Lesson 3 - Verbs: Introduction

Verbs is called '动词' (dong4 ci2) in Chinese, which literally means 'moving-word'. Basically, the word order in Chinese is similar to English, where the verb comes after the subject and before the object.

Let's learn some new words.

1. 饭 (fan4) - rice, meal
2. 球 (qiu2) - ball
3. 书 (shu1) - book
4. 字 (zi4) - word
5. 电视 (dian4 shi4) - television

Let's now use the above new words to form sentences by adding appropriate verbs.

1. 我 吃 饭。(wo3 chi1 fan4) - I eat rice.
2. 你 吃 饭。(ni3 chi1 fan4) - You eat rice.
3. 他 吃 饭。(ta1 chi1 fan4) - He eats rice.
4. 张小华 吃 饭。(zhang1 xiao3 hua2 chi1 fan4) - Xiao-Hua Zhang eats rice.

Notice the verb 吃 (chi1) does not change like English do. Chinese verbs have no plural or singular tense, and thus to make a sentence, all you need is to change the parts of the sentence, without bothering about its tense.

Here are some verbs:

1. 吃 (chi1) - eat
2. 踢 (ti1) - kick
3. 玩 (wan2) - play
4. 读 (du2) - read
5. 写 (xie3) - write
6. 看 (kan4) - watch

And using these verbs and the new words earlier, you can form new sentences.

1. 我 吃 饭，小丽 玩 球。(wo3 chi1 fan4, xiao3 li4 wan2 qiu2) - I eat rice, Xiao-Li plays ball.
2. 我 看 电视，他 写 字。(wo3 kan4 dian4 shi4, ta1 xie3 zi4) - I watch TV, he writes (word).
3. 我 玩 PS3。(wo3 wan2 PS3) - I play PS3.

Here are somemore verbs and words. Use them to form your simple verb sentences and comment it below!

1. 中文 （zhong1 wen2) - Chinese Language
2. 英文 (ying1 wen2) - English Language
3. 收音机 (shou1 yin1 ji1) - Radio
4. 电脑 (dian4 nao3) - Computer
5. 游戏 (you3 xi4) - Games
6. 电脑游戏 (dian4 nao3 you3 xi4) - Computer Games
7. 功课 (gong1 ke4) - Homework, Assignment

1. 学 (xue2) - learn
2. 听 (ting1) - listen
3. 用 (yong4) - use
4. 做 (zuo4) - do (eg, do work, do assignment)