September is also the month when everyone decides to get serious about Mandarin again, and the instinct is to start over from the beginning and pile up more material. Most of you don’t need more. Take 给 (gěi), which we’re finishing today. You met it in your first month of Mandarin and you recognize it instantly every time you read it, and yet the moment you sit down to write your own sentence you stop and wonder whether it goes before the verb or after, and whether you need it there at all. Recognizing a word and being able to use it are two different skills. Almost everything you’re missing is like that. It isn’t new material, it’s the material you already half know, waiting to be used.

On that note, I’m sending a proper email tomorrow about the paid subscription, with a back to school offer. If that’s not for you, just skip it, no hard feelings, these Wednesday lessons stay free and keep coming as they always have.

So let’s finish 给 today, and put your first month of Mandarin to better use.

💎 This Week’s Gem: Mastering 给 (Part 2) 💎

Last week every 给 (gěi) we met still had a hand in giving: handing a thing over, aiming an action at a person, marking where something ends up. This week the giving disappears entirely. 给 can mark who did something in a spoken passive, it can sit in front of a verb adding force without meaning anything you could translate, it can turn an order into an angry one, and inside a small set of fixed words it is not even pronounced gěi.

The rule from last week still does all the work. You look at where 给 sits and what follows it, and its job becomes clear. We’ll close with a decision guide that runs through every 给 from both weeks, so you can identify any one you meet in the wild.

🎭 The Colloquial Passive: 给 Marking Who Did It

Let’s start with a sentence that looks familiar and isn’t. In 我的手机给弟弟弄坏了 (wǒ de shǒujī gěi dìdi nònghuài le), my brother isn’t receiving anything. He’s the one who broke the phone. Here 给 marks the person responsible, and the whole sentence is a spoken passive.

Example

• 我的手机给弟弟弄坏了。

• 我 / 的 / 手机 / 给 / 弟弟 / 弄坏 / 了 / 。

• Wǒ de shǒujī gěi dìdi nònghuài le.

• My phone got broken by my younger brother.

• I / (possessive particle 的) / phone / (by) / younger brother / break / (completion particle 了)

The same shape gives you 我的自行车给人偷走了 (wǒ de zìxíngchē gěi rén tōuzǒu le, “my bike got stolen”) and 衣服给雨淋湿了 (yīfu gěi yǔ línshī le, “the clothes got soaked by the rain”).

This looks a lot like last week’s 给 + person + verb, so how do you tell them apart? There are three clues, and they usually arrive together. First, the noun at the front is the thing that was affected, not someone doing something. A phone doesn’t call people. Second, the verb almost always carries a result: 弄坏, 偷走, 淋湿 are all verb plus result complement pairs. Third, the event is usually unwanted. If you put 我给他打电话 (wǒ gěi tā dǎ diànhuà, “I call him”) next to 手机给他弄坏了 (shǒujī gěi tā nònghuài le, “the phone got broken by him”), the difference jumps out.

Register matters here. This 给 belongs to relaxed speech. In writing, reports, or anything careful, the 被 passive is the right choice, as in 钱包被小偷偷走了 (qiánbāo bèi xiǎotōu tōuzǒu le, “the wallet was stolen by a thief”). It’s also worth knowing that 让 (ràng) and 叫 (jiào) do exactly the same colloquial job in this pattern. And since those two also mean “let” and “tell someone to”, the pivot verbs we’ve met before, only context tells you which reading you’re hearing. My advice is to make 被 the passive you actually produce, and to file 给, 让, and 叫 under things you recognize when they come at you in conversation.

💥 Emphatic 给: Extra Punch Before the Verb

This is the use that surprises people most. 给 lands immediately before the main verb, introduces nobody, and means nothing you could put into an English word. It just adds force. You’ll meet it constantly inside the 把 sentences we spent two weeks on recently.

Example

• 他把杯子给打破了。

• 他 / 把 / 杯子 / 给 / 打破 / 了 / 。

• Tā bǎ bēizi gěi dǎpò le.

• He went and broke the cup.

• he / (object marker 把) / cup / (emphasis) / break / (completion particle 了)

There’s a simple test that makes this use unmistakable. If you delete the 给, the sentence 他把杯子打破了 (tā bǎ bēizi dǎpò le, “he broke the cup”) is still perfectly correct. So 给 isn’t doing any grammatical work. What it adds is vividness, the feeling that the result really did happen, often colored with regret, surprise, or blame. English “went and broke it” or “up and left” carries roughly the same flavor. Another one is 风把门给吹开了 (fēng bǎ mén gěi chuīkāi le, “the wind blew the door open”).

The same emphatic 给 shows up inside a 被 passive.

Example

• 小亮被老师给批评了。

• 小亮 / 被 / 老师 / 给 / 批评 / 了 / 。

• Xiǎoliàng bèi lǎoshī gěi pīpíng le.

• Xiaoliang got criticized by the teacher.

• Xiaoliang / (passive marker 被) / teacher / (emphasis) / criticize / (completion particle 了)

被 already marks who did it, so this 给 is pure emphasis. 小亮被老师批评了 without it is equally fine, just flatter. Like the spoken passive above, emphatic 给 lives in informal speech only, so it stays out of anything you write.

Our position rule sorts this out neatly. Emphatic 给 always sits directly in front of the verb with no person after it, and that is exactly what separates it from the recipient 给 in last week’s 打给他, where a person follows.

😠 给我 + Verb: The Forceful Command

In commands, 给我 stops meaning “for me” and becomes a marker of authority and anger.

Example

• 你给我闭嘴！

• 你 / 给 / 我 / 闭嘴 / ！

• Nǐ gěi wǒ bìzuǐ!

• You shut up!

• you / (authority marker 给) / I / shut up

If you try to read that literally, it falls apart, because nobody is giving anything and “give me shut up” means nothing. What 给我 actually does is tell the listener that the speaker is in charge and is not happy. It’s the voice of angry parents, fed-up bosses, and roughly every third scene in a Chinese TV drama. 给我出去！(gěi wǒ chūqù, “get out!”) and 你给我小心点！(nǐ gěi wǒ xiǎoxīn diǎn, “you’d better watch it!”) work the same way.

The register deserves a clear warning. This is rude and confrontational, so it’s not something you can use with a stranger or a shop assistant, unless you want a very cold stare! For real requests, you’re better off with 请 (qǐng) or 麻烦你 (máfan nǐ), the polite toolkit we talked about in the common mistakes lessons, and with a 一下 to soften the verb (see the reduplication lessons).

Since 给我 can open three completely different sentences, here’s the three-way contrast:

• 给我一杯水 (gěi wǒ yì bēi shuǐ) - “give me a glass of water”, 给 as the plain verb

• 给我买一杯水 (gěi wǒ mǎi yì bēi shuǐ) - “buy a glass of water for me”, the beneficiary 给 from last week

• 你给我喝了它！(nǐ gěi wǒ hē le tā!) - “drink it, now!”, the forceful command

The giveaway for the command is that what follows 给我 is an action the listener is being ordered to perform, and the speaker gains nothing from it in any ordinary sense.

🙂 给面子 and 给力

Two everyday expressions built on 给 are worth learning whole.

给面子 (gěi miànzi) still contains real giving, but what gets given is social: consideration for someone’s dignity, reputation, or standing, usually shown by going along with them or not embarrassing them in front of others. English has no single equivalent, so depending on context you’ll need “do me this favour”, “show some respect”, or “for my sake” rather than a literal “give face”.

Example

• 这次你就给我一点面子吧。

• 这 / 次 / 你 / 就 / 给 / 我 / 一点 / 面子 / 吧 / 。

• Zhè cì nǐ jiù gěi wǒ yìdiǎn miànzi ba.

• Come on, do me this favour just this once.

• this / (measure word 次) / you / just / give / I / a bit / face / (suggestion particle 吧)

The negative version leans on the 一点…都不 pattern from the 都 lessons: 他一点面子都不给我 (tā yìdiǎn miànzi dōu bù gěi wǒ, “he showed me no consideration at all”). And it works as a compliment too. When someone shows up to your event or backs you publicly, 你能来真给面子 (nǐ néng lái zhēn gěi miànzi, “it means a lot that you came”) is warm and very natural.

给力 (gěilì) is a modern and informal word meaning impressive, powerful, really delivering: 这个新软件真的很给力 (zhège xīn ruǎnjiàn zhēnde hěn gěilì, “this new software is really impressive”). The negative 不给力 describes something weak or disappointing: 今天的天气真不给力 (jīntiān de tiānqì zhēn bù gěilì, “the weather today is really letting us down”). Grammatically it behaves like an adjective, so it can take 很, 真, or 太 in front. It belongs with friends and on social media, while formal writing prefers 有效 (yǒuxiào, “effective”) or 出色 (chūsè, “outstanding”).

🎓 The Other Reading: 给予 (jǐyǔ)

The character 给 has a second reading, jǐ, and it survives only inside a small set of fixed words. The first thing to get straight is that jǐ is not a formal pronunciation of everyday 给. You can never switch readings to sound more serious. The reading belongs to the word, so if the word is 给予, it’s jǐ, and if it’s plain 给, it’s gěi, always.

给予 (jǐyǔ) is a formal “to give, to grant”, and it’s most comfortable with abstract things: support, help, attention, encouragement, opportunities, treatment, etc.

Example

• 公司给予员工更多支持。

• 公司 / 给予 / 员工 / 更 / 多 / 支持 / 。

• Gōngsī jǐyǔ yuángōng gèng duō zhīchí.

• The company gives employees more support.

• company / grant / employee / more / much / support

In conversation, plain 给 is lighter and more natural: 学校给学生更多选择 (xuéxiào gěi xuésheng gèng duō xuǎnzé, “the school gives students more choices”) beats 学校给予学生更多选择 in speech, though the 给予 version is fine in a report. 给予 also never works for handing over a physical object. If you want that book, 给我那本书 (gěi wǒ nà běn shū, “give me that book”) is the only sensible choice.

One pronunciation detail is worth a moment. Both syllables of 给予 are third tone, so the usual third-tone rule kicks in and the first syllable rises in connected speech, coming out close to jí-yǔ, even though the written pinyin stays jǐyǔ.

And here’s the trap that proves the reading really is glued to the word. 给以, which means much the same as 给予 with abstract nouns (给以支持, “give support”), is pronounced gěiyǐ, with the ordinary reading, not jǐyǐ. There’s also an administrative cousin, 予以 (yǔyǐ), the one you’ll see in official notices: 有关部门将对违规行为予以处罚 (yǒuguān bùmén jiāng duì wéiguī xíngwéi yǔyǐ chǔfá, “the relevant authorities will impose penalties on violations”). That one is something to recognize in official documents, not something you’d ever say.

🚚 The Supply Words: 供给, 补给, 自给自足

The same jǐ reading survives in a small family of words built on an older sense of the character, supplying or providing enough.

• 供给 (gōngjǐ) - supply, in the goods-and-resources sense: 供给和需求 (gōngjǐ hé xūqiú, “supply and demand”)

• 补给 (bǔjǐ) - resupply, replenishment, at home in military and logistics contexts: 救援队正在补给食物和饮用水 (jiùyuánduì zhèngzài bǔjǐ shíwù hé yǐnyòngshuǐ, “the rescue team is replenishing its food and drinking water”)

• 自给自足 (zìjǐzìzú) - self-sufficient, literally “supply oneself, satisfy oneself”: 这个基地可以自给自足 (zhège jīdì kěyǐ zìjǐzìzú, “this base can be self-sufficient”)

These are vocabulary items, not patterns you can build with. They have nothing to do with everyday structures like 给某人打电话, so they’re best memorized each with its own pronunciation, the same way you remember that 行 is xíng in 不行 but háng in 银行.

🧭 Which 给 Is This?

We’ve now spent two weeks on a single character, so let’s turn it all into something you can use. Whenever you meet a 给 in the wild, the question is always the same one: what comes immediately after it?

If a person and then a thing follow, with no other verb anywhere, it’s the plain verb “give”: 他给我一杯咖啡 (tā gěi wǒ yì bēi kāfēi, “he gives me a cup of coffee”).

If a person and then another verb follow, 给 is pointing at the person the action is aimed at or done for: 给你打电话, 给我们做饭.

If 给 comes right after a transfer verb, it marks where the thing ends up: 送给我一张照片, 把作业交给老师.

If the sentence opens with something that got damaged or affected, and 给 is followed by a person and a verb carrying a result, you’re hearing the spoken passive: 手机给弟弟弄坏了. The giveaway is that the noun in front is suffering, not acting.

If 给 sits directly in front of the verb with nobody after it, usually inside a 把 or 被 sentence, it’s pure emphasis and you could delete it: 把杯子给打破了, 被老师给批评了.

If 给我 is followed by an action the listener is being ordered to perform, it’s the forceful command: 你给我闭嘴.

And if 给 is buried inside a fixed word like 给予, 供给, 补给, or 自给自足, you’re looking at the jǐ reading, to be learned as vocabulary, remembering that 给以 stubbornly stays gěi.

📝 Recap

• Using 给 as a colloquial passive: Put the affected thing first, then 给 + the doer + a verb carrying a result, and 给 marks who did it rather than who received something. Three clues arrive together: the noun in front is suffering rather than acting, the verb comes with a result complement, and the event is usually unwanted. 让 (ràng) and 叫 (jiào) do the same job, but all three belong to relaxed speech; 被 (bèi) is the one to actually produce in writing.

• Using emphatic 给 in front of the verb: Sitting directly before the verb with nobody after it, most often inside a 把 or 被 sentence, 给 introduces no one and translates to nothing. Delete it and the sentence still works, which is the test that identifies it. What it adds is vividness and a tinge of regret, surprise, or blame, close to English “went and broke it”. Informal speech only.

• Using 给我 + verb for forceful commands: Here 给我 stops meaning “for me” and signals that the speaker is in charge and angry. The giveaway is that what follows is an action the listener must perform, with no benefit flowing to the speaker. It’s rude and confrontational, so for real requests reach for 请 (qǐng), 麻烦你 (máfan nǐ), or a softening 一下 (yíxià) instead.

• Using 给面子 and 给力: 给面子 (gěi miànzi) still involves giving, but what’s given is social consideration, so it renders as “do me this favour”, “show some respect”, or, as a compliment, “it means a lot that you came”. The negative usually rides the 一点…都不 pattern. 给力 (gěilì) behaves like an adjective meaning impressive or really delivering, taking 很, 真, or 太 in front; it’s modern and informal, with 有效 (yǒuxiào) or 出色 (chūsè) taking over in formal writing.

• Reading 给 as jǐ: The second reading is glued to specific words and is never a fancier way of saying everyday 给. 给予 (jǐyǔ) is a formal “grant”, comfortable with abstract things like support or opportunities but useless for handing over an object, and both syllables being third tone means it comes out close to jí-yǔ. The supply family, 供给 (gōngjǐ), 补给 (bǔjǐ), 自给自足 (zìjǐzìzú), keeps the same reading. Two traps: 给以 stubbornly stays gěiyǐ, and the official-notice 予以 (yǔyǐ) is recognition-only vocabulary.

• Telling the 给s apart: One question sorts every case, which is what comes immediately after it. Person + thing means the plain verb; person + another verb means the action is aimed at or done for someone; straight after a transfer verb it marks the destination; person + result verb with a damaged thing up front is the spoken passive; nothing but a verb is pure emphasis; and buried inside a fixed word, it’s jǐ.

