Past · yesterday
我昨天有时间。
I had time yesterday.
MANDARIN FOR ENGLISH SPEAKERS
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A free Mandarin course, study tools, and resources for every stage. Simplified characters, with pinyin.
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New to Mandarin? See how it works Beginner ChineseSTART HERE
我学中文。I study Chinese.
Wǒ xué Zhōngwén.NEW TO MANDARIN?
How does Chinese work?
Coming from Romance languages? Start here: Mandarin verbs don’t change form for tense or person. You can still talk about the past, present, and future. Time words and context tell you when.
Watch what happens to “have”.
In Romance languages, the verb changes form. In these Mandarin sentences, 有 (yǒu, “have”) stays the same.
Present · today
我今天有时间。
I have time today.
Future · tomorrow
我明天有时间。
I will have time tomorrow.
Word order here: I + yesterday / today / tomorrow + have + time. Changing “I” to “you” or “they” also leaves 有 (yǒu) unchanged.
What about “I’ve done it” or “I’m doing it”?
Mandarin also uses words and particles to describe how an event unfolds. This is called aspect. Learn these in complete sentence patterns.
An event that happened
了 · le
我吃了一个苹果。
I ate an apple.
A previous experience
过 · guo
我吃过这个菜。
I have tried this dish before.
An action in progress
正在 · zhèngzài
我正在学习中文。
I am studying Chinese right now.
了 (le) is not a general past-tense ending. It can mark a realized event or a changed situation. Not every past sentence needs it, and these patterns do not fit every verb.
Explore time and aspect with 有Grammar references: time expressions and 了 and 过. Examples are written for this site.
01 / SOUND
Learn the tone with the word.
Pitch helps distinguish meanings: 妈 (mā) means “mother”; 马 (mǎ) means “horse”. Listen and repeat from day one.
Hear your first tones02 / WRITING
Use characters and pinyin together.
你好 is written in Chinese characters. Nǐ hǎo is pinyin, which shows pronunciation and tones. Both mean “hello”. Pinyin has its own sound rules.
Get to know pinyin03 / GRAMMAR
No masculine/feminine agreement.
Mandarin nouns don’t have grammatical masculine or feminine genders, and adjectives don’t change endings to agree with them. Word order and sentence patterns still matter.
Build a first sentenceStart with a short sentence. Hear it, read the pinyin, and use it yourself.
Try lesson oneLEARN & PRACTICE
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