Lupishu’s talking to Nincha, and he’s sure about one thing: he prefers chicken claws to catnip. He wants to convince Nincha and show him he’s certain of his choice. Lupishu’s not sure though: which word should he use for “certain”? Is it 肯定, 一定 or 确定? Suddenly, he’s not so sure.

You’ve seen these three words before:的/得/地. Perhaps you're having trouble keeping them straight. That’s understandable. When spoken, these three words 的/得/地 all sound the same: you pronounce them de. They all three have essential grammar functions, which is: in a sentence, they act on the different parts of the sentence by linking them together (if you want the official grammar word, they’re all called “structural particles”).

How am I doing? Is he better than me? Classic questions when you start doing anything! So how do you compare yourself to others in Chinese?

There's nothing Lupishu enjoys more than telling others of the adventure he's on, the new friends he's made learning Chinese, the moments where things got tough and motivation wavered a bit, but more importantly, how he always recovered. Why is that? Because Lupishu has a clear sense of purpose. He knows why he and Nincha have to face so many trials, he knows how much is at stake. One thing he doesn't know, though, is to express his purpose in Chinese. What words should he use? Dear Master Yocha luckily has a feline 6th sense and as always, knows this is the time he needs to swoop in and save the day.

This is the final part IV of our series on Chinese complements: degree complements

Bet you guys haven't forgotten how to use the passive sentence pattern with 被? Also known as 被 字句, this pattern is frequently used in daily life when speaking at the passive voice. Today we’re going further into the passive voice world by learning how to use the word 受 as a passive marker.

Do you guys still remember the lesson we’ve learned in world 3 on how to express simultaneous tasks with 一边...一边? If you forgot about it, please check it before we start today’s grammar lesson because what we are going to show you today is similar to 一边...一边.

Now that you’ve learned numbers in Chinese, I bet Lupishu, you’re eager to count things. However, lovely little dragon, you can’t quite count objects yet. You’re missing one key notion to do so: measure words in Chinese!

Now that you’ve learned numbers in Chinese, I bet Lupishu, you’re eager to count things. However, lovely little dragon, you can’t quite count objects yet. You’re missing one key notion to do so: measure words in Chinese!

Little Dragon, here's a question for you. When you see a two-character word, you take it at face value and assume it's a single block, right? In a lot of cases, you are right to leave the two characters that make up the word together: they have no business being apart. But did you know that some word blocks are different and can be split into two in a sentence? These words are called separable verbs, a name which describes verbs that can be separated into two parts.

Yocha is always getting after Nincha for sleeping in late, disappearing all the time, and doing silly things. A little word Yocha ends up using a lot with Nincha? 才 cái. Lupishu, on the other hand, is impressed with Baimei and Yocha’s ability to get up and do things early. He likes that they are usually dependable and even prone to doing things earlier than expected, unlike Nincha. 就 jiù is, therefore, a word he uses a lot to talk about Baimei and Yocha.

When expressing a preference, there are a lot of ways in Chinese to say “prefer something to another thing”. You can use 与其...不如 or 宁愿. We call it a preference relationship when using these patterns to indicate you do one thing instead of doing another one.

Regarding studying Chinese, what is the best way to learn it? If you want to ask someone for their opinion, a term you need to learn in Mandarin Chinese is “in regards to/ with”. In Chinese, there are three words you can use to say that: 对 / 对于/ 关于. May you have come across them before? All three have similar meanings of “concerning, regarding, as for”. As you can imagine, each word has its own context in which you can use it; let’s see which you can use when!

As in the last lesson, we’ve learned the structure 连...都/也 to emphasize a specific situation when you express your determination. You can furthermore communicate your confidence by using these sentence patterns to express “let alone”.

Aside from “Shu”, 吧 is one of Lupishu’s favorite particles to use in Chinese, ever since he learned about it in world 2. Maybe it’s one of yours too? Lupishu’s a big dragon now, though, so he feels ready for bigger, more advanced words. That’s smart, so it’s time to introduce a new more advanced particle word in Chinese: 呗！呗 is both close to 吧 and it isn’t. Let’s see why!

了(le) is one of the most frequently used function words in modern Chinese language. By itself, it has no concrete meaning; it should be seen as a “helper” word that has different functions. Although 了 is a really short word, this tiny word leaves Lupishu feeling puzzled on how to use it and where to place it in the sentence. You too? Hold on, we’ll make 了 easier to understand in this lesson! Ready? Let’s look at this particle word 了.

Remember what we first learned about 了 and what it means when placed right after the verb? Correct, it indicates completed actions - see lesson. It’s now time to tackle what 了 means when it’s placed elsewhere in the sentence, and particularly at the end of the sentence. Ready?