⛏️ Practice Makes Perfect

Time to sort these out one at a time, and the question is always the same: what comes immediately after 给? A person plus a result verb, with the damaged thing sitting up front, is the spoken passive; a bare verb with nobody in between is pure emphasis, the kind you could delete without breaking the sentence; and 给我 followed by something the listener has to do is an order, not a favour anyone is doing you. One of the advanced sentences hides 给 inside a fixed four-character expression where it isn’t pronounced gěi at all, so check the reading before you commit. Translate all eight, then say them aloud, and let the angry ones actually sound angry.

🌱 Easy

1. Turn that TV off right now and go do your homework!

2. Just come and eat with us, do me this favour.

3. The cake I put in the fridge, who went and ate it all?

4. The new air conditioner really delivers, the room got cool in five minutes.

🌳 Advanced

5. I was in such a rush leaving that I went and left the mooncakes I bought for my mum right there on the table.

6. The boss flew down from Beijing himself for our opening, it really means a lot that he came.

7. The tin of pre-Qingming Longjing I brought back got brewed up by my mum as ordinary tea, a whole big pot of it.

8. The country has been pouring money into chips these past few years precisely so it can be self-sufficient in core technology and stop having its throat squeezed by others.

🌟 Learn it. Use it. Understand it. 🌟

We’ve spent two weeks turning 给 into six different jobs, from the spoken passive to a bare intensifier to an order barely disguised as 给我. Recognizing which one you’re looking at, now that you know the test, feels almost mechanical.

But producing the right one is a different skill. Nobody hands you the damaged thing and the result verb in order, and 给我 has to actually sound like you mean it, not like polite 给 gone slightly wrong.

Write your own version of each of the eight sentences above before checking a single answer, including the angry ones, and find out whether 给我 actually lands like a command before you get told.

That’s the idea behind Pearls of Mandarin:

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Produce Mandarin yourself with a translation workout, then compare your sentences against detailed corrections that tell you why your version sounded off and what a native would write instead.

Sunday. Understand it.

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Practice makes perfect,
Pierre

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Hit play and see how much you can catch.

Written from Paris

🎯 HSK Comprehension Test

1. 我为什么提到“天狗”的传说？
   我為什麼提到「天狗」的傳說？

   1. 因为我想解释“日食”这个词的来源
      因為我想解釋「日食」這個詞的來源

   2. 因为我在马赛听到了这个传说
      因為我在馬賽聽到了這個傳說

   3. 因为这让我理解了古人看到日食时的感受
      因為這讓我理解了古人看到日食時的感受

   4. 因为我想说明中国古代的天文知识很丰富
      因為我想說明中國古代的天文知識很豐富

2. 我说“光线变得很奇怪”是什么意思？
   我說「光線變得很奇怪」是什麼意思？

   1. 太阳的光线太强了，让人睁不开眼睛
      太陽的光線太強了，讓人睜不開眼睛

   2. 天黑了，但是跟平时傍晚的暗不一样
      天黑了，但是跟平時傍晚的暗不一樣

   3. 天空出现了很多奇怪的颜色
      天空出現了很多奇怪的顏色

   4. 太阳的形状看起来很不正常
      太陽的形狀看起來很不正常

3. 从这篇文章来看，这次日食对我来说最特别的地方是什么？
   從這篇文章來看，這次日食對我來說最特別的地方是什麼？

   1. 日食遮住了百分之九十六的太阳
      日食遮住了百分之九十六的太陽

   2. 日食发生在日落的时候
      日食發生在日落的時候

   3. 让我体会到了古人看日食时的感受
      讓我體會到了古人看日食時的感受

   4. 在马赛的地中海边看到了日食
      在馬賽的地中海邊看到了日食

4. 我说“换成谁都会害怕”，主要想表达什么？
   我說「換成誰都會害怕」，主要想表達什麼？

   1. 当时在场的人都很害怕
      當時在場的人都很害怕

   2. 我对古人的恐惧感到不理解
      我對古人的恐懼感到不理解

   3. 我能够理解古人为什么会害怕日食
      我能夠理解古人為什麼會害怕日食

   4. 日食是一种很可怕的自然现象
      日食是一種很可怕的自然現象

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🀄 全文记录 | Full Chinese Transcript

Read more

Level: HSK 2-3-4 (want more of a challenge? HSK 4-5 version here)

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Click play above and let’s get into it.

Written from Paris

🎯 HSK Comprehension Test

1. 看完日食以后，我明白了什么？
   看完日食以後，我明白了什麼？

   1. 我明白了日食是怎么发生的
      我明白了日食是怎麼發生的

   2. 我明白了法国的天气很好
      我明白了法國的天氣很好

   3. 我明白了以前的人为什么害怕日食
      我明白了以前的人為什麼害怕日食

   4. 我明白了为什么要在海边看太阳
      我明白了為什麼要在海邊看太陽

2. 大家看日食的时候，为什么都不说话？
   大家看日食的時候，為什麼都不說話？

   1. 因为日食很特别，大家认真地看
      因為日食很特別，大家認真地看

   2. 因为太阳下去了，大家都很累
      因為太陽下去了，大家都很累

   3. 因为海边的风太大了
      因為海邊的風太大了

   4. 因为天黑了，大家都很害怕
      因為天黑了，大家都很害怕

3. 我为什么说“天狗”的故事？
   我為什麼說「天狗」的故事？

   1. 因为“食”让我想到了“吃”
      因為「食」讓我想到了「吃」

   2. 因为这个故事让我明白了以前的人的感觉
      因為這個故事讓我明白了以前的人的感覺

   3. 因为这个故事很有意思
      因為這個故事很有意思

   4. 因为我在法国也听到了这个故事
      因為我在法國也聽到了這個故事

4. 我在法国南边做了什么？
   我在法國南邊做了什麼？

   1. 学习了很多日食的东西
      學習了很多日食的東西

   2. 每天等着看日食
      每天等著看日食

   3. 游泳、吃饭、走走，还看了日食
      游泳、吃飯、走走，還看了日食

   4. 和很多人一起打鼓
      和很多人一起打鼓

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🀄 全文记录 | Full Chinese Transcript

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This is the 🌳 Advanced version of today’s worksheet, designed for learners around HSK 4–5-6. Looking for something simpler to practice first? The Easy version is in your inbox.

Want only one version from now on? You can update your preferences here.

We’ve only covered half of 给 (gěi) so far, the half that still involves giving something to somebody, and that half is plenty for one worksheet.

Beyond the position question, two things. English keeps swallowing verbs that Mandarin insists on saying. One sentence here ends on an action its English version never mentions, and leaving it out gets you something grammatical that means less than you wanted. Also, real transfers let you pick where the recipient sits, while actions that send nothing anywhere give you no choice at all, so before you rearrange anything, decide whether something actually moves.

One more warning. One of these four contains no 给 whatsoever. If your version has one, the English preposition talked you into it.

🌳 Today’s Advanced Exercises

Translate these English sentences into Mandarin:

1. I lent my camera to a colleague to shoot a wedding, so I can’t get it back this weekend.

2. He apologized to the whole team, but the way he talks to me is still ice cold.

3. The vendor at the night market poured me a cup of the plum juice to taste, and I bought two bottles on the spot.

4. I mailed two boxes of mooncakes to my grandparents back in the countryside, they should get there before Mid-Autumn.

Take your time, and remember: practicing will help you sound more natural and confident in your Mandarin conversations. You’ve got this! 💫

🌳 Translation #1

I lent my camera to a colleague to shoot a wedding, so I can’t get it back this weekend.

Lending something out is exactly where 借 (jiè) lets you down, because on its own it means both “borrow” and “lend,” and nobody knows which way the camera moved. Adding 给 (gěi) onto the back fixes the direction: 借给 (jiè gěi) can only mean “lend to.” The other half of the problem is “can’t get it back,” which isn’t a refusal or a rule, it’s circumstances getting in the way. For that you want a potential complement, with 不 (bù) slotted between the verb and its directional ending. And since the whole sentence is about the camera, it works best fronted as the topic.

Let’s break down the translation step by step:

• 我 (wǒ) means “I,” here working as “my.”

  • With close possessions, 的 (de) often drops.

• 那 (nà) means “that.”

• 台 (tái) is the measure word for cameras, machines, and appliances.

  • 📖 Learn more about measure words in CGG #104.

• 相机 [相機] (xiàngjī) means “camera.”

  • 我那台相机 [我那台相機] means “that camera of mine.”

• 借给 [借給] (jiè gěi) means “to lend to.”

  • 借 (jiè) covers both borrowing and lending.

  • 给 [給] (gěi) marks where the thing ends up, which is what pins the meaning down as “lend.”

• 同事 (tóngshì) means “colleague.”

• 拍 (pāi) means “to shoot” or “to film.”

• 婚礼 [婚禮] (hūnlǐ) means “wedding.”

  • 拍婚礼 [拍婚禮] tacked on after the recipient states the purpose of the loan, no “in order to” needed.

• 了 (le) sits at the end of the clause, marking the situation as it now stands.

• 这 [這] (zhè) means “this.”

• 周末 [週末] (zhōumò) means “weekend.”

• 拿 (ná) means “to take” or “to fetch.”

• 不 (bù) is the negative potential marker, wedged between verb and complement.

• 回来 [回來] (huílái) is the directional complement “back here.”

  • 拿不回来 [拿不回來] (ná bù huílái) means “unable to get it back,” with the speaker as the reference point.

Notes

• Don’t write 不能拿回来 (bù néng ná huílái) here. 不能 suggests something forbids it, the way 图书馆的书不能拿回家 (túshūguǎn de shū bù néng ná huí jiā, “library books may not be taken home”) states a rule. 拿不回来 says the circumstances simply make it impossible, which is what a colleague off shooting a wedding does.

• The two clauses sit side by side with just a comma, and the cause and result reading comes for free. Adding 所以 (suǒyǐ) is possible but heavier than this spoken sentence wants.

  • 📖 Learn more about cause and effect in CGG #69.

• A close alternative is 我把那台相机借给同事拍婚礼了 (wǒ bǎ nà tái xiàngjī jiè gěi tóngshì pāi hūnlǐ le), with 把 doing the fronting instead of a bare topic. Both are natural, and the topic version is the more casual of the two.

Recap

• 我那台相机借给同事拍婚礼了，这周末拿不回来。

• 我那台相機借給同事拍婚禮了，這週末拿不回來。

• 我 / 那 / 台 / 相机 / 借给 / 同事 / 拍 / 婚礼 / 了 / ，/ 这 / 周末 / 拿 / 不 / 回来 / 。

• wǒ nà tái xiàngjī jiè gěi tóngshì pāi hūnlǐ le, zhè zhōumò ná bù huílái.

• I lent my camera to a colleague to shoot a wedding, so I can’t get it back this weekend.

• I / that / (measure word 台) / camera / lend to / colleague / shoot / wedding / (particle 了) / this / weekend / take / not / back here.

🌳 Translation #2

He apologized to the whole team, but the way he talks to me is still ice cold.

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This is the 🌱 Easy version of today’s worksheet, designed for learners around HSK 2–3-4. Looking for more of a challenge? The Advanced version is in your inbox.

Want only one version from now on? You can update your preferences here.

The English in today’s four sentences does its best to hide the 给 (gěi) you spent this week learning. What you get instead is a scatter of small prepositions, a “by,” some “to”s, two different “for”s, and the instinct to translate each one word for word. Resist it. Some of them become 给, some become nothing at all, and at least one looks like a job for 给 but isn’t.

So don’t match words. Ask what’s changing hands in each sentence and who ends up holding it, and the position of 给 falls out of that. One warning before you start: one of these needs a verb the English never says. If your version feels like it has a word too many, you’ve probably got it right.

🌱 Today’s Easy Exercises

Translate these English sentences into Mandarin:

1. This book was lent to me by a coworker, I have to give it back to him tomorrow.

2. Excuse me, could you bring us another pair of chopsticks?

3. The cake in the fridge is for you, nobody else is allowed to eat it.

4. I sold my old bike to the neighbor downstairs for two hundred yuan.

Take your time, and remember: practicing will help you sound more natural and confident in your Mandarin conversations. You’ve got this! 💫

🌱 Translation #1

This book was lent to me by a coworker, I have to give it back to him tomorrow.

The English is a passive, “was lent to me by,” but the sentence isn’t about something bad happening to you. It’s just explaining where the book came from, and for background facts like this the natural choice is 是……的 (shì... de), which wraps around the detail you’re pointing at, here the coworker who did the lending. Then two transfer verbs need 给 fused onto their backs: 借给 (jiè gěi) pins down that 借 means “lend to” rather than “borrow,” and 还给 (huán gěi) sends the book back where it belongs. The “have to” part is 得 (děi), the everyday spoken obligation word.

Let’s break down the translation step by step:

• 这 [這] (zhè) means “this.”

• 本 (běn) is the measure word for books.

• 书 [書] (shū) means “book.”

• 是 (shì) opens the 是……的 frame.

  • The frame highlights who lent the book, treating the lending itself as old news.

  • 📖 Learn more about 是……的 in CGG #43.

• 同事 (tóngshì) means “coworker.”

• 借 (jiè) means “to lend” or “to borrow.”

  • On its own, 借 is ambiguous between the two.

• 给 [給] (gěi) fuses onto 借 and marks where the book ends up.

  • 借给 [借給] (jiè gěi) can only mean “lend to,” which settles the ambiguity.

• 我 (wǒ) means “me.”

• 的 (de) closes the 是……的 frame.

• 我 (wǒ) means “I.”

• 明天 (míngtiān) means “tomorrow.”

• 得 (děi) means “have to.”

  • Same character as the complement marker de, different pronunciation and different job.

  • 📖 Learn more about the readings of 得 in CGG #18–#20.

• 还 [還] (huán) means “to return” something.

  • Read huán here, never hái (“still”).

  • 📖 Learn more about the two faces of 还 in CGG #82 and #83.

• 给 [給] (gěi) again marks the recipient of the transfer.

• 他 (tā) means “him.”

Notes

• Don’t reach for 被 (bèi) to translate this passive. 被 fits events that happen to you, often unwelcome ones, like 我的手机被偷了 (wǒ de shǒujī bèi tōu le, “my phone got stolen”). A neutral “here’s where this book came from” wants 是……的 instead.

• No 了 (le) in the first clause. The 是……的 frame already presents the lending as a completed, established fact, and adding 了 on top of it sounds wrong.

• Mandarin has several ways to say “have to,” and they differ in weight. 得 (děi) is the casual, spoken one: an everyday obligation you accept without drama. 要 (yào) is softer and can just mean “need to” or even “am going to,” so 我明天要还给他 works but sounds more like stating a plan. 必须 (bìxū) is the heavy “must,” for rules and non-negotiable duties, and would feel overly stern for returning a book. Here 得 hits the right register.

• 得 (děi) can’t be negated as 不得. To say you don’t have to, switch to 不用 (bú yòng).

Recap

• 这本书是同事借给我的，我明天得还给他。

• 這本書是同事借給我的，我明天得還給他。

• 这 / 本 / 书 / 是 / 同事 / 借 / 给 / 我 / 的 / ，/ 我 / 明天 / 得 / 还 / 给 / 他 / 。

• zhè běn shū shì tóngshì jiè gěi wǒ de, wǒ míngtiān děi huán gěi tā.

• This book was lent to me by a coworker, I have to give it back to him tomorrow.

• this / (measure word 本) / book / (emphasis 是) / coworker / lend / to / me / (emphasis 的) / I / tomorrow / have to / return / to / him.

