Chinese Grammar: How To Use Adjectives

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Written byZoe Mei

Adjectives modify nouns by describing them.

Chinese adjectives are in some ways different to English adjectives, in part because you can use them as verbs.

Adjectives - 形容詞 - Xíngróngcí

Adjectives are one of the first and most important topics you'll cover when learning Mandarin Chinese. After all, you'll need to describe the world around you.

Examples in Chinese::

English Chinese Characters Pinyin
An ugly rat 一個醜陋的老鼠 Yīgè chǒulòu de lǎoshǔ
A green house 一個綠色的房子 Yīgè lǜsè de fángzi
A fat woman 一個胖女人 Yīgè pàng nǚrén

Possessive Adjectives

In order to show possession, one may add "de" to personal pronouns as indicated below.

English Chinese Characters Pinyin
His 他的 Tā de:
My Wǒ de :
Your 你的 Nǐ de:
Theirs 他們的 Tāmen de:
Ours 我們的 Wǒmen de:
Her 他的 Tā de :
Mine Wǒ de:
Yours 你的 Nǐ de :

List of Adjectives in Chinese

English Chinese Characters Pinyin
Black 黑色 Hēisè
Blue Lán
Brown 布朗 Bùlǎng
Gray 灰色 Huīsè
Green
Orange Chéng
Purple
Red Hóng
White Bái
Yellow 黃河 Huánghé
Sizes 尺寸 Chǐcùn
Big
Deep Shēn
Long Lóng
Narrow Zhǎi
Short Ǎi
Small, little 小,小 Xiǎo, xiǎo
Tall Gāo
Thick Hòu
Thin Báo
Wide Kuān
Shapes 形狀 Xíngzhuàng
Round 回合 Huíhé
Straight Zhí
Square 廣場 Guǎngchǎng
Fat Pàng
Triangular 三角形的 Sānjiǎoxíng de
Old Lǎo
Young 年輕 Niánqīng
Smart 聰明 Cōngmíng
Slow Màn
Fast Kuài
Near Jìn
Far Yuǎn
Good Hǎo
Bad Huài
Pretty Měi
Light Qīng
Dark Àn

Examples:

My dad is eating.

我的爸爸在吃.

Wǒ de bà ba zài chī.

My mom's cooking.

我媽媽的烹飪.

Wǒ māmā de pēngrèn.

Your dog is dead.

你的狗死了.

Nǐ de gǒu sǐ le.

My table is broken.

我表壞了.

Wǒ de biǎo huài le.

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