Editing Mandarin Chinese (section)

==Grammar==
{{Further|Chinese grammar}}

Chinese varieties of all periods are considered prime examples of [[analytic language]]s, relying on word order and particles instead of [[inflection]] or [[affix]]es to provide grammatical information such as [[Grammatical person|person]], [[Grammatical number|number]], [[Grammatical tense|tense]], [[Grammatical mood|mood]], or [[Grammatical case|case]].
Although modern varieties, including the Mandarin dialects, use a small number of particles in a similar fashion to suffixes, they are still strongly analytic.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=10}}

The basic word order of [[subject–verb–object]] is common across Chinese dialects, but there are variations in the order of the two objects of [[ditransitive]] sentences.
In northern dialects the indirect object precedes the direct object (as in English), for example in the Standard Chinese sentence:

{{fs interlinear|indent=3
|我 给 你 一本 书|c1= &#91;{{lang-zh|labels=no|t=我給你一本書}}&#93;
|wǒ gěi nǐ yìběn shū
|I give you a book
|}}

In southern dialects, as well as many southwestern and Lower Yangtze dialects, the objects occur in the reverse order.{{Example needed|date=August 2024}}{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=162}}{{sfnp|Yue|2003|pp=105–106}}

Most varieties of Chinese use post-verbal particles to indicate [[grammatical aspect|aspect]], but the particles used vary.
Most Mandarin dialects use the particle {{zhp|p=le|c=了}} to indicate the [[perfective aspect]] and {{zhp|p=zhe|s=着|t=著}} for the [[progressive aspect]].
Other Chinese varieties tend to use different particles, e.g. Cantonese {{zhi|out=j|j=zo<sup>2</sup>|c=咗}} and {{zhi|out=j|j=gan<sup>2</sup>|s=紧|t=緊}} respectively.
The experiential aspect particle {{zhp|p=guo|s=过|t=過}} is used more widely, except in Southern Min.{{sfnp|Yue|2003|pp=90–93}}

The subordinative particle {{zhp|p=de|c=的}} is characteristic of Mandarin dialects.{{sfnp|Norman|1988|p=196}}
Some southern dialects, and a few Lower Yangtze dialects, preserve an older pattern of subordination without a marking particle, while in others a [[classifier (linguistics)|classifier]] fulfils the role of the Mandarin particle.{{sfnp|Yue|2003|pp=113–115}}

Especially in conversational Chinese, sentence-final [[particle (grammar)|particles]] alter the inherent meaning of a sentence. Like much vocabulary, particles can vary a great deal with regards to the locale. For example, the particle {{zhp|p=ma|c=嘛}}, which is used in most northern dialects to denote obviousness or contention, is replaced by {{zhp|p=yo|s=哟|c=喲}} in southern usage.

Some characters in Mandarin can be combined with others to indicate a particular meaning just like prefix and suffix in English. For example, the suffix -er which means the person who is doing the action, e.g. teacher, person who teaches. In Mandarin the character {{zhi|c=師}} has the same function, it is combined with {{zhi|c=教}}, which means 'teach', to form the word 'teacher'.

List of several common Chinese prefixes and suffixes:

{| class="wikitable"
! Affix 
! Pronunciation
! Gloss
! Example
! Example gloss
|-
| {{zhi|t=們|s=们}} 
| {{zhi|p=men}} 
| plural for human nouns, same as -s, -es 
| {{zhi|t=學生們|s=学生们}}, {{zhi|t=朋友們|s=朋友们}}
| 'students', 'friends'
|-
| {{zhi|c=可}}
| {{zhi|p=kě}}
| same as -able 
| {{lang-zh|labels=no|c=可信}}, {{zhi|c=可笑}}, {{zhi|c=可靠}}
| 'trusty', 'laughable', 'reliable'
|-
| {{zhi|c=重}}
| {{zhi|p=chóng}} 
| same as re- (again)
| {{zhi|c=重做, 重建, 重新}}
| 'redo', 'rebuild', 'renew'
|-
| {{zhi|c=第}}
| {{zhi|p=dì}}
| same as -th, -st, -nd 
| {{zhi|c=第二}}, {{zhi|c=第一}}
| 'second', 'first'
|-
|{{zhi|c=老}}
|{{zhi|p=lǎo}} 
|old, or show respect to a certain type of person
|{{zhi|t=老頭|s=老头}}, {{zhi|t=老闆|s=老板}}, {{zhi|t=老師|s=老师}}
|'old man', 'boss', 'teacher'
|- 
| {{zhi|c=化}}
| {{zhi|p=huà}}
| same as -ize, -en 
| {{zhi|c=公式化、制度化、強化}}
| 'officialize', 'systemize', 'strengthen'
|- 
| {{zhi|c=家}}
| {{zhi|p=jiā}}
| same as -er or expert
| {{zhi|c=作家、科學家 &#91;科学家&#93;、藝術家 &#91;艺术家&#93;}}
| 'writer', 'scientist', 'artist'
|- 
| {{zhi|c=性}} 
| {{zhi|p=xìng}}
| same as -ness, -ability
| {{zhi|c=可靠性、實用性 &#91;实用性&#93;、可理解性}}
| 'reliability', 'usability', 'understand-ability'
|- 
| {{zhi|c=鬼}}
| {{zhi|p=guǐ}}
| usually used in a disparaging way, similar to -aholic
| {{lang-zh|labels=no|c=煙鬼、酒鬼、膽小鬼 &#91;胆小鬼&#93;}}
| 'smoker', 'alcoholic', 'coward'
|- 
| {{zhi|c=匠}}
| {{zhi|p=jiàng}}
| a technician in a certain field
| {{zhi|c=花匠}}, {{zhi|c=油漆匠}}, {{zhi|c=木匠}}
| 'gardener', 'painter', 'carpenter
|- 
| {{zhi|c=迷}}
| {{zhi|p=mí}}
| an enthusiast
| {{zhi|t=戲迷|s=戏迷}}, {{zhi|c=球迷}}, {{zhi|c=歌迷}}
| 'theater fan', 'sports fan', 'groupie (of a musician)'
|-
|{{zhi|t=師|s=师}}
| {{zhi|p=shī}}
| suffix for occupations
| {{zhi|t=教師|s=教师}}, {{zhi|t=廚師|s=厨师}}, {{zhi|t=律師|s=律师]}}
| 'teacher', 'chef', 'lawyer'
|}