🌱 Translation #2

Excuse me, could you bring us another pair of chopsticks?

Read more

The truth is I’ve been back in France for over a month now and I hadn’t spoken a single word of Mandarin in all that time, which was starting to quietly bother me! Then last weekend in Paris, I was having a drink on a terrace with friends when a Chinese grandma came up and started talking to us in English. I just asked her 你是中国人吧 (nǐ shì zhōngguórén ba, “you’re Chinese, right?”) and she looked genuinely shocked, and then we ended up chatting in Mandarin for a good ten minutes. Maybe the drinks helped, but everything flowed and I can’t tell you how good it felt to hear it all come back after a month of “silence.”

It doesn’t disappear as fast as we fear it does. But that’s the result of years of showing up regularly, and with September around the corner, it’s worth thinking about what your own routine will look like.

Today’s lesson exists because a reader asked me for it: 给 (gěi), in two parts. If there’s a pattern you’d like me to cover, just reply to this email, I read everything.

💎 This Week’s Gem: Mastering 给 (Part 1) 💎

给 (gěi) is one of the first verbs you ever learn: “to give.” And for a little while, that’s all it does. Then real Mandarin starts happening to you. You meet 我给你打电话 (wǒ gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà, “I’ll call you”), where nothing is given. You meet 她送给我一张照片 (tā sòng gěi wǒ yì zhāng zhàopiàn, “she gave me a photo”), where 给 hides behind another verb. Then a TV drama serves you 小亮被老师给批评了 (Xiǎoliàng bèi lǎoshī gěi pīpíng le, “Xiaoliang got criticized by the teacher”) and 你给我闭嘴 (nǐ gěi wǒ bìzuǐ, “you shut up”), and “give” is no help at all.

One rule can carry you through all of it: the position of 给 tells you its job. Look at what sits immediately before it and immediately after it, and the meaning follows. This week we’ll cover every use where 给 still has something to do with giving, handing over, or aiming an action at a person. Next week, the uses where it doesn’t: the spoken passive, pure emphasis, angry commands, and a second pronunciation of the character.

🎁 给 as the Verb “To Give”

The starting point is the meaning you already know. Here 给 is the action of the sentence, and it takes two objects in a fixed order: the person first, the thing second. It belongs to the small family of verbs that take two objects, like 教 (jiāo, “teach”) and 送 (sòng, “give as a gift”).

Example

• 我给你一本书。

• 我 / 给 / 你 / 一 / 本 / 书 / 。

• Wǒ gěi nǐ yì běn shū.

• I’ll give you a book.

• I / give / you / one / (measure word 本) / book

The thing doesn’t have to be physical. 给我一点时间 (gěi wǒ yìdiǎn shíjiān, “give me a bit of time”) and 给你一个机会 (gěi nǐ yí gè jīhuì, “give you a chance”) work exactly the same way.

And here’s the first half of our position rule: if all that follows 给 is a person and a thing, with no other verb anywhere, then 给 is the main verb and it means “give.” Simple!

📞 给 + Person + Verb: Doing Something To or For Someone

Now the first real shift. The moment another verb shows up after the person, 给 stops being the action. It just introduces the person the action is aimed at, and the other verb does the work. If you remember the coverbs from CGG #67, this is exactly 给’s entry in that family.

Example (to)

• 我给你打电话。

• 我 / 给 / 你 / 打 / 电话 / 。

• Wǒ gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà.

• I’ll call you.

• I / (to) / you / make / phone call

Example (for)

• 妈妈给我们做饭。

• 妈妈 / 给 / 我们 / 做饭 / 。

• Māma gěi wǒmen zuòfàn.

• Mom cooks for us.

• mom / (for) / us / cook

Do not translate this 给 as “give.” 给你打电话 is simply “call you,” nothing is handed over. English wants two different prepositions here, “to” for the call and “for” for the cooking, but Mandarin uses one shape for both, and the verb that follows settles the reading. A phone call has a target, and cooking has someone who benefits. You don’t need two separate rules, just one: 给 points at the person the action reaches.

Some other examples: 我去给你买杯咖啡 (wǒ qù gěi nǐ mǎi bēi kāfēi, “I’ll go buy you a cup of coffee”), 他给我修电脑 (tā gěi wǒ xiū diànnǎo, “he fixes my computer for me”), 我给她写了一封信 (wǒ gěi tā xiě le yì fēng xìn, “I wrote her a letter”).

⏱️ Where 了 Goes, and 不给 vs 没给

To mark completion (and not past tense as is often taught in textbooks, more on this in a coming lesson!), you can add a 了 right after the verb. So since 了 marks the action, it lands on whichever word is the real action. When 给 is the main verb, 了 follows 给: 他给了我一本书 (tā gěi le wǒ yì běn shū, “he gave me a book”). When 给 only introduces a person before another verb, 了 goes on that other verb: 我给他打了电话 (wǒ gěi tā dǎ le diànhuà, “I called him”). Saying 我给了他打电话 is not correct, because 给 isn’t the action there and hence can’t carry the 了.

For negation, both 不 and 没 sit in front of the whole 给 phrase, and the choice between them is the usual one: use 不 for habits, intentions, refusals, and things that won’t happen; and use 没 for something that simply didn’t happen. So 我昨天没给他打电话 (wǒ zuótiān méi gěi tā dǎ diànhuà) means “I didn’t call him yesterday,” while 我不给他打电话 (wǒ bù gěi tā dǎ diànhuà) means “I don’t call him” or “I won’t call him.”

📤 Verb + 给: Sending Something Toward Someone

Now 给 moves behind the verb. With verbs of transfer, the first verb says what kind of transfer it is, and 给 points at the person the thing reaches.

Example

• 她送给我一张照片。

• 她 / 送给 / 我 / 一 / 张 / 照片 / 。

• Tā sòng gěi wǒ yì zhāng zhàopiàn.

• She gave me a photo as a gift.

• she / give as a gift + to / I / one / (measure word 张) / photo

Once you see the pattern, a whole vocabulary family opens up:

• 送给 (sòng gěi) - give as a gift

• 交给 (jiāo gěi) - hand over, entrust

• 还给 (huán gěi) - return to

• 借给 (jiè gěi) - lend to

• 寄给 (jì gěi) - mail to

• 发给 (fā gěi) - send to

• 卖给 (mài gěi) - sell to

• 献给 (xiàn gěi) - dedicate to

Two of these deserve a closer look. First, 交给 and 送给 are not synonyms. 送给 is giving as a present: 我送给他一件生日礼物 (wǒ sòng gěi tā yí jiàn shēngrì lǐwù, “I gave him a birthday present”). 交给 is handing over control or responsibility, and what gets handed over doesn’t have to be an object at all: 这件事就交给我吧 (zhè jiàn shì jiù jiāo gěi wǒ ba, “leave this matter to me”). Second, 借 on its own can mean either borrow or lend, which is genuinely annoying, and 借给 is the fix: 我借给他一百块 (wǒ jiè gěi tā yì bǎi kuài) can only mean “I lent him a hundred yuan.”

This after-the-verb 给 also shows up constantly inside 把 sentences we’ve just learnt about in CGG #129 and #130, when the object is a specific known thing.

Example

• 我把作业交给老师了。

• 我 / 把 / 作业 / 交给 / 老师 / 了 / 。

• Wǒ bǎ zuòyè jiāo gěi lǎoshī le.

• I handed the homework to the teacher.

• I / (object marker 把) / homework / hand over + to / teacher / (completion particle 了)

The same shape scales up to more formal requests: 请把这封信转交给经理 (qǐng bǎ zhè fēng xìn zhuǎnjiāo gěi jīnglǐ, “please pass this letter on to the manager”).

🔀 Two Ways to Place the Recipient

The same transfer can be packaged in two orders, and both are natural. Either the recipient comes right after the fused verb, 他送给了小李一本书 (tā sòng gěi le Xiǎolǐ yì běn shū, “he gave Xiaoli a book”), or the thing comes first and the recipient goes to the end, 他送了一本书给小李 (tā sòng le yì běn shū gěi Xiǎolǐ, same meaning).

But with actions that don’t send an object anywhere (e.g. fixing, cleaning, translating, or tidying), the 给 phrase must stay in front of the verb. 他给我修电脑 is natural, but 他修电脑给我 sounds wrong to native speakers. Save the after-the-verb position for actual transfers.

Now watch where 了 lands in each. When 送给 is fused, it behaves as one unit, so 了 follows the whole thing: 送给了. The order 送了给小李 is not standard, so don’t build yourself a general “verb + 了 + 给 + person” rule. It only works when the thing comes between 了 and 给, as we’ve just seen above.

For phone calls, the safe default is the one from earlier: 我给他打了电话 (wǒ gěi tā dǎ le diànhuà, “I called him”). In total there are three natural ways to talk about calling someone: 给他打电话 (the safest everyday default, especially on the mainland), 打电话给他 (also perfectly natural), and the short 打给他 (dǎ gěi tā), which you’ll hear constantly in Taiwan. The regional lean is real but mild. Mainland speech tends to put the recipient before the verb, Taiwan speech more often after it, which is why you hear both without either being wrong.

By the way, 打电话 itself is one of those verb-object phrases from CGG #85 that split open when 了 or a measure phrase moves in: 打了电话, 打了个电话.

🍰 Verb + Thing + 给 + Person + Verb: “For You to Eat,” “For Me to Hear”

Here’s a very natural spoken pattern where 给 introduces a person who both receives the thing and performs the final action.

Example

• 我留了一块蛋糕给你吃。

• 我 / 留 / 了 / 一 / 块 / 蛋糕 / 给 / 你 / 吃 / 。

• Wǒ liú le yí kuài dàngāo gěi nǐ chī.

• I saved a piece of cake for you to eat.

• I / save / (completed action particle 了) / one / (measure word 块) / cake / (for) / you / eat

The same shape gives you 我买了个玩具给孩子玩 (wǒ mǎi le gè wánjù gěi háizi wán, “I bought a toy for the child to play with”). And the communication verbs work exactly the same way, with 听 or 看 at the end:

• 讲给我听 (jiǎng gěi wǒ tīng) - tell me

• 说给我听 (shuō gěi wǒ tīng) - say it to me

• 唱给大家听 (chàng gěi dàjiā tīng) - sing it for everyone

• 拿给我看 (ná gěi wǒ kàn) - bring it over and show me

Example

• 你把这个故事讲给我听吧。

• 你 / 把 / 这 / 个 / 故事 / 讲给 / 我 / 听 / 吧 / 。

• Nǐ bǎ zhège gùshi jiǎng gěi wǒ tīng ba.

• Tell me this story.

• you / (object marker 把) / this / (measure word 个) / story / tell + to / I / listen / (suggestion particle 吧)

English just says “tell me” and drops the final verb. Mandarin keeps it, spelling out that the listener is the one who hears. I encourage you to learn 讲给我听 and its siblings as chunks, the way you’d learn a single word.

🧭 Not Every “For” or “To” Is 给

English “for” and “to” cover several different Mandarin words, and reaching for 给 every time is one of the most common mistakes I see. Here are the neighbors, most of which we’ve already met in the coverb lesson.

替 (tì) means in someone’s place, doing what they would have done: 我替你参加会议 (wǒ tì nǐ cānjiā huìyì, “I’ll attend the meeting in your place”). Set it directly against 给: 给你做饭 is cooking for your benefit, 替你参加会议 is standing in for you, and 给你参加会议 simply doesn’t work.

帮 (bāng) is the conversational “help someone do something,” one of the pivot verbs we’ve learnt in CGG #84: 帮我拿一下 (bāng wǒ ná yíxià, “give me a hand carrying this”). 为 (wèi) is its formal, abstract cousin, “for the sake of,” the one behind slogans like 为人民服务 (wèi rénmín fúwù, “serve the people”).

On the “to” side: 对 (duì) introduces the person an attitude or behavior is directed at, as in 他对我很好 (tā duì wǒ hěn hǎo, “he is very good to me”). 向 (xiàng), which you may know as a direction word (review those in CGG #54 and #55), marks the target of apologizing, asking, requesting, or reporting: 我向老师道歉了 (wǒ xiàng lǎoshī dàoqiàn le, “I apologized to the teacher”). You will hear 给老师道歉 in casual speech, but 向 is the safer collocation. And 跟 (gēn) marks the person you interact with: 跟朋友商量 (gēn péngyou shāngliang, “discuss it with a friend”).

My practical advice is to memorize the marker together with its verb, as a pair. 向…道歉, 对…好, 跟…商量. Translating the English preposition on its own is exactly what leads you to the wrong 给.

📝 Recap

• Reading 给 by its position, starting with the plain verb “give”: What sits immediately before and after 给 tells you its job. If all that follows is a person and a thing, with no other verb in sight, 给 is the action itself, and the order is fixed: recipient first, thing second, like 教 (jiāo) and 送 (sòng). What’s given doesn’t have to be physical, so time and chances fit the same slot. The moment another verb appears, 给 hands over the job and just points at a person.

• Using 给 + [Person] + [Verb Phrase]: As a coverb, 给 marks the person the action is aimed at or done for, and the following verb carries the meaning. English needs two prepositions here, “to” for a phone call and “for” for cooking, but one shape covers both and the verb settles the reading. Never translate this 给 as “give”: 给你打电话 is just “call you.”

• Placing 了 and choosing 不 or 没: 了 lands on whichever word is the real action, so 给了 when 给 is the verb, but 我给他打了电话 when another verb does the work (我给了他打电话 is wrong). Both negations sit in front of the whole 给 phrase, with the usual split: 不 for habits, intentions, and refusals, 没 for what simply didn’t happen.

• Using [Transfer Verb] + 给 + [Recipient] + [Thing]: Behind a verb of transfer, 给 marks where the thing ends up, opening a family of compounds: 送给, 交给, 还给, 借给, 寄给, 发给, 卖给, 献给. Worth separating: 送给 is giving as a present while 交给 is handing over responsibility, even an abstract matter, and 借给 fixes the borrow/lend ambiguity of 借 as “lend to.” This 给 turns up constantly inside 把 sentences.

• Placing the recipient before or after the verb: Both orders work for real transfers, either right after the fused verb (送给了小李一本书) or at the end (送了一本书给小李); since 送给 behaves as one unit, 了 follows the whole thing and 送了给小李 isn’t standard. Actions that send nothing anywhere, like fixing or translating, keep 给 in front of the verb only. For calls, 给他打电话, 打电话给他, and the Taiwan-flavored 打给他 are all natural, with mainland speech leaning toward the recipient first.

• Using [Verb] + [Thing] + 给 + [Person] + [Verb]: A very spoken shape where the person receives the thing and performs the final action, as in saving a piece of cake for someone to eat. Communication verbs run the same way with 听 or 看 at the end: 讲给我听, 说给我听, 唱给大家听, 拿给我看. English drops that last verb; Mandarin keeps it. Learn these as chunks.

• Not reaching for 给 with every “for” or “to”: 替 (tì) is doing something in someone’s place, 帮 (bāng) the everyday “help someone do,” 为 (wèi) its formal “for the sake of” cousin. On the “to” side, 对 (duì) carries attitudes toward someone, 向 (xiàng) marks the target of apologizing, asking, or reporting, and 跟 (gēn) the person you interact with. Memorize each marker with its verb as a pair instead of translating the English preposition.