Today, Lupishu isn't very happy because the weather suddenly turned bad and he can’t go picnicking with Nincha anymore. I bet you guys also sometimes come across things that have unexpectedly changed. Don’t be upset when that happens, go with the flow, and let’s learn how to express this situation in Chinese together!

Lupishu’s gotten used to the good life, and having now traveled quite a lot through Ninchana, he’s very clear on what he likes and doesn’t like. So he’s very interested in knowing a new comparison word that allows him specifically to make negative comparisons. And indeed, with 不如, precisely, you can say “things aren’t as good as” something else. Let’s learn about 不如!

Nothing better than having to choose between Slices of your two favorite cakes, right? But what happens if Yocha has made two of your least favorite cakes? What happens when you can only choose between two unpleasant options that are each bad on their own?

In World 1, we learned about the existence of measure words and their close-knit relationship with nouns. You also discovered that there were a bunch of measure words to know in Chinese...

Don’t just stand there! Do something! Sometimes, in life, there are situations where you just have to say that to someone, right? Wouldn’t you love to know how to say that in Chinese? I knew you would. So today, we’re going to learn about 着 (zhe). 着 comes in handy when you want to talk about something you are currently doing, or talk about an on-going situation.

Always quantify

It’s easy to learn to count in Chinese. Once you’ve mastered numbers up to 10, you can count up to 99 in the blink of an eye.

After learning some numbers in Chinese, Lupishu likes to present himself with numbers. He wanted to say 我 有 二 个 眼睛 (I have two eyes) but Master Yocha told him he can’t use 二 in this sentence. Lupishu was very confused because he remembered two is 二. You may want to help Lupishu to make this sentence right.

Don’t ever look down on a tiny word in Chinese! It may be small and still have lots of practical uses to know! Lupishu’s learning that each passing day. Based on that, today, he’s decided to focus on the role of tiny 凭 in Chinese. 凭 is a preposition that means “based on,” “by,” or “on the basis of”. As such, it comes in very handy to explain certain things. So today, let’s look at the various usages of 凭!

It’s easy to learn to count in Chinese. Once you’ve mastered numbers up to 10, you can count up to 99 in the blink of an eye.

Ever find yourself in a situation where you’re super hungry, and when ordering you’re tempted to say “I want fried rice (炒饭) AND a sizzling plate of braised eggplant (鱼香 茄子)? But then, you realize you don’t quite know how to say “and” in Chinese yet? Fear not, after this lesson, you’ll know all about a very simple way to say “and “in Chinese. Ready to learn all about the grammar behind 和？

Our Lupishu is a little confused right now. When he first caught sight of these two words 刚 & 刚才, he thought since they looked alike and shared the same meaning of “just now,” that maybe one was just a shorter version of the other. However, that’s not the case at all!

Sometimes, there are words like that. They have a funny name and are a pain to work with. Lucky for you, 比起 isn't like that. Lupishu knows 比起 sounds very close to 比, and imagine his relief when he realized this comparison word was actually super easy to use! So let's dive in and learn how to use this advanced way of making a comparison in Chinese.

Now that you have the basic sentence structure down pat, it’s time to move on to more complex sentences.

Lupishu’s been thinking a lot about his friends and the Ninchas he left back home while on his journey. Writing letters to them is a good way to feel better and he’s realizing there are a lot of expressions you can use verbally that sound a lot better when put differently in writing in Chinese. Even the little word “even” has a special word in writing: 甚至!

才 and 就 are both extremely common in Chinese speech, so it's a good idea to figure out when to use which! Both words have similar meanings in English. But believe us, they are not used in the same way in Chinese. Here's how to distinguish these two.

Lupishu has noticed he's a little different: the more he grows, the more he changes color! He’s starting to get used to it now, but he’d like to be able to explain that to his Nincha friends when he goes back to the village. So, today, we’re going to learn about the pattern越...越 which is used quite often in Chinese to talk about how something is occurring “more and more”.

To talk about something suitable, two words you’ll often come across in Mandarin Chinese are 适合 (shìhé) & 合适 (héshì). When you look at the two words, don’t you think it’s hard to tell the difference between the two? They share the same characters, each looks like a mirror of the other, and they both mean similar things: that something suits or is suitable. To make things worse, in English, we tend to translate both as either to suit or suitable, depending on the context. In Chinese, however, the two are different: one’s an adjective, and the other one's a verb.

Say something horrible were to happen to Nincha and Lupishu, such as they get thrown into prison, how would you say that in Chinese?

Do you guys remember how to compare something with 比? Since you guys are so cool at learning Chinese, it’s time to show you two other simple patterns you can use to compare things in Mandarin Chinese.

Now that you're familiar with the two-part "if... then" pattern, 如果...就 (read the lesson here), let's show you how to take expressing possibilities a little further. Introducing the "If" sandwich with 如果...的话!

