had on new clothes, and would put on his best behavior. It was considered improper to tell a lie, raise one’s voice, use indecent language, or break anything on the first day of the year.
Starting from the second day, people began going out to visit friends and relatives, taking with them gifts and Lai-See for the children. Visitors would be greeted with traditional New year delicacies, such as melon seeds, flowers, fruits, tray of togetherness, and NIANGAO, New Year cakes.

Family Celebration
On the last day of the old year, everyone was busy either in preparing food for the next two days, or in going to the barbers and getting tidied up for the New Year’s Day. Tradition stipulated that all food be pre-pared before the New Year’s Day, so that all sharp instruments, such as knives and scissors, could be put away to avoid cutting the "luck" of the New Year. The kitchen and well were not to be disturbed on the first day of the Year.
The New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day celebrations were strickly family affairs. All members of the family would gather for the important family meal on the evening of the New year’s Eve. Even if a family member could not attend, an empty seat would be kept to symbolize that person’s presence at the banquet. At midnight following the banquet, the younger members of the family would bow and pay their respects to their parents and elders.
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Blindfold them

Stan: I won 92 goldfish. Fred: Where are you going to keep them? Stan: In the bathroom 。 Fred: But what will you do when you want to take a bath? Stan: Blindfold them! 斯丹：我赢了 92 条金鱼。 弗雷德：你想在哪儿养它们？ 斯丹：浴室。 弗雷德：但是你想洗澡时怎么办？ 斯丹：蒙住它们的眼睛！
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