⛏️ Practice Makes Perfect

Each of these forces the position question before you can write anything: is 给 the verb itself, a coverb sitting in front of the person and letting another verb carry the meaning, or fused onto the back of a transfer verb like 借 (jiè) or 卖 (mài)? Once you’ve chosen, watch where 了 lands, since it attaches to whichever word is doing the real work, and putting it straight after 给 when the actual action is 寄 (jì) or 打 (dǎ) is one of the easiest ways to give yourself away. One sentence here contains an apology and another a tone of voice toward someone, and neither of those wants 给 anywhere near it. Work through all eight, then read your versions aloud and listen for whether the chunks sit comfortably.

🌱 Easy

1. This book was lent to me by a coworker, I have to give it back to him tomorrow.

2. Excuse me, could you bring us another pair of chopsticks?

3. The cake in the fridge is for you, nobody else is allowed to eat it.

4. I sold my old bike to the neighbor downstairs for two hundred yuan.

🌳 Advanced

5. I lent my camera to a colleague to shoot a wedding, so I can’t get it back this weekend.

6. He apologized to the whole team, but the way he talks to me is still ice cold.

7. The vendor at the night market poured me a cup of the plum juice to taste, and I bought two bottles on the spot.

8. I mailed two boxes of mooncakes to my grandparents back in the countryside, they should get there before Mid-Autumn.

🌟 Learn it. Use it. Understand it. 🌟

Today you learned how 给 works. Reading a grammar explanation is where it starts.

The real test is whether you can use 给 yourself, without being shown the answer first.

That’s what the eight sentences above are for. Write your own translations before you check anything, even if they come out clumsy. Digging the right structure out of your own head is what turns grammar you recognize into Mandarin you can actually use.

That’s the idea behind Pearls of Mandarin:

Wednesday. Learn it.

One useful piece of Mandarin taken apart properly, with clear explanations and examples that sound like something a person would say.

Saturday. Use it.

Produce Mandarin yourself with a translation workout, then compare your sentences against detailed corrections that tell you why your version sounded off and what a native would write instead.

Sunday. Understand it.

Train the other half of the skill. Real spoken Mandarin at natural and slow speed, with transcript, pinyin, vocabulary and comprehension questions, because nobody slows down for you in a real conversation.

Pick the level that fits you that week, 🌱 Easy (HSK 2 to 4) or 🌳 Advanced (HSK 4 to 6). Most subscribers move between the two depending on the topic.

It takes twenty to forty minutes a week. Nothing is sequential, nothing expires, and there is no way to fall behind. Paid subscribers also get the full archive of 130+ lessons, searchable by character, pinyin or English keyword.

If you already know a fair amount of Mandarin and want it to become automatic, this is built for exactly that.

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Practice makes perfect,
Pierre

Level: HSK 2-3-4 (want more of a challenge? HSK 4-5 version here)

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Click play above and let’s get into it.

Written from Paris

🎯 HSK Comprehension Test

1. 我觉得这个城市为什么要改名字？
   我覺得這個城市為什麼要改名字？

   1. 因为老名字不好听
      因為老名字不好聽

   2. 因为这个名字很有名，可以让更多人来旅游
      因為這個名字很有名，可以讓更多人來旅遊

   3. 因为藏族人喜欢这个名字
      因為藏族人喜歡這個名字

   4. 因为政府想要一个中文名字
      因為政府想要一個中文名字

2. 我为什么觉得香格里拉“一般”？
   我為什麼覺得香格里拉「一般」？

   1. 因为走了很多天有点累，也没有时间去爬山
      因為走了很多天有點累，也沒有時間去爬山

   2. 因为那里的东西太贵了
      因為那裡的東西太貴了

   3. 因为那里的人不友好
      因為那裡的人不友好

   4. 因为天气不好，一直下雨
      因為天氣不好，一直下雨

3. 从那个中国男生的话里，我知道了什么？
   從那個中國男生的話裡，我知道了什麼？

   1. 他想去外国工作
      他想去外國工作

   2. 他很喜欢住在香格里拉
      他很喜歡住在香格里拉

   3. 现在中国年轻人的生活很不容易
      現在中國年輕人的生活很不容易

   4. 年轻人都不喜欢旅游
      年輕人都不喜歡旅遊

4. 我下次去云南，可能会怎么做？
   我下次去雲南，可能會怎麼做？

   1. 去更多的城市看看
      去更多的城市看看

   2. 在香格里拉住更长时间
      在香格里拉住更長時間

   3. 不去香格里拉，多花时间在山里
      不去香格里拉，多花時間在山裡

   4. 先去香格里拉，再去虎跳峡
      先去香格里拉，再去虎跳峽

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🀄 全文记录 | Full Chinese Transcript

Read more

Level: HSK 4-5 (prefer something easier? HSK 2-3-4 version here)

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Hit play and see how much you can catch.

Written from Paris

🎯 HSK Comprehension Test

1. 我对香格里拉的感觉一般，主要原因可能是什么？
   我對香格里拉的感覺一般，主要原因可能是什麼？

   1. 高原反应让我身体不舒服
      高原反應讓我身體不舒服

   2. 住宿太贵，超出了我的预算
      住宿太貴，超出了我的預算

   3. 古城被火烧过，不是原来的样子
      古城被火燒過，不是原來的樣子

   4. 旅行了十天比较累，而且更喜欢在山里徒步
      旅行了十天比較累，而且更喜歡在山裡徒步

2. 我在文章里提到那个二十三岁的中国男生，主要想说明什么？
   我在文章裡提到那個二十三歲的中國男生，主要想說明什麼？

   1. 我在旅行中常常感到孤独
      我在旅行中常常感到孤獨

   2. 在香格里拉很容易认识新朋友
      在香格里拉很容易認識新朋友

   3. 通过他了解了中国年轻人的生活状况
      通過他了解了中國年輕人的生活狀況

   4. 藏族年轻人的生活特别困难
      藏族年輕人的生活特別困難

3. 根据文章，如果我下次再去云南，我可能会怎么做？
   根據文章，如果我下次再去雲南，我可能會怎麼做？

   1. 跟上次一样的安排，因为很满意
      跟上次一樣的安排，因為很滿意

   2. 不去香格里拉，多花时间在山里
      不去香格里拉，多花時間在山裡

   3. 主要参观城市和寺庙，少去自然景点
      主要參觀城市和寺廟，少去自然景點

   4. 在香格里拉多待几天，好好休息
      在香格里拉多待幾天，好好休息

4. 我说这次云南之旅“让我很满意”，但又说十一天“不够”，这说明什么？
   我說這次雲南之旅「讓我很滿意」，但又說十一天「不夠」，這說明什麼？

   1. 云南值得看的地方很多，我想有更多时间探索
      雲南值得看的地方很多，我想有更多時間探索

   2. 我对这次旅行其实不太满意
      我對這次旅行其實不太滿意

   3. 云南的交通不方便，浪费了很多时间
      雲南的交通不方便，浪費了很多時間

   4. 我已经计划好很快再去一次云南
      我已經計劃好很快再去一次雲南

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🀄 全文记录 | Full Chinese Transcript

Read more

This is the 🌱 Easy version of today’s worksheet, designed for learners around HSK 2–3-4. Looking for more of a challenge? The Advanced version is in your inbox or right here.

Want only one version from now on? You can update your preferences here.

In this week’s lesson we looked at the many ways Mandarin says “but.”

Today’s exercises will help you practice picking the one that fits the moment. The grammar is simple; the real skill is hearing what each choice tells your listener about you. With practice, these choices will become second nature!

🌱 Today’s Easy Exercises

Translate these English sentences into Mandarin:

1. That movie is really good, it’s just too long.

2. I drank a lot of coffee, and it actually made me sleepy.

3. I went to bed really late yesterday, but I still got up at six this morning.

4. I called you three times, but you didn’t hear any of them.

Take your time, and remember: practicing will help you sound more natural and confident in your Mandarin conversations. You’ve got this! 💫

🌱 Translation #1

That movie is really good, it’s just too long.

Sometimes you want to praise something and still mention the one thing that bothers you, without taking the praise back. A plain “but” would shove that praise aside and turn the flaw into your real point. 只是 (zhǐshì) does the opposite: it names the single catch and leaves your good opinion standing. Its spoken twin 就是 (jiùshì) works the same way, only with a resigned shrug, as if that flaw is never going to change.

Let’s break down the translation step by step:

• 这 [這] (zhè) means “this.”

• 个 [個] (ge) is the general measure word.

  • Films can also take 部 (bù), which sounds a little more written.

  • 📖 Learn more about measure words in CGG #104 and CGG #105.

• 电影 [電影] (diànyǐng) means “movie.”

• 很 (hěn) means “very.”

  • An adjective needs a degree word in front of it here, so 很 is doing grammar work more than it is doing meaning work.

• 好看 (hǎokàn) means “good” for anything you watch or read.

  • 好 (hǎo) means “good.”

  • 看 (kàn) means “to watch.”

• 只是 (zhǐshì) means “it’s just that.”

  • It flags one limit and leaves the rest of your judgement intact.

• 太 (tài) means “too.”

• 长 [長] (cháng) means “long.”

• 了 (le) closes the 太…了 frame.

  • 📖 Learn more about 太…了 and other degree patterns in CGG #65.

Notes

• Don’t drop the 了 after 太 (tài). 太长了 [太長了] is the natural form; 太长 [太長] on its own sounds unfinished.

• Don’t use 但是 (dànshì) here. It would set the praise aside and make “too long” the point of the sentence, which changes your verdict on the film.

• 只是 (zhǐshì) is the more neutral of the pair. Swap in 就是 (jiùshì) when you want that spoken, slightly resigned tone.

• 好看 (hǎokàn) covers films, books and shows. Saying 很好 (hěn hǎo) about a movie sounds vague, closer to “fine.”

Recap

• 这个电影很好看，只是太长了。

• 這個電影很好看，只是太長了。

• 这 / 个 / 电影 / 很 / 好看 / ，/ 只是 / 太 / 长 / 了 / 。

• zhège diànyǐng hěn hǎokàn, zhǐshì tài cháng le

• That movie is really good, it’s just too long.

• this / (measure word 个) / movie / very / good to watch / it’s just / too / long / (particle 了).

🌱 Translation #2

I drank a lot of coffee, and it actually made me sleepy.

Read more

This is the 🌳 Advanced version of today’s worksheet, designed for learners around HSK 4–5-6. Looking for something simpler to practice first? The Easy version is in your inbox or right here!

Want only one version from now on? You can update your preferences here.

This week we looked at the many ways Mandarin says “but.”

Today’s exercises will help you practice picking the one that fits the moment. Each of these words carries a slightly different feeling, and choosing well is what makes a sentence sound like something a person would actually say.

With a bit of practice, the right one will start coming to you without thinking. Let’s go!

🌳 Today’s Advanced Exercises

Translate these English sentences into Mandarin:

1. The Suzhou gardens are worth seeing any time of year, it’s just that spring is unbearably crowded.

2. We’d planned to go see the cherry blossoms together, but she got called in to work, so we had to push it to next week.

3. I can definitely finish the marathon, though you shouldn’t expect much from my time.

4. Guilin’s scenery really does live up to its reputation, but going during the rainy season is honestly miserable.

Take your time, and remember: practicing will help you sound more natural and confident in your Mandarin conversations. You’ve got this! 💫

🌳 Translation #1

The Suzhou gardens are worth seeing any time of year, it’s just that spring is unbearably crowded.

Sometimes you want to praise a place without taking the praise back. The first job here is “any time of year.” Instead of listing seasons, you can drop a question word into a statement and pair it with 都 (dōu), which turns “when do you go?” into “whenever you go.” The second job is the “but,” and a heavy 但是 (dànshì) would make it sound like the crowds cancel out the gardens. That’s where 只是 (zhǐshì) comes in: it names the one catch and leaves everything you just said standing.

Let’s break down the translation step by step:

• 苏州 [蘇州] (Sūzhōu) means “Suzhou,” a city near Shanghai known for its classical gardens.

  • I went to Suzhou in April, listen to my story here:

• 园林 [園林] (yuánlín) means “classical gardens.”

  • 园 [園] (yuán) means “garden.”

  • 林 (lín) means “grove” or “woods.”

• 什么 [什麼] (shénme) normally means “what.”

• 时候 [時候] (shíhou) means “time” or “moment.”

  • Together, 什么时候 [什麼時候] (shénme shíhou) usually asks “when,” but paired with 都 it stops asking and covers every case: “whenever.”

  • 📖 Learn more about question words used in statements in CGG #49.

• 去 (qù) means “to go.”

• 都 (dōu) means “all,” here closer to “in every case.”

  • 📖 Learn more about 都 and the other ways to say “all” in CGG #57 and CGG #58.

• 好看 (hǎokàn) means “nice to look at.”

• 只是 (zhǐshì) means “it’s just that.”

  • It introduces one limitation without withdrawing the compliment.

• 春天 (chūntiān) means “spring.”

• 人 (rén) means “people.”

• 实在 [實在] (shízài) means “really” or “honestly,” with a note of exasperation.

• 太 (tài) means “too.”

• 多 (duō) means “many.”

• 了 (le) closes the 太…了 frame.

  • 📖 Learn more about 太…了 and other ways to express intensity in CGG #65.

Notes

• Don’t use 但是 (dànshì) here. It would push the crowds forward as the real point and make the praise sound like a setup.

• 都 cannot be dropped. Without it, 什么时候 [什麼時候] goes back to being a question and the sentence reads as “when do you go?”

• 太 almost always needs its 了 at the end of the clause. 太多 on its own sounds unfinished in speech.

Recap

• 苏州园林什么时候去都好看，只是春天人实在太多了。

• 蘇州園林什麼時候去都好看，只是春天人實在太多了。

• 苏州 / 园林 / 什么 / 时候 / 去 / 都 / 好看 / ，/ 只是 / 春天 / 人 / 实在 / 太 / 多 / 了 / 。

• Sūzhōu yuánlín shénme shíhou qù dōu hǎokàn, zhǐshì chūntiān rén shízài tài duō le.

• The Suzhou gardens are worth seeing any time of year, it’s just that spring is unbearably crowded.

• Suzhou / gardens / what / time / go / all / nice to look at / it’s just that / spring / people / really / too / many / (particle 了).

🌳 Translation #2

We’d planned to go see the cherry blossoms together, but she got called in to work, so we had to push it to next week.

Read more

Now I’m back home and September is almost here, with the new job starting for me and the usual return to routine for pretty much everyone. It’s always the month where people decide that this time they’re really going to get serious about their Mandarin.

Which is a good moment to mention something I hear from readers all the time, some version of “I understand quite a lot of Mandarin, but I can’t actually use it.” That 但是 (dànshì) sits right in the middle of the sentence and separates two very different things. On one side there are years of real work, and on the other side there’s the part that somehow never moves, however many textbooks or videos you go through.

Today we’re looking at all the different ways Mandarin says “but,” because 但是 is only one option among quite a few, and the others are worth knowing.

💎 This Week’s Gem: Saying “But” in Mandarin 💎

You almost certainly know that 但是 (dànshì) means “but,” and that part gives nobody much trouble. What takes longer to get comfortable with is that Mandarin has around seven ways to say it, and the one you choose quietly changes how you sound: neutral, warm, polite, surprised, or a little sorry about something.

Today we look at 但是, 可是 (kěshì), 不过 (búguò), 只是 (zhǐshì), 就是 (jiùshì), 却 (què), and 反而 (fǎn’ér). The grammar behind them is simple, so we will spend most of our time on what your listener hears when you pick one over another.