When you're travelling as extensively as Nincha and Lupishu are, knowing how to talk about distance is important! Especially, when one's not a big fan of walking and keeps asking "are we there yet?" all the time.

Maybe you're like Nincha and Lupishu who both love traveling? When you're on the road, it’s important to know how to express oneself. Imagine one day you arrive at a restaurant, so hungry you're on the verge of passing out but you don’t know how to express what you want?! Terrible, right?

Congratulations you’ve made it to the second part of expressing frequency! Only two words left, and we're done here. In the previous lesson, we took a look at 经常 and 常常 to speak about habit. Now, in this lesson, we'll see 平常 and 平时 to express frequency.

As for you guys, do you find it interesting to go on adventures with Nincha and Lupishu? They sure hope the answer is YES! Today we are going to show you how to express an opinion with 就...来说 and 就...而言 and compare their differences. It’s not difficult; let’s look at them!

Lupishu is discovering a bunch of things everywhere he goes. He’s always curious to try this or that, so expressions that allow him to ask for a little bit of something or to do something briefly are his new favorites!

It's nice to blame others, from time to time, right? So you can walk away with clean hands! This structure helps you do just that: say something occurred because this happened.

经过 and 通过 . Perhaps you’ve noticed these two words in your learning, and you’ve started wondering: hang on, this is confusing. These two share a common character, and they both mean the same thing, ‘to go through”.

Hey, little dragon! How's it going with 倒 to highlight the contrast between two situations? Good? Great!

These days, it’s hard to find our Lupishu. Where is he? Usually, he likes playing soccer at this time of day... You guys are really wondering, aren’t you?

There are always people who like to give ambiguous answers. Each time, it never fails: the only thing you want to say is "what on earth do you mean?"

In our daily life, sometimes, you start doing something and, in the end, do something entirely different.

In Chinese, there are lots of patterns used in an associate contextual clause or a composed sentence. In fact, we’ve already learned many of them to express cause and effect, making suppositions or concessions, and more. You guys may notice that in these grammatical structures, some conjunction words always show up to link the structure and ensure the sentence functions well.

Welcome to the sentence-building stages!

Welcome to a sentence-building stage!

Welcome to a sentence-building stage!

Welcome to a sentence-building stage!

Welcome to a sentence-building stage!

Welcome to a sentence-building stage!

Welcome to a sentence-building stage!

Welcome to a sentence-building stage!

Welcome to a sentence-building stage!

Welcome to a sentence-building stage!

Is this for me? Oh, it’s for that guy over there. No fun.

Adjectives in Chinese require a little explanation; they work a little differently than in English. See, they don't need a verb in the sentence to work.

If one day you guys go to Northern China, you may often hear people talking use this word: 可. Don’t look down upon this tiny word, it is used quite often and can make your speech quite lively! Let’s take a look at what it means.

The word 倒 is fascinating in Chinese, and it has many practical usages.

As Shakespeare once said: to be or not to be, that is the question. “be” in Chinese is an existential verb and that is what we’re going to learn about today. An existential word can show you if something exists or not. So if you'd like to know if there’s a Starbucks in the neighborhood, you can use an existential word.

As Lupishu knows, depending on the sentence, 会 can both mean the ability to do something (can) and the future (will). So he's been wondering. When you're using 会 to talk about something you will be doing, how can you make sure the others know that something will be actually happening, rather than just you saying you could do that? It turns out there's a handy way to show you're sure this will be happening. How do you add this certainty exactly? By using both 会 and 的 in the sentence. Let's see what this is all about.

When you want to talk about how an action made something move or highlight the result of an action on an object, 把 is a useful grammar word to know. It has no equivalent in English, but it is widespread in Chinese, so it’s vital to grasp.

You learned recently that 一下 is used to do something briefly (go here to read that lesson). Two other structures and patterns have the same function and also show you want to do something just a little bit. Let's see what they are and how they work!

Have you noticed how people are getting used to doing many things at the same time and multitask more and more? Listening to music while going to work, eating while watching TV, chatting while going shopping with your best friends... How do you describe to others that you’re doing several things at the same time? The structure 一边 ... 一边 is perfect for this situation.

Remember how in the previous stages we learned about direction complements, that is to say, words you attach to a verb to describe or explain the direction of the action expressed by the verb? Well, now, we’re moving on to learning to describe slightly more complex directions. Ready to learn part II of the direction complements, direction complement combos?

This is part III of our Series on Chinese Complements: expressing potential with complements

Do you guys still remember what we’ve learned with 因为 ... 所以 to express cause and effect? Let see a more complicated way, but a more impressive and formal way to express cause and effect!

