Chinese grammar lessons, from A0 to C2

All 82 lessons of the Mandarin course, free to read: clear explanations in English, examples in Simplified characters (with pinyin up to A2), and practice questions. In the app, each lesson is taught in short steps with audio, then brought back for review.

Prefer to go by subject? See Chinese grammar by topic.

Good places to start

• A0 · The four tones
  The four tones and the neutral tone; tone marks in pinyin; why tones change meaning
• A0 · 是: to be (with nouns)
  是 and 不是 for names, nationality and jobs; 叫 and 姓 for names; 是 never before adjectives
• A1 · Measure words: 个, 本, 杯, 张, 口, 只
  三本书, 两杯咖啡: a number or 这/那 needs a measure word before the noun.
• A1 · 了: a completed action
  我买了两本书; 我没去 (no 了 in the negative). 了 marks completion, not just the past.
• A1 · 不 or 没: two ways to say 'not'
  不 for habits, wishes, the future, 是 and adjectives; 没 for what didn't happen and for 有.
• A2 · 过: have you ever…?
  我去过北京: 过 after a verb means you have done it at some time. 没…过 for never; 过 vs 了.
• A2 · 是…的: when, where and how it happened
  你是什么时候来的？我是昨天来的。是…的 asks and tells the details of a past event.
• A2 · 把: doing something to a definite thing
  我把书放在桌子上: 把 brings the object before the verb to say what you did to it and how it ended up.
• A2 · 的, 地 and 得: three ways to write de
  漂亮的衣服, 认真地学习, 跑得很快: all three are said de; the one you write depends on its job.
• B1 · 被: the passive (and spoken 叫, 让)
  我的手机被偷了: thing + 被 + (doer) + verb + something more. Often for unwelcome events; 叫 and 让 in speech.
• B1 · Sentence particles: 吧, 呢, 啊, 嘛, 啦
  The little words at the end of a sentence carry the attitude: suggesting (吧), following up (呢), feeling (啊), stating the obvious (嘛).
• B2 · Chengyu in use: meaning, grammar role and register
  一举两得, 半途而废, 名副其实, 千方百计 and more: what they mean and where they go in a sentence.
• C1 · Written register: 之, 其, 此, 乃, 亦, 均, 于, 以
  The classical function words that live on in modern written Chinese, and the everyday words they replace.
• C2 · Classical Chinese (文言) in modern writing
  之乎者也, Analects lines everyone quotes, and the classical words still found on modern signs.

Every lesson, level by level