There is also a small structural difference to keep an eye on. The first five sit at the front of the second clause, right where English puts “but.” The last two work differently, and we will come to that when we get there.

🧱 但是: Plain and Neutral

但是 carries no particular feeling, and that is both what makes it so useful and what limits it. It tells your listener that two things conflict, and it leaves your attitude out of the picture. In writing it’s the natural default, and in speech it sounds calm and fairly final.

There is one more thing worth knowing about it, and it’s easy to overlook: whatever comes after 但是 is usually the part you really mean. The first clause is being put aside. If you say 我很喜欢这个工作，但是离家太远了 (wǒ hěn xǐhuān zhège gōngzuò, dànshì lí jiā tài yuǎn le, “I really like this job, but it’s too far from home”), your listener will understand that you have decided against the job. The first half was politeness and the second half is your answer.

So 但是 can make you sound a little more final than you intended. When you want the first half to keep its value, one of the gentler words further down will suit you better.

Example

• 我很想去，但是今天真的没时间。

• 我 / 很 / 想 / 去 / ，/ 但是 / 今天 / 真的 / 没 / 时间 / 。

• Wǒ hěn xiǎng qù, dànshì jīntiān zhēnde méi shíjiān.

• I really want to go, but today I really don’t have time.

• I / very / want / go / but (contrast connector 但是) / today / really / not have / time

• This sounds settled. The person who invited you will take it as a no and probably won’t ask again.

The short form 但 (dàn) does the same job in fewer syllables. It is everywhere in writing, and in speech it sounds shorter and more decided.

Example

• 他已经很累了，但还是继续工作。

• 他 / 已经 / 很 / 累 / 了 / ，/ 但 / 还是 / 继续 / 工作 / 。

• Tā yǐjīng hěn lèi le, dàn háishì jìxù gōngzuò.

• He was already very tired, but he kept working anyway.

• he / already / very / tired / (change of state marker 了) / but (contrast connector 但) / still / continue / work

• The 还是 here adds the sense of “anyway, in spite of that.” It is the same 还是 you met in CGG #82 and CGG #83. Without it the sentence still works, but it loses that stubborn feeling.

You will also meet 但是 in the second half of sentences that begin with 虽然 (suīrán, “although”), like 虽然很贵，但是很好用 (suīrán hěn guì, dànshì hěn hǎoyòng, “although it’s expensive, it works really well”). Mandarin is comfortable using both halves where English picks just one. That pairing has enough going on to deserve a lesson of its own, so we will come back to it another week.

💬 可是: When You Want Your Feelings to Show

可是 points at the same conflict as 但是, but you can hear the speaker in it. It carries disappointment, an objection, an excuse, or a small appeal. Imagine someone asks you to work late. If you answer 但是我明天有考试 (dànshì wǒ míngtiān yǒu kǎoshì), you sound like you are reporting a scheduling fact. If you answer 可是我明天有考试 (kěshì wǒ míngtiān yǒu kǎoshì), you sound like you are hoping they will excuse you.

The two overlap a great deal, and swapping them rarely makes a sentence wrong. What shifts is how involved you sound. 但是 presents a contrast, while 可是 responds to one.

That is why 可是 so often opens a reply, when you are gently disagreeing with what someone just said. It also suits obstacles that are more emotional than factual. In an essay or a report it sounds too casual, and 但是 takes over there.

Example

• 我很想帮你，可是我真的不知道怎么办。

• 我 / 很 / 想 / 帮 / 你 / ，/ 可是 / 我 / 真的 / 不 / 知道 / 怎么办 / 。

• Wǒ hěn xiǎng bāng nǐ, kěshì wǒ zhēnde bù zhīdào zěnme bàn.

• I really want to help you, but I honestly don’t know what to do.

• I / very / want / help / you / but (conversational contrast connector 可是) / I / really / not / know / what to do

• The obstacle here is the speaker’s own helplessness, and 可是 lets that show. With 但是, the same words would feel more like a polite way of closing the subject.

Example

• 她准备了这么久，可是上台前还是很紧张。

• 她 / 准备 / 了 / 这么 / 久 / ，/ 可是 / 上台 / 前 / 还是 / 很 / 紧张 / 。

• Tā zhǔnbèi le zhème jiǔ, kěshì shàngtái qián háishì hěn jǐnzhāng.

• She prepared for so long, but she was still very nervous before going on stage.

• she / prepare / (completed action marker 了) / so / long / but (conversational contrast connector 可是) / go on stage / before / still / very / nervous

• There is sympathy in this sentence. The speaker is on her side, and 可是 is part of how you can tell.

In relaxed speech, 可是 often shortens to 可 (kě), which sounds lively, like you are pressing your point a little.

Example

• 我知道你很忙，可你也得休息啊。

• 我 / 知道 / 你 / 很 / 忙 / ，/ 可 / 你 / 也 / 得 / 休息 / 啊 / 。

• Wǒ zhīdào nǐ hěn máng, kě nǐ yě děi xiūxi a.

• I know you’re busy, but you need to rest too.

• I / know / you / very / busy / but (contrast marker 可) / you / also / must / rest / (sentence particle 啊)

• This is someone who cares about you and is being a little firm with you at the same time. The 啊 at the end adds to that warmth.

One thing to watch with this 可: most of the 可 you come across is not “but” at all. We saw its other jobs in CGG #111 and CGG #112, and 可以 (kěyǐ, “can, may”) from CGG #122 is a different word again.

🌤️ 不过: Softening Without Taking Anything Back

不过 is where these words start to become really useful. Unlike 但是, it does not withdraw what you just said. It keeps your first statement standing and adds one small limit to it.

That makes 不过 as much a politeness tool as a contrast word. It lets you say no without closing the door, add a condition without seeming difficult, or disagree while staying friendly. If a colleague shows you a draft, 写得不错，不过… (xiě de búcuò, búguò…, “it’s well written, though…”) tells them the praise was real and that one comment is coming. Beginning that same reply with 但是 sounds much stronger.

Notice what tends to appear around 不过. It sits comfortably with 有点 (yǒudiǎn, “a little”) and 一点 (yìdiǎn, “a bit”), because that whole half of the sentence is being kept small on purpose.

Example

• 这件外套我很喜欢，不过有点贵。

• 这 / 件 / 外套 / 我 / 很 / 喜欢 / ，/ 不过 / 有点 / 贵 / 。

• Zhè jiàn wàitào wǒ hěn xǐhuān, búguò yǒudiǎn guì.

• I really like this coat, though it’s a little expensive.

• this / (measure word 件) / coat / I / very / like / though (soft contrast connector 不过) / a little / expensive

• You might still buy it. That is the difference from 但是, which would suggest you are leaving the shop.

Example

• 我可以帮你搬家，不过得等到周末。

• 我 / 可以 / 帮 / 你 / 搬家 / ，/ 不过 / 得 / 等到 / 周末 / 。

• Wǒ kěyǐ bāng nǐ bānjiā, búguò děi děngdào zhōumò.

• I can help you move, but it will have to wait until the weekend.

• I / can / help / you / move house / but (soft contrast connector 不过) / must / wait until / weekend

• The answer is still yes. 不过 attaches a condition to it rather than taking it back.

When you want that limit to feel even smaller, there is 只不过 (zhǐbúguò), which means something like “it’s only that.”

Example

• 他答应帮忙了，只不过需要几天时间。

• 他 / 答应 / 帮忙 / 了 / ，/ 只不过 / 需要 / 几 / 天 / 时间 / 。

• Tā dāying bāngmáng le, zhǐbúguò xūyào jǐ tiān shíjiān.

• He agreed to help, it’s just that he needs a few days.

• he / agree / help / (change of state marker 了) / it is only that (只不过) / need / a few / days / time

• The delay comes across as a detail rather than a broken promise.

There is one thing to be careful about here. 不过 also has a separate meaning, “only, no more than,” and you meet it just before a quantity. That second meaning becomes much easier to remember once you look at the two characters on their own. 过 (guò) is a verb meaning “to pass, to go beyond, to exceed,” so 不过 literally says “does not go beyond.” Say 他不过二十岁 (tā búguò èrshí suì) and you are saying his age does not go beyond twenty, which in plain English is “he’s only twenty.”

Example

• 他不过二十岁，已经开了自己的公司。

• 他 / 不过 / 二十 / 岁 / ，/ 已经 / 开 / 了 / 自己 / 的 / 公司 / 。

• Tā búguò èrshí suì, yǐjīng kāi le zìjǐ de gōngsī.

• He is only twenty years old, and he has already started his own company.

• he / only, no more than (不过) / twenty / years old / already / open / (completed action marker 了) / self / (possessive particle 的) / company

• Position will tell you which 不过 you are looking at. After a comma, opening a new clause, it means “but.” Right in front of a number or an amount, it means “only.”

⚖️ One Sentence, Three Feelings

Reading about these differences only takes you so far. Here is the same first clause three times, with nothing changed except the connector.

Example

• 这个工作我很喜欢，但是离家太远了。

• 这 / 个 / 工作 / 我 / 很 / 喜欢 / ，/ 但是 / 离 / 家 / 太 / 远 / 了 / 。

• Zhège gōngzuò wǒ hěn xǐhuān, dànshì lí jiā tài yuǎn le.

• I really like this job, but it’s too far from home.

• this / (general measure word 个) / job / I / very / like / but (但是) / from / home / too / far / (change of state marker 了)

• The decision has been made. You are explaining why you turned it down.

Example

• 这个工作我很喜欢，可是离家太远了。

• 这 / 个 / 工作 / 我 / 很 / 喜欢 / ，/ 可是 / 离 / 家 / 太 / 远 / 了 / 。

• Zhège gōngzuò wǒ hěn xǐhuān, kěshì lí jiā tài yuǎn le.

• I really like this job, but it’s too far from home.

• this / (general measure word 个) / job / I / very / like / but (可是) / from / home / too / far / (change of state marker 了)

• The same decision, but now you are sorry about it and you would like the person listening to feel that with you.

Example

• 这个工作我很喜欢，不过离家有点远。

• 这 / 个 / 工作 / 我 / 很 / 喜欢 / ，/ 不过 / 离 / 家 / 有点 / 远 / 。

• Zhège gōngzuò wǒ hěn xǐhuān, búguò lí jiā yǒudiǎn yuǎn.

• I really like this job, though it’s a bit far from home.

• this / (general measure word 个) / job / I / very / like / though (不过) / from / home / a little / far

• Nothing is settled here. You are still thinking it over, and you may well accept. Notice that 太…了 (tài…le, “too…”) became 有点: the gentler connector brings the rest of the sentence down with it.

Try reading the three aloud, one after another. Only the middle word changed, and you have moved from a closed decision to an open one.

🤏 只是 and 就是: Naming the One Catch

只是 and 就是 go a step beyond 不过. Rather than simply softening the turn, they point at the single thing that is not right, leaving everything else untouched. When someone uses one of these, they are usually still in favour of what they described first.

就是 is the spoken one, and it often comes with a small sigh. It is what a friend says about an apartment they are probably going to rent anyway. 只是 feels slightly more neutral and appears in writing too, and it is also the word you reach for when you are explaining yourself: “it isn’t that I don’t want to, it’s just that…”.

The difference from 不过 is worth stating plainly. 不过 turns the sentence in a new direction, whatever that direction happens to be. 只是 and 就是 name one specific drawback and stop there.

Example

• 房子很好，就是离地铁有点远。

• 房子 / 很 / 好 / ，/ 就是 / 离 / 地铁 / 有点 / 远 / 。

• Fángzi hěn hǎo, jiùshì lí dìtiě yǒudiǎn yuǎn.

• The apartment is great, it’s just a bit far from the subway.

• apartment / very / good / it is just that (就是) / from / subway / a little / far

• Everything about the place is fine apart from this one thing, and the speaker sounds like they have already accepted it.

Example

• 这个方法很有用，只是需要花不少时间。

• 这 / 个 / 方法 / 很 / 有用 / ，/ 只是 / 需要 / 花 / 不少 / 时间 / 。

• Zhège fāngfǎ hěn yǒuyòng, zhǐshì xūyào huā bùshǎo shíjiān.

• This method is very useful, it’s just that it takes quite a lot of time.

• this / (general measure word 个) / method / very / useful / it is just that (只是) / need / spend / quite a lot / time

• The recommendation still stands. The time it takes is a warning, not an objection.

Example

• 我不是不想去，只是最近实在太忙了。

• 我 / 不是 / 不 / 想 / 去 / ，/ 只是 / 最近 / 实在 / 太 / 忙 / 了 / 。

• Wǒ búshì bù xiǎng qù, zhǐshì zuìjìn shízài tài máng le.

• It isn’t that I don’t want to go, it’s just that I’ve been far too busy lately.

• I / is not / not / want / go / it is just that (只是) / recently / really / too / busy / (particle 了)

• Here 只是 is doing what it does best, correcting an impression somebody has formed about you. It says the real reason is smaller and less personal than they were thinking.

Both words have other jobs, so it helps to watch where they sit. 只是 in front of a verb usually means “merely,” as in 我只是开个玩笑 (wǒ zhǐshì kāi ge wánxiào, “I was only joking”). 就是 in front of a noun usually means “is exactly,” as in 他就是我的老师 (tā jiùshì wǒ de lǎoshī, “he is precisely my teacher”). They only carry the “but” meaning when they open the second clause.

🎭 却: When Things Don’t Go as Expected

Everything so far has been about tone. 却 does something different: it marks the second half of the sentence as surprising, given the first half. 但是 says “A, but B.” 却 says “after A, you would expect something else, and yet B happened.”

There is a structural difference too, and it is an easy one to get wrong at first. The five words above are connectors so they open the second clause and can come before the subject. 却 is an adverb, so it lives inside the clause, after the subject and before the verb.

Example

• 他准备了很久，却没有通过考试。

• 他 / 准备 / 了 / 很 / 久 / ，/ 却 / 没有 / 通过 / 考试 / 。

• Tā zhǔnbèi le hěn jiǔ, què méiyǒu tōngguò kǎoshì.

• He prepared for a long time, yet he didn’t pass the exam.

• he / prepare / (completed action marker 了) / very / long / yet (unexpected contrast adverb 却) / not have / pass / exam

• Take 却 away and you get 他准备了很久，没有通过考试 (tā zhǔnbèi le hěn jiǔ, méiyǒu tōngguò kǎoshì), which is correct but flat, two facts sitting side by side. 却 is what makes the result feel unfair. Both clauses share a subject here, so 他 is not repeated.

Example

• 我以为她会生气，她却笑了。

• 我 / 以为 / 她 / 会 / 生气 / ，/ 她 / 却 / 笑 / 了 / 。

• Wǒ yǐwéi tā huì shēngqì, tā què xiào le.

• I thought she would be angry, but she smiled instead.

• I / assume wrongly / she / would / get angry / she / yet (却) / smile / (change of state marker 了)

• Look at the order: 她, then 却, then the verb. 却她笑了 (què tā xiào le) does not work.

Since 却 adds a feeling to a clause instead of joining two clauses, it can share a sentence with 但是. They are doing separate jobs, with 但是 making the connection and 却 adding the surprise.

Example

• 她很喜欢吃甜食，但是她却从来不吃巧克力。

• 她 / 很 / 喜欢 / 吃 / 甜食 / ，/ 但是 / 她 / 却 / 从来 / 不 / 吃 / 巧克力 / 。

• Tā hěn xǐhuān chī tiánshí, dànshì tā què cónglái bù chī qiǎokèlì.

• She loves sweets, but she never eats chocolate.

• she / very / like / eat / sweets / but (但是) / she / yet (却) / never / not / eat / chocolate

One word to keep separate from 却 is 竟然 (jìngrán). 却 needs a first clause to work against, while 竟然 expresses your surprise on its own, with nothing set up beforehand. Review how to use 竟然 in CGG #89.

🔄 反而: When the Opposite Happens

反而 is the most specific word in this lesson. It says the result went in the reverse direction from the one you were aiming at. You hoped for one outcome and got its opposite.

It helps to compare it with 却 for a moment, since this is the difference that takes longest to feel. With 却, what you expected simply did not arrive. With 反而, its opposite arrived instead.

反而 also carries a tone that 却 does not. It sounds regretful, and a little like the speaker is laughing at themselves, admitting that their own effort worked against them.

Example

• 我本来想帮他，反而给他添了麻烦。

• 我 / 本来 / 想 / 帮 / 他 / ，/ 反而 / 给 / 他 / 添 / 了 / 麻烦 / 。

• Wǒ běnlái xiǎng bāng tā, fǎn’ér gěi tā tiān le máfan.

• I meant to help him, but instead I caused him trouble.

• I / originally / want / help / him / instead, with the opposite result (反而) / for / him / add / (completed action marker 了) / trouble

• Helping is supposed to take problems away. This took none away and created new ones, which is exactly the reversal 反而 is for.

Example

• 我解释了半天，他反而更生气了。

• 我 / 解释 / 了 / 半天 / ，/ 他 / 反而 / 更 / 生气 / 了 / 。

• Wǒ jiěshì le bàntiān, tā fǎn’ér gèng shēngqì le.

• I spent ages explaining, but he only got angrier.

• I / explain / (completed action marker 了) / a long time / he / instead, contrary to expectation (反而) / even more / angry / (change of state marker 了)

• An explanation should calm someone down, so the anger has moved the wrong way. The 更 is a helpful clue, since these reversals often come with “even more.” Notice the position too, with 他 before 反而, just as with 却.

Example

• 他本来想省钱，结果反而花得更多了。

• 他 / 本来 / 想 / 省钱 / ，/ 结果 / 反而 / 花 / 得 / 更 / 多 / 了 / 。

• Tā běnlái xiǎng shěngqián, jiéguǒ fǎn’ér huā de gèng duō le.

• He wanted to save money, but he ended up spending even more.

• he / originally / want / save money / as a result / instead, with the opposite result (反而) / spend / (degree complement marker 得) / even / more / (change of state marker 了)

• 本来 (běnlái, “originally”) and 结果 (jiéguǒ, “as a result”) appear next to 反而 very often, since one names the plan and the other delivers the outcome.

Now put two of our sentences next to each other. In 他准备了很久，却没有通过考试 (tā zhǔnbèi le hěn jiǔ, què méiyǒu tōngguò kǎoshì, “he prepared for a long time, yet he didn’t pass the exam”), the preparation failed to work, though it did not cause the failure, so 却 is the right word here. In 他本来想省钱，结果反而花得更多了 (tā běnlái xiǎng shěngqián, jiéguǒ fǎn’ér huā de gèng duō le, “he wanted to save money, but he ended up spending even more”), trying to save is what produced the extra spending, so 反而 fits. Using 却 in the second sentence would still be understandable, only weaker, because the reversal would disappear.

When you are unsure which one you want, ask yourself a simple question: did nothing happen, or did the opposite happen? You will get it wrong now and then, and that is to be expected, since most textbooks leave this difference out entirely.

In speech you will also hear 反倒 (fǎndào), which means the same as 反而 and sounds a little more casual, as in 雨反倒越下越大了 (yǔ fǎndào yuè xià yuè dà le, “instead, the rain came down harder and harder”), where 越…越… (yuè…yuè…) behaves just as we saw in CGG #41.

📝 Recap

• Using 但是 / 但 (dànshì / dàn): The neutral default “but.” It signals conflict without showing how you feel, and whatever follows it is the part you really mean, so the first clause gets set aside. The short 但 sounds brisker and more decided.

• Using 可是 / 可 (kěshì / kě): Same contrast, but with your feelings audible: disappointment, an excuse, a gentle objection, etc. It often opens a reply and suits emotional rather than factual obstacles. Rather casual.

• Using 不过 / 只不过 (búguò / zhǐbúguò): A softener that keeps your first statement standing and adds one small limit, ideal for polite disagreement or a yes with a condition. 只不过 shrinks that limit even further. Careful: before a number, 不过 means “only.”

• Using 只是 / 就是 (zhǐshì / jiùshì): These name the one catch and leave everything else intact, so you still approve overall. 就是 is spoken and slightly resigned, while 只是 is more neutral and handy for correcting an impression about you.

• Using 却 (què): Marks the result as surprising, given what came before. It’s an adverb, not a connector, so it sits after the subject and before the verb, and can even share a sentence with 但是.

• Using 反而 / 反倒 (fǎn’ér / fǎndào): A full reversal: the opposite of what you wanted arrived, often because of your own efforts. Slightly rueful in tone, and often found near 本来, 结果 and 更. 反倒 is the casual spoken version.

⛏️ Practice Makes Perfect

Now let’s put all seven of these to work! Is this a plain contrast, a personal complaint, a soft qualification, one single catch, a surprise, or a full reversal? And don’t forget the position trap: the first five open the second clause, while 却 and 反而 sit after the subject. Translate these sentences and say them out loud.

🌱 Easy

1. That movie is really good, it’s just too long.

2. I drank a lot of coffee, and it actually made me sleepy.

3. I went to bed really late yesterday, but I still got up at six this morning.

4. I called you three times, but you didn’t hear any of them.

🌳 Advanced

5. The Suzhou gardens are worth seeing any time of year, it’s just that spring is unbearably crowded.

6. We’d planned to go see the cherry blossoms together, but she got called in to work, so we had to push it to next week.

7. I can definitely finish the marathon, though you shouldn’t expect much from my time.

8. Guilin’s scenery really does live up to its reputation, but going during the rainy season is honestly miserable.

🌟 Practice More with Pearls of Mandarin 🌟

Those eight sentences are the part that matters. Reading about 却 and 反而 makes the difference look obvious. Choosing between them yourself, with the subject in the right spot and the right level of softness, is where you find out whether the pattern is actually yours.

Don’t look for the answers yet. Write your own version first, even a clumsy one. That’s what makes the correction stick.

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Level: HSK 4-5 (prefer something easier? HSK 2-3-4 version here)

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Hit play and see how much you can catch.

Written from Marseille

🎯 HSK Comprehension Test

1. 我为什么觉得虎跳峡的山路“特别”？
   我為什麼覺得虎跳峽的山路「特別」？

   1. 因为它是中国唯一可以看到雪山的山路
      因為它是中國唯一可以看到雪山的山路

   2. 因为它比其他山路更危险，更有挑战性
      因為它比其他山路更危險，更有挑戰性

   3. 因为走这条路的游客比较少
      因為走這條路的遊客比較少

   4. 因为它保持了原始的状态，没有台阶和栏杆
      因為它保持了原始的狀態，沒有臺階和欄杆

2. 从我对游客拍照的描述来看，我觉得真正的旅游应该是什么样的？
   從我對遊客拍照的描述來看，我覺得真正的旅遊應該是什麼樣的？

   1. 要拍很多照片，记录美好的回忆
      要拍很多照片，記錄美好的回憶

   2. 要慢慢体验大自然，而不只是为了炫耀
      要慢慢體驗大自然，而不只是為了炫耀

   3. 要选择最舒适的方式，坐车上山
      要選擇最舒適的方式，坐車上山

   4. 要用最短的时间看最多的景点
      要用最短的時間看最多的景點

3. 我为什么决定专门写一篇关于虎跳峡的文章？
   我為什麼決定專門寫一篇關於虎跳峽的文章？

   1. 因为虎跳峡让我印象深刻，我想分享这次经历
      因為虎跳峽讓我印象深刻，我想分享這次經歷

   2. 因为我想帮助客栈老板娘吸引更多游客
      因為我想幫助客棧老闆娘吸引更多遊客

   3. 因为网上的信息不清楚，我想给读者提供实用的建议
      因為網上的資訊不清楚，我想給讀者提供實用的建議

   4. 因为很多人不知道虎跳峡在哪里
      因為很多人不知道虎跳峽在哪裡

4. 老板娘说她的生意越来越差，最主要的原因是什么？
   老闆娘說她的生意越來越差，最主要的原因是什麼？

   1. 很多游客只开车上山拍照，不在山上过夜了
      很多遊客只開車上山拍照，不在山上過夜了

   2. 从丽江到虎跳峡的大巴太少了
      從麗江到虎跳峽的大巴太少了

   3. 虎跳峡的游客越来越少了
      虎跳峽的遊客越來越少了

   4. 山上的客栈越来越多，竞争太激烈
      山上的客棧越來越多，競爭太激烈

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🀄 全文记录 | Full Chinese Transcript

Read more

Level: HSK 2-3-4 (want more of a challenge? HSK 4-5 version here)

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Written from Marseille

🎯 HSK Comprehension Test

1. 客栈老板说生意不好，主要是因为什么？
   客棧老闆說生意不好，主要是因為什麼？

   1. 风景没有以前美了
      風景沒有以前美了

   2. 很多游客现在只拍照就走了
      很多遊客現在只拍照就走了

   3. 房间的价格太贵了
      房間的價格太貴了

   4. 山里的路太难走了
      山裡的路太難走了

2. 我对那些只拍照就走的游客有什么看法？
   我對那些只拍照就走的遊客有什麼看法？

   1. 我觉得他们不是真的来看风景的
      我覺得他們不是真的來看風景的

   2. 我觉得这样很好
      我覺得這樣很好

   3. 我觉得他们很聪明
      我覺得他們很聰明

   4. 我觉得他们走得太快了
      我覺得他們走得太快了

3. 我为什么特别喜欢虎跳峡的路？
   我為什麼特別喜歡虎跳峽的路？

   1. 因为路上有很多商店
      因為路上有很多商店

   2. 因为路很自然，没有楼梯
      因為路很自然，沒有樓梯

   3. 因为路很短很容易
      因為路很短很容易

   4. 因为可以坐出租车
      因為可以坐出租車

4. 我打算写一篇关于虎跳峡的文章，主要是为什么？
   我打算寫一篇關於虎跳峽的文章，主要是為什麼？

   1. 因为老板让我写
      因為老闆讓我寫

   2. 因为我的朋友想看
      因為我的朋友想看

   3. 因为我想告诉大家不要去
      因為我想告訴大家不要去

   4. 因为网上的信息不太清楚
      因為網上的信息不太清楚

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🀄 全文记录 | Full Chinese Transcript

Read more

This is the 🌱 Easy version of today’s worksheet, designed for learners around HSK 2–3-4. Looking for more of a challenge? The Advanced version is in your inbox or right here.

Want only one version from now on? You can update your preferences here.

In CGG #129 and CGG #130, we worked through how 把 reshapes a sentence and where it stops working.

Today’s exercises will give you practice building these sentences yourself, deciding what belongs before the verb and what has to follow it.

把 sentences feel unnatural to English speakers for a long time. Keep practicing even when the word order feels backwards.

🌱 Today’s Easy Exercises

Translate these English sentences into Mandarin:

1. Please say this sentence one more time.

2. Sorry, I didn’t finish the food, there was too much.

3. Could you turn the TV off? I’m on the phone.

4. The watermelon I bought got eaten up by them.

Take your time, and remember: practicing will help you sound more natural and confident in your Mandarin conversations. You’ve got this! 💫

🌱 Translation #1

Please say this sentence one more time.

Sometimes you need to ask someone to repeat something without sounding like you’re issuing an order. Putting 请 [請] (qǐng) in front of the person softens the whole thing into a request. Then there’s the repetition. You’re not asking for any sentence, you’re asking for one specific sentence that both of you already have in mind, and a known object like that is exactly what 把 (bǎ) handles: it moves the sentence in front of the verb so the end of the clause can say what becomes of it. What becomes of it here is a count, one full run-through, which 遍 (biàn) expresses. While 次 (cì) simply counts occasions, 遍 counts complete performances from start to finish, which is what you want when someone should say the whole thing again.

Let’s break down the translation step by step:

• 请 [請] (qǐng) means “please” or “to ask someone to do something.”

  • 请 [請] + [Person] + [Verb Phrase] is a pivotal sentence: the person is both the object of 请 [請] and the subject of the action that follows.

  • 📖 Learn more about pivotal sentences in CGG #84.

• 你 (nǐ) means “you.”

• 把 (bǎ) moves the object in front of the verb, marking it as something specific that gets handled.

• 这 [這] (zhè) means “this.”

• 句 (jù) is the measure word for sentences and lines of speech.

  • 📖 Learn more about measure words in CGG #104 and CGG #105.

• 话 [話] (huà) means “words” or “speech.”

  • 这句话 [這句話] together means “this sentence.”

• 再 (zài) means “again,” for something that hasn’t happened yet.

  • 📖 Learn more about 再 in CGG #47 and CGG #48.

• 说 [說] (shuō) means “to say.”

• 一 (yī) means “one.”

• 遍 (biàn) counts complete run-throughs of an action.

  • 📖 Learn more about quantity complements in CGG #93.

Notes

• Don’t stop at 请你把这句话再说 [請你把這句話再說]. In a 把 sentence the verb can never stand alone, and here 一遍 (yí biàn) is what completes it.

• 一遍 (yí biàn) goes after the verb, never before it.

• 次 (cì) would count how many occasions you spoke, while 遍 (biàn) counts the sentence being said all the way through, which is what a request to repeat needs.

Recap

• 请你把这句话再说一遍。

• 請你把這句話再說一遍。

• 请 / 你 / 把 / 这 / 句 / 话 / 再 / 说 / 一 / 遍 。

• qǐng nǐ bǎ zhè jù huà zài shuō yí biàn.

• Please say this sentence one more time.

• please / you / (preposition 把) / this / (measure word 句) / sentence / again / say / one / (measure word 遍).

🌱 Translation #2

Sorry, I didn’t finish the food, there was too much.

Read more

This is the 🌳 Advanced version of today’s worksheet, designed for learners around HSK 4–5-6. Looking for something simpler to practice first? The Easy version is in your inbox or right here!

Want only one version from now on? You can update your preferences here.

Over the past two weeks (CGG #129 and CGG #130), we looked at how 把 (bǎ) reshapes a sentence around the thing being acted on.

Today’s advanced exercises will give you practice building longer sentences where several pieces have to sit in the right order. You’ll work with instructions, recipes, and reports of past events, deciding each time what the sentence is really about.

把 sentences take a while to feel natural, and that’s normal. The order stops feeling backwards once you’ve built enough of them yourself.

🌳 Today’s Advanced Exercises

Translate these English sentences into Mandarin:

1. If you want the tea to smell better, you have to rinse the leaves with hot water once first.

2. That manuscript was found by a graduate student in a corner of the archives.

3. Check the tire pressure before we head out, the mountain road is rough.

4. For dumplings, bring the water to a boil first, then drop them in and add cold water twice along the way.

Take your time, and remember: practicing will help you sound more natural and confident in your Mandarin conversations. You’ve got this! 💫

🌳 Translation #1

If you want the tea to smell better, you have to rinse the leaves with hot water once first.