In Chinese, when you are describing an action or a thing, you can use one of these frequency words 经常, 常常, 平常, 平时... These four are really useful, but you may find them not easy to use. Don't feel anxious about it, we have well-classified them.

Lupishu has gotten quite confused: at first, there was 这 and 那, then 哪. Then words like 那个, 这个, 哪儿 and more showed up. These new words look a lot like 这, 那 and 哪 but don't quite mean the same!

Think of a Monday morning when the alarm clock rings and your mother is yelling: “Time to get up and go to school!” Sometimes, you have no choice but to face the things you “should” or “must” do. Aren’t you wondering how to express that in Chinese? Today, let's look at two verbs, 应该 and必须, that are both used in these moments where you really should be doing something. Both verbs can imply an obligation to do something, so let’s see which you should use when.

Lupishu's starting to get comfortable in the Nincha village. He's tasted and tried all sorts of things with the help of his friends. He's eager to talk about everything he's experienced so far and to be able to proudly show he's done it, but he lacks a crucial word to do so: 过(guò)! He thought at first that he could use 了 to talk about his completed actions, but Yocha told him it didn't work for past experiences. Instead, Yocha said, it's time to get to know another "helper" word, that is great to talk about actions in the past, and experiences: 过!

Do you guys still remember the passive voice with 被? Today, we'll introduce another way to use the passive voice with 由. The usage is similar to 被 but will emphasize the doer more. You are wondering how it works?

Yocha’s always trying to instill some manners into Nincha and warning Lupishu not to do the same silly things. A sentence structure he particularly loves to use is 如果...就 -- "If...then".

The Chinese love to pepper their speech with interjections and particles. Some are extremely common and useful to know! Like the lesson on 呢 you've seen previously. You'll get the hang of them as you interact with native speakers, but here's a little push.

There are different ways to express "can" in Chinese, depending on what type of ability you’re talking about. Two verbs, in particular, are used to express "being able" are 会 and 能. Let's see what the difference between 会 and 能 is!

You’ve seen how 在 was useful to talk about where you or an object was, and where a verb was taking place. There’s a lot more you can express with 在, and that is what we’re going to see now.

For Lupishu, there’s a BEFORE and an AFTER - before Nincha found him, and after he became part of the Nincha family. But how do you say that in Chinese? Now that you and Lupishu have learned how to tell the time and talk about dates precisely, it’s time to learn how to talk about time in general, without having to specify when precisely.

Here’s a dire question for you: Do you like Nincha or Lupishu or Baimei more? Ha-ha, maybe your answer is “All of them!” Good for you! Nonetheless, we’re going to see here how to say “or” in Chinese. It’s always useful to know how to offer choices when you’re asking a question, and to have a way to give options, isn’t it? In Chinese, both 或者 (huòzhě) and 还是 (háishì) mean “or” but they are used in different situations. Let’s see when you should use 或者 or 还是 to say “or”!

Lupishu keeps wanting to know what Nincha likes aside from catnip, but Nincha will only tell him if he knows how to ask him that in Chinese! Let’s help him out, shall we? The pattern you need to know to say that is 除了...以外 (chúle...yǐwài). It’s a very common pattern in Chinese and very useful.

What do you say when you want someone to do something for you? And how do you say that in Chinese? It’s time to learn some magic words so that you know how to ask for things you want to see happen and how to ask someone to do a favor for you in Chinese. These few magic verbs can make your life easier, so let’s see what they are and how to use them!

Here’s a very serious question for you: Do you like Nincha or Lupishu or Baimei more? Ha-ha, maybe your answer is “All of them!” Good for you! Nonetheless, we’re going to see here how to say “or” in Chinese, and that's 还是 (háishì). It’s always useful to know how-how to offer choices when you’re asking a question and to have a way to give options, isn’t it? Let’s see how to use 还是 to say “or”!

On the 1st of February 2022, celebrations for the Chinese New Year start officially!

Lupishu’s puzzled. He knows 千 and 万 as numbers but he keeps hearing Yocha use them in front of his orders, to ensure Nincha does what he’s asked to. Surprisingly enough, it seems to work and helps Nincha keep out of trouble.

Recently the weather has turned unpredictable. It’ll start to rain suddenly without any warning, even though it is a sunny day. And then the rain doesn’t last a long time. Strange.

一点(儿) and 有点(儿) express pretty much the same thing. They both mean a little, a bit. But even though 一点(儿)and 有点(儿) have similar meanings and are pretty close looking; they are not used the same way in a sentence. Let's see their differences!

Is there something that you must do or that must be done by someone? I bet all of you guys find yourselves bound to such situations in daily life. You could use 必须 to say you “should” or “must” do when you need to talk about a situation where you have no choice. But today is not one of those days.

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” The (in)famous Forrest Gump’s lines. And, indeed, there are always unexpected events happening. