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The Chinese Adjectives

2025-01-09 Chinese
Flat-style illustration of Bingo teaching in a classroom with examples of Chinese adjectives like “big apple” and “good teacher”

In Chinese, adjectives have placement and usage rules quite different from those we are used to in other languages. We explain how they work:

Position of Adjectives

In Chinese, adjectives are always placed in front of the noun they describe. This is a general rule and it is important to follow it for the sentence to be grammatically correct. In Chinese, it is not imperative to use a verb like 是 [shì] "to be" to express the characteristic of the noun. The adjective connects directly with the noun.

Examples
hanzi pinyin meaning
这只小狗 zhè zhī xiǎo gǒu This dog is small
Literal translation: "This small dog"
这辆快车 zhè liàng kuài chē This car is fast
Literal translation: "This fast car"

Use of the Particle 的 [de]

The particle 的 [de] is used to connect adjectives of more than one character with the noun. This helps to specify the relationship between the adjective and the noun.

Examples
hanzi pinyin meaning
我喜欢吃红色的苹果 wǒ xǐhuān chī hóngsè de píngguǒ I like eating red apples
这是一个聪明的学生 zhè shì yīgè cōngmíng de xuéshēng This is a smart student

Expressing Degree with 很 [hěn]

To express the intensity of a quality, the particle 很 [hěn] is used before the adjective.

Examples
hanzi pinyin meaning
这个苹果很大 zhège píngguǒ hěn dà This apple is very big
她的老师很好 tā de lǎoshī hěn hǎo Her teacher is very good