The first half sets up a wish about how the tea should turn out, and for “make something become X” Mandarin uses 让 [讓] (ràng), which puts the tea in a pivot position so a quality can follow it. The second half is the real instruction, and here the tea leaves are the thing being handled, so they move in front of the verb with 把 (bǎ). One catch: “rinse” on its own is too bare to close a 把 sentence, because something always has to follow the verb. Counting the action solves that, and 一遍 (yí biàn) does exactly that job: one full pass through, start to finish.

Let’s break down the translation step by step:

• 想 (xiǎng) means “to want.”

• 让 [讓] (ràng) means “to make” or “to let.”

  • This sets up a pivot: the tea receives the action and then carries its own description.

  • 📖 Learn more about 让 [讓] and other pivot verbs in CGG #84.

• 茶 (chá) means “tea.”

• 更 (gèng) means “more.”

• 香 (xiāng) means “fragrant.”

• 得 (děi) means “must” or “have to.”

  • This is the modal verb děi, not the complement particle 得 (de).

  • Modals describe the whole event, so they sit in front of 把.

• 先 (xiān) means “first.”

• 把 (bǎ) moves the object in front of the verb so the sentence can say what became of it.

• 茶叶 [茶葉] (cháyè) means “tea leaves.”

• 用 (yòng) means “to use.”

• 热水 [熱水] (rèshuǐ) means “hot water.”

  • 热 [熱] (rè) means “hot.”

  • 水 (shuǐ) means “water.”

• 洗 (xǐ) means “to wash” or here “to rinse.”

• 一 (yī) means “one.”

• 遍 (biàn) counts one complete run through something.

  • 📖 Learn more about counting actions in CGG #93.

Notes

• Don’t end the sentence with a bare 洗 (xǐ). A 把 sentence needs something after the verb, and here the count 一遍 (yí biàn) fills that slot.

• 遍 (biàn) and 次 (cì) both count actions, but 遍 stresses going through the whole thing from beginning to end, while 次 simply counts occurrences.

• 得 (děi) and 先 (xiān) both go in front of 把, never between the object and the verb. 把茶叶得先洗 is wrong.

• The instrument phrase 用热水 [用熱水] (yòng rèshuǐ) sits inside the 把 phrase, after the object and before the verb.

Recap

• 想让茶更香，得先把茶叶用热水洗一遍。

• 想讓茶更香，得先把茶葉用熱水洗一遍。

• 想 / 让 / 茶 / 更 / 香 / ，/ 得 / 先 / 把 / 茶叶 / 用 / 热水 / 洗 / 一 / 遍 / 。

• xiǎng ràng chá gèng xiāng, děi xiān bǎ cháyè yòng rèshuǐ xǐ yí biàn.

• If you want the tea to smell better, you have to rinse the leaves with hot water once first.

• want / to make / tea / more / fragrant / must / first / (preposition 把) / tea leaves / with / hot water / rinse / one / (measure word 遍).

🌳 Translation #2

That manuscript was found by a graduate student in a corner of the archives.

Read more

If you were reading back in May, tonight is a nice illustration of something we covered in CGG #118 on the traditional Chinese calendar. A solar eclipse can only ever fall on 初一 (chūyī), the first day of a lunar month, because that’s precisely the moment the moon slips between us and the sun. The 农历 (nónglì, lunisolar calendar) genuinely tracks where the moon is in the sky, which means that if you know the lunar date,you already know roughly what the moon looks like tonight, and tonight it happens to be standing directly in front of the sun.

What I like most though is the word itself. 日食 literally means “sun eating,” and that comes straight from the old explanation of what was happening up there: 天狗食日 (tiāngǒu shí rì), the heavenly dog devouring the sun. 天狗 (tiāngǒu) shows up across Chinese mythology as a celestial creature associated with things falling from the sky, and when the sun started disappearing in the middle of the day, people would bang drums until the dog got scared and spat it back out. It worked without fail every single time, which presumably explains why the practice survived for so many centuries :D

Today we’re finishing the two part series on 把 (bǎ), picking up right where we left off last week.

💎 This Week’s Gem: Mastering 把 (Part 2) 💎

Last week we set out the rule behind 把 (bǎ): the object moves in front of the verb, and something has to follow the verb to say what became of that object. Most of the time that something is a result, a place, or a new form.

Today we’ll fill in the rest of the picture. Some 把 sentences have no result at all, the subject doesn’t have to be a person, the noun after 把 doesn’t have to be a physical thing, and a few verbs refuse 把 completely.

👋 An Ending That Isn’t a Result

The verb still can’t stand alone, but the ending doesn’t always have to name an outcome. Giving the action a size or a shape is enough. 一下 (yíxià) makes it brief and softens a request, a count with 次 (cì) or 遍 (biàn) says how many times it happened, and repeating the verb makes it light and casual. W’ve seen these counts in CGG #93 and this use of repetition in CGG #80.

Example

• 我走之前，请把这张表检查一下。

• 我 / 走 / 之前 / ，/ 请 / 把 / 这 / 张 / 表 / 检查 / 一下 / 。

• Wǒ zǒu zhīqián, qǐng bǎ zhè zhāng biǎo jiǎnchá yíxià.

• Before I go, please have a quick look at this form.

• I / to leave / before / please / (object marker 把) / this / (measure word) / form / to check / (brief action 一下)

• 一下 doesn’t promise any result. It just makes the checking small and the request polite.

The same works with a number: 我把这封邮件检查了三遍 (wǒ bǎ zhè fēng yóujiàn jiǎnchá le sān biàn, “I read this email through three times”), or with a repeated verb: 我想把这段话改一改 (wǒ xiǎng bǎ zhè duàn huà gǎi yi gǎi, “I’d like to make a few changes to this paragraph”).

着 (zhe) works differently. Instead of ending the action, it keeps the thing in a state, which is exactly what 着 does everywhere else, as we saw in CGG #59. 把窗户打开 (bǎ chuānghu dǎ kāi) means open the window; 把窗户开着 (bǎ chuānghu kāi zhe) means leave it open.

Example

• 天气很热，你把窗户开着吧。

• 天气 / 很 / 热 / ，/ 你 / 把 / 窗户 / 开 / 着 / 吧 / 。

• Tiānqì hěn rè, nǐ bǎ chuānghu kāi zhe ba.

• It’s hot, so leave the window open.

• weather / very / hot / you / (object marker 把) / window / to open / (continuous marker 着) / (suggestion particle 吧)

🌬️ The Subject Doesn’t Have to Be a Person

把 is often explained as someone handling something, but that picture is too narrow. Wind, rain, fire, illness, and news can all sit in the subject slot. Nobody is doing anything on purpose: the sentence simply says what caused the change.

Example

• 昨天的大风把院子里的树吹倒了。

• 昨天 / 的 / 大风 / 把 / 院子 / 里 / 的 / 树 / 吹 / 倒 / 了 / 。

• Zuótiān de dàfēng bǎ yuànzi lǐ de shù chuī dǎo le.

• Yesterday’s strong wind blew down the tree in the courtyard.

• yesterday / (modification particle 的) / strong wind / (object marker 把) / courtyard / inside / (modification particle 的) / tree / to blow / fallen over / (completed action marker 了)

A whole event or piece of information can do the same: 这个消息把大家都吓坏了 (zhège xiāoxi bǎ dàjiā dōu xià huài le, “this news gave everyone a terrible fright”).

😲 The Noun After 把 Doesn’t Have to Be a Thing

That sentence about the news also shows something else. 大家 (dàjiā) isn’t an object being moved around. It’s the group of people who felt the fright. When a cause produces a feeling, the person who feels it goes after 把.

Example

• 他的笑话把孩子们逗笑了。

• 他 / 的 / 笑话 / 把 / 孩子们 / 逗 / 笑 / 了 / 。

• Tā de xiàohua bǎ háizimen dòu xiào le.

• His joke made the children laugh.

• he / (possessive particle 的) / joke / (object marker 把) / children / to amuse / to laugh as a result / (completed action marker 了)

• The children receive 逗, and they’re also the ones doing the laughing.

Things you can’t touch work too, as long as the sentence says what became of them.

Example

• 她把压力变成了前进的动力。

• 她 / 把 / 压力 / 变 / 成 / 了 / 前进 / 的 / 动力 / 。

• Tā bǎ yālì biàn chéng le qiánjìn de dònglì.

• She turned her stress into motivation to keep going.

• she / (object marker 把) / stress / to change / into / (completed action marker 了) / to move forward / (modification particle 的) / motivation

You can also be the one affected by your own actions, with 自己 (zìjǐ, “oneself”) after 把. This is common in warnings: 你别把自己累坏了 (nǐ bié bǎ zìjǐ lèi huài le, “don’t wear yourself out”).

🚫 Everything Else Goes in Front of 把

Negation, modal verbs, and adverbs all describe the whole event, so they sit in front of 把 and never between the object and the verb.

Use 没(有) (méi(yǒu)) when the thing didn’t happen or didn’t reach the stated result. Note that 了 disappears in this case, since there is no longer any completion to mark.

Example

• 他没把故事说清楚，我们都听糊涂了。

• 他 / 没 / 把 / 故事 / 说 / 清楚 / ，/ 我们 / 都 / 听 / 糊涂 / 了 / 。

• Tā méi bǎ gùshi shuō qīngchu, wǒmen dōu tīng hútu le.

• He didn’t tell the story clearly, and we all ended up confused.

• he / not / (object marker 把) / story / to tell / clear as a result / we / all / to listen / confused as a result / (change of state marker 了)

不 (bù) appears when nothing has happened yet, especially in conditions: 如果你不把地址写清楚，快递员可能找不到 (rúguǒ nǐ bù bǎ dìzhǐ xiě qīngchu, kuàidìyuán kěnéng zhǎo bu dào, “if you don’t write the address clearly, the courier may not find it”). For telling someone not to do something, 别 (bié) and 不要 (búyào) go in the same slot, exactly as we saw in CGG #106.

Modal verbs behave the same way. 能 (néng), 可以 (kěyǐ), 应该 (yīnggāi), 想 (xiǎng), and 得 (děi) come before 把, never after the object.

Example

• 你应该把重要文件保存好。

• 你 / 应该 / 把 / 重要 / 文件 / 保存 / 好 / 。

• Nǐ yīnggāi bǎ zhòngyào wénjiàn bǎocún hǎo.

• You should save the important documents properly.

• you / should / (object marker 把) / important / documents / to save / successfully

• If you want to go over the difference between 能, 会, and 可以 again, CGG #122 covers it.

Time words and adverbs such as 已经 (yǐjīng, “already”), 终于 (zhōngyú, “finally”), 马上 (mǎshàng, “right away”), and 故意 (gùyì, “on purpose”) also come first: 我终于把这个问题解决了 (wǒ zhōngyú bǎ zhège wèntí jiějué le, “I finally solved this problem”).

都 (dōu) is the one word whose position changes the meaning. In front of 把 it counts the subject: 他们都把自己的房间收拾好了 (tāmen dōu bǎ zìjǐ de fángjiān shōushi hǎo le) means every one of them tidied up. After the object it counts the object: 我把饺子都吃完了 (wǒ bǎ jiǎozi dōu chī wán le) means not a single dumpling was left. This follows the same logic as CGG #125.

❓ Questions, Instructions, and Signs

Nothing moves in a question. Add 吗 (ma) at the end, or use the 能不能 (néng bu néng) shape from CGG #96: 你能不能把这扇门打开？(nǐ néng bu néng bǎ zhè shàn mén dǎ kāi, “could you open this door?”). Question words stay in the slot where the answer belongs, so 哪儿 (nǎr) sits where the place would be.

Example

• 你把我的钥匙放在哪儿了？

• 你 / 把 / 我 / 的 / 钥匙 / 放 / 在 / 哪儿 / 了 / ？

• Nǐ bǎ wǒ de yàoshi fàng zài nǎr le?

• Where did you put my keys?

• you / (object marker 把) / I / (possessive particle 的) / keys / to put / at / where / (change of state marker 了)

Since the person receiving an instruction is obviously 你, the subject usually disappears. This is why recipes, manuals, and classroom directions are full of 把: 先把鸡蛋打进碗里 (xiān bǎ jīdàn dǎ jìn wǎn lǐ, “first crack the eggs into the bowl”).

Written notices do the same thing with 将 (jiāng) in place of 把, and the vocabulary around it turns formal at the same time. 将 is the formal version of 把.

Example

• 请将填写完整的申请表发送至以下地址。

• 请 / 将 / 填写 / 完整 / 的 / 申请表 / 发送 / 至 / 以下 / 地址 / 。

• Qǐng jiāng tiánxiě wánzhěng de shēnqǐngbiǎo fāsòng zhì yǐxià dìzhǐ.

• Please send the completed application form to the address below.

• please / (formal object marker 将) / to fill in / complete / (modification particle 的) / application form / to send / to / below / address

• Spoken out loud, the same instruction becomes 请把申请表交给前台 (qǐng bǎ shēnqǐngbiǎo jiāo gěi qiántái, “please hand the form to the front desk”). Notice that 至 and 发送 turn back into 给 and 交. This 将 has nothing to do with 将 meaning “will”.

⛔ Where 把 Doesn’t Work

Verbs that describe a state rather than an effect refuse 把, because there’s no change to report. 我把这本书喜欢 (wǒ bǎ zhè běn shū xǐhuan) is wrong, and so are sentences built on 知道 (zhīdao), 是 (shì), and 有 (yǒu). Say 我喜欢这本书 (wǒ xǐhuan zhè běn shū) instead.

Such a verb becomes possible once the sentence describes a change to that state.

Example

• 这次旅行把我对这个地方的印象完全改变了。

• 这 / 次 / 旅行 / 把 / 我 / 对 / 这 / 个 / 地方 / 的 / 印象 / 完全 / 改变 / 了 / 。

• Zhè cì lǚxíng bǎ wǒ duì zhège dìfang de yìnxiàng wánquán gǎibiàn le.

• This trip completely changed my impression of the place.

• this / (measure word) / trip / (object marker 把) / I / toward / this / (measure word) / place / (modification particle 的) / impression / completely / to change / (completed action marker 了)

The other thing you can’t do is put a potential complement after the object. 我把这么多菜吃不完 (wǒ bǎ zhème duō cài chī bu wán) sounds wrong, because 吃不完 (chī bu wán) asks whether something is possible, while 把 reports what actually happened. Keep the potential complements from CGG #33 out of the 把 slot and put 能 in front instead: 你能把这么多菜吃完吗？(nǐ néng bǎ zhème duō cài chī wán ma, “can you finish this much food?”).

🔄 把 and 被

把 and 被 (bèi) describe the same event from opposite ends. 把 starts from whoever or whatever caused the change; 被, which we covered in CGG #56, starts from the thing that was affected.

Example

• 小李把我的自行车骑走了。

• 小李 / 把 / 我 / 的 / 自行车 / 骑 / 走 / 了 / 。

• Xiǎo Lǐ bǎ wǒ de zìxíngchē qí zǒu le.

• Xiao Li rode off on my bicycle.

• Xiao Li / (object marker 把) / I / (possessive particle 的) / bicycle / to ride / away / (completed action marker 了)

• The same event from the bicycle’s side is 我的自行车被小李骑走了 (wǒ de zìxíngchē bèi Xiǎo Lǐ qí zǒu le). Pick whichever one names the thing you’re already talking about.

📝 Recap

• Using 把 + [Verb] + 一下 / [Number] + 次/遍 / 着 (yíxià, cì, biàn, zhe): The verb still can’t stand alone, but the ending doesn’t always have to name a result. Giving the action a size or a count is enough, and repeating the verb works the same way. 着 goes in a different direction: instead of closing the action off, it keeps the object in a state, like the difference between opening a window and leaving it open.

• Using a non-human cause before 把: The subject slot isn’t reserved for people. Wind, rain, fire, illness, or a piece of news can all sit there, with the sentence simply reporting what caused the change rather than who did it on purpose.

• Using 把 + [Person or Abstract Thing]: What follows 把 doesn’t have to be a physical object being moved around. When a cause produces an emotional reaction, the person who feels it goes there, receiving the action and reacting at once. Intangibles like stress or impressions work too, as long as the sentence says what became of them, and 自己 (zìjǐ) fits the same slot, which is why warnings so often use it.

• Placing negation, modals, and adverbs in front of 把: 没(有) (méi(yǒu)), 不 (bù), 别 (bié), modal verbs such as 能 (néng) and 应该 (yīnggāi), and time words like 已经 (yǐjīng) or 终于 (zhōngyú) all describe the whole event, so they sit before 把 and never between the object and the verb. With 没(有), the 了 drops away, since there’s no completion left to mark.

• Positioning 都 (dōu) before or after 把: The one word whose placement changes the meaning. In front of 把 it counts the subject. After the object it counts the object.

• Using 把 in questions and instructions: Nothing shifts position in a question: add 吗 (ma), use the 能不能 (néng bu néng) shape, or leave the question word sitting exactly where the answer would go. In instructions the listener is obviously 你, so the subject usually disappears, which is why recipes, manuals, and classroom directions lean on 把 so heavily.

• Using 将 (jiāng): The formal written counterpart of 把, typical of notices and official forms, with the surrounding vocabulary turning formal alongside it. This 将 is unrelated to the one meaning “will/shall”.

• Knowing where 把 doesn’t work: State verbs like 喜欢 (xǐhuan), 知道 (zhīdao), 是 (shì), and 有 (yǒu) reject 把, since there’s no change to report, though they become possible once the sentence describes a change to that state. Potential complements are out too: forms like 吃不完 (chī bu wán) ask whether something is possible, while 把 reports what actually happened, so put 能 in front of 把 instead.

• Comparing 把 and 被 (bǎ and bèi): Two ways of describing the same event from opposite ends. 把 starts from the cause, 被 starts from the thing affected. Pick whichever one names what you’re already talking about.

⛏️ Practice Makes Perfect

Now that you’ve seen the fuller picture of 把, it’s time to put it to work! Try translating these sentences and think each time about what became of the object, and about whether the sentence is really telling us that something changed.

🌱 Easy

1. Please say this sentence one more time.

2. Sorry, I didn’t finish the food, there was too much.

3. Could you turn the TV off? I’m on the phone.

4. The watermelon I bought got eaten up by them.

🌳 Advanced

5. If you want the tea to smell better, you have to rinse the leaves with hot water once first.

6. That manuscript was found by a graduate student in a corner of the archives.

7. Check the tire pressure before we head out, the mountain road is rough.

8. For dumplings, bring the water to a boil first, then drop them in and add cold water twice along the way.

🌟 Practice More with Pearls of Mandarin 🌟

When I was learning Mandarin, practicing regularly was the key that unlocked fluency for me. I’d love for you to have that same experience. That’s why I created the Pearls of Mandarin Worksheets.

Here’s how each resource in the subscription supports your journey:

• PM Translation (Saturdays) – Each Saturday, you’ll get two sets of translation exercises from English to Mandarin:

  • 🌱 Easy (HSK 2-3-4) – Great for mastering foundational grammar.

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  Each worksheet comes with detailed corrections and clear grammar explanations, helping you craft natural and authentic sentences. With practice, you’ll confidently translate grammar knowledge into real-life Mandarin skills.

• PM Comprehension (Sundays) – Each Sunday, you’ll receive two comprehension texts with audio at both natural and slow speeds, full pinyin, and translations:

  • 🌱 Easy (HSK 2-3-4) – Ideal for developing solid listening and comprehension skills.

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That’s a wrap for today!

This weekend, look out for your PM Translation and PM Comprehension worksheets. They’ll give you the chance to apply what you’ve learned and keep improving your Mandarin skills.

Happy learning,
Pierre

Level: HSK 4-5 (prefer something easier? HSK 2-3-4 version here)

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Hit play and see how much you can catch.

Written from Normandy

🎯 HSK Comprehension Test

1. 我为什么没有去玉龙雪山？
   我為什麼沒有去玉龍雪山？

   1. 因为门票太贵，而且不是真正的徒步
      因為門票太貴，而且不是真正的徒步

   2. 因为我已经去过类似的雪山了
      因為我已經去過類似的雪山了

   3. 因为那天天气不好，看不见山
      因為那天天氣不好，看不見山

   4. 因为我在丽江的时间不够
      因為我在麗江的時間不夠

2. 我对丽江古城的总体印象是什么？
   我對麗江古城的總體印象是什麼？

   1. 外国游客太多，影响了体验
      外國遊客太多，影響了體驗

   2. 是传统文化保存最好的地方
      是傳統文化保存最好的地方

   3. 完全不值得去参观
      完全不值得去參觀

   4. 很美但太商业化了
      很美但太商業化了

3. 我来丽江的主要目的是什么？
   我來麗江的主要目的是什麼？

   1. 参观世界遗产古城
      參觀世界遺產古城

   2. 体验纳西族的传统文化
      體驗納西族的傳統文化

   3. 去虎跳峡徒步
      去虎跳峽徒步

   4. 看玉龙雪山的景色
      看玉龍雪山的景色

4. 我为什么想专门写一篇关于虎跳峡的文章？
   我為什麼想專門寫一篇關於虎跳峽的文章？

   1. 因为那里的风景特别壮观
      因為那裡的風景特別壯觀

   2. 因为很多游客让我写
      因為很多遊客讓我寫

   3. 因为我想成为旅游博主
      因為我想成為旅遊部落客

   4. 因为网上的信息不够清楚
      因為網上的資訊不夠清楚

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🀄 全文记录 | Full Chinese Transcript

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Level: HSK 2-3-4 (want more of a challenge? HSK 4-5 version here)

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Click play above and let’s get into it.

Written from Normandy

🎯 HSK Comprehension Test

1. 我为什么没去玉龙雪山？
   我為什麼沒去玉龍雪山？

   1. 天气不好，看不到山
      天氣不好，看不到山

   2. 山路太难，太危险了
      山路太難，太危險了

   3. 时间不够，要去虎跳峡
      時間不夠，要去虎跳峽

   4. 门票太贵，而且不能自己走上去
      門票太貴，而且不能自己走上去

2. 我觉得古城有点“假”，主要是因为什么？
   我覺得古城有點「假」，主要是因為什麼？

   1. 外国游客太多了
      外國遊客太多了

   2. 到处都是商店和游客，不是真的生活的地方
      到處都是商店和遊客，不是真的生活的地方

   3. 里面的东西都太贵了
      裡面的東西都太貴了

   4. 房子都是新的，不是真的老房子
      房子都是新的，不是真的老房子

3. 我在丽江的四天主要做了什么？
   我在麗江的四天主要做了什麼？

   1. 在古城里买东西、喝咖啡
      在古城裡買東西、喝咖啡

   2. 爬了玉龙雪山和虎跳峡
      爬了玉龍雪山和虎跳峽

   3. 去了很多有名的地方看风景
      去了很多有名的地方看風景

   4. 在古城休息了两天，然后去虎跳峡走山路
      在古城休息了兩天，然後去虎跳峽走山路

4. 我在丽江古城休息了几天？
   我在麗江古城休息了幾天？

   1. 三天
      三天

   2. 两天
      兩天

   3. 四天
      四天

   4. 一天
      一天

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🀄 全文记录 | Full Chinese Transcript

Read more

This is the 🌳 Advanced version of today’s worksheet, designed for learners around HSK 4–5-6. Looking for something simpler to practice first? The Easy version is in your inbox or right here!

Want only one version from now on? You can update your preferences here.

In CGG #129, we looked at how 把 changes the shape of a sentence when you want to say what happened to something.

Today’s exercises will help you decide when this structure fits and when plain word order does the job better. You will also get practice finishing sentences properly, since 把 always asks for something after the verb.

Let’s put 把 to work!

🌳 Today’s Advanced Exercises

Translate these English sentences into Mandarin:

1. Don’t say “four” as “ten”.

2. He spent ten years writing a book about the ecology of the Yangtze River.

3. The guide told the story of the Terracotta Army so vividly that even the kids were hooked.

4. Whatever you do, don’t treat a partial eclipse as safe, without a proper filter a few seconds can burn your retina.

Take your time, and remember: practicing will help you sound more natural and confident in your Mandarin conversations. You’ve got this! 💫

🌳 Translation #1

Don’t say “four” as “ten”.

There’s a very specific mix-up behind this sentence. 四 (sì) and 十 (shí) differ by one consonant and one tone, and plenty of speakers in southern China, Taiwan, and Singapore don’t distinguish s from sh at all. What we need is a way to say that one thing came out as another thing: “four” goes in, “ten” comes out. For that switch, 成 (chéng) attaches to the verb and the new form follows right after it, giving you “say it into ten.” Since the whole point is what happened to “four,” that word moves in front of the verb with 把 (bǎ), which works here because the quoted word is something both speakers can point to. The warning itself takes 别 [別] (bié), the quick casual “don’t” you’d use with a friend drilling tones.

Let’s break down the translation step by step:

• 别 [別] (bié) means “don’t.”

  • This is the spoken form of a prohibition, lighter than 不要 (bùyào).

  • 📖 Learn more about prohibitions and warnings in CGG #106.

• 把 (bǎ) pulls the object in front of the verb so the end of the sentence can report what became of it.

  • 📖 Review the 把 structure in CGG #129.

• “四” (sì) means “four.”

  • The quotation marks turn it into a specific word under discussion, which is exactly the kind of identifiable object 把 needs.

• 说 [說] (shuō) means “to say.”

• 成 (chéng) means “into” or “as.”

  • It marks the new form the object turns into, so 说成 [說成] (shuōchéng) means “to say one thing as another.”

• “十” (shí) means “ten.”

Notes

• 别把“四”说 [別把「四」說] on its own is broken. A bare verb never finishes a 把 sentence, since “say” alone doesn’t tell us what happened to the word. 成 (chéng) supplies the missing outcome.

• Two things separate these numbers: 四 (sì) starts with a flat s and falls sharply, while 十 (shí) starts with the tongue curled back and rises. In Xiamen back in 2011, a friend of mine asked a street vendor for a price and heard something like sí, flat s, rising tone. We both understood it as 四 (sì) and were confused when paying, because nobody had ever told us that across much of southern China s and sh collapse into the same sound. The vendor had said 十 (shí). Tone was the only clue left, and we missed it. That’s also why vendors so often hold up fingers next to the price.

• The classic drill for this is 四是四，十是十 (sì shì sì, shí shì shí), “four is four, ten is ten,” which forces you to switch between the two consonants over and over.

• 说成 [說成] (shuōchéng) covers pronunciation slips and misquotations alike. Compare 看成 (kànchéng), “to mistake one thing for another when reading or looking,” and 听成 [聽成] (tīngchéng), “to mishear something as something else,” which is exactly what happened on our end in Xiamen.

• Formal writing sometimes swaps 成 (chéng) for 为 [為] (wéi), as in 译为 [譯為] (yìwéi). In speech, stay with 成.

• Taiwan writing normally marks quoted material with corner brackets 「」 rather than “”.

  • 📖 Learn more about punctuation differences in CGG #86.

Recap

• 别把“四”说成“十”。

• 別把「四」說成「十」。

• 别 / 把 / “四” / 说 / 成 / “十” 。

• bié bǎ “sì” shuōchéng “shí”.

• Don’t say “four” as “ten”.

• don’t / (preposition 把) / “four” / say / into / “ten”.

🌳 Translation #2

He spent ten years writing a book about the ecology of the Yangtze River.

Read more

This is the 🌱 Easy version of today’s worksheet, designed for learners around HSK 2–3-4. Looking for more of a challenge? The Advanced version is in your inbox or right here.

Want only one version from now on? You can update your preferences here.

This week in CGG #129, we looked at how Mandarin can move an object in front of the verb to report what happened to it.

Today’s exercises will help you decide when this structure fits and when plain word order does the job better. You’ll also practice finishing sentences properly, since the ending is where the real information lives.

把 sentences feel unnatural to English speakers for a long time. Keep practicing even when it feels awkward, because the pattern does click eventually. Let’s put 把 to work!

🌱 Today’s Easy Exercises

Translate these English sentences into Mandarin:

1. I finished this book last night.

2. I bought a new phone yesterday.

3. Hold on, I’m going to buy some water.

4. You wrote the characters too small, I can’t see them.

Take your time, and remember: practicing will help you sound more natural and confident in your Mandarin conversations. You’ve got this! 💫

🌱 Translation #1

I finished this book last night.

Sometimes you need to say what became of a specific thing, not just what you were doing to it. Saying “read” tells us the activity; saying “finished” tells us the book is now done. That’s where 把 (bǎ) comes in: it pulls a known object in front of the verb so the end of the sentence can report the outcome. The book here is one both speakers can identify, which is exactly the kind of object 把 needs. And since a bare verb can’t report a change, the verb has to carry an ending that names the new state.

Let’s break down the translation step by step:

• 我 (wǒ) means “I.”

• 昨天 (zuótiān) means “yesterday.”

• 晚上 (wǎnshang) means “evening.”

  • Together, 昨天晚上 (zuótiān wǎnshang) means “last night.”

  • Time expressions sit early, right after the subject and before 把.

  • 📖 Learn more about word order in CGG #100 and CGG #101.

• 把 (bǎ) moves the object in front of the verb so the sentence can report what happened to it.

• 这 [這] (zhè) means “this.”

• 本 (běn) is the measure word for books.

  • 📖 Learn more about measure words in CGG #104 and CGG #105.

• 书 [書] (shū) means “book.”

• 看 (kàn) means “to read” here.

• 完 (wán) is the result complement meaning “finished.”

  • It describes the state the book is in afterwards, not the way you read it.

  • 📖 Learn more about result complements in CGG #32.

• 了 (le) marks the completed action.

Notes

• Don’t write 把这本书看了 [把這本書看了] (bǎ zhè běn shū kàn le). 看 (kàn) names an activity without saying what changed, so it needs 完 (wán) to work here.

• The object after 把 must be identifiable. 这本书 [這本書] (zhè běn shū) qualifies because 这 [這] (zhè) points to a specific book.

• Don’t move 昨天晚上 (zuótiān wǎnshang) after 把. Time comes before the whole 把 phrase.

• 看书 [看書] (kàn shū) is the everyday way to say “read a book.” 读 [讀] (dú) sounds bookish in casual speech.

Recap

• 我昨天晚上把这本书看完了。

• 我昨天晚上把這本書看完了。

• 我 / 昨天 / 晚上 / 把 / 这 / 本 / 书 / 看 / 完 / 了 。

• wǒ zuótiān wǎnshang bǎ zhè běn shū kàn wán le

• I finished this book last night.

• I / yesterday / evening / (preposition 把) / this / (measure word 本) / book / read / finish / (aspect marker 了).

🌱 Translation #2

I bought a new phone yesterday.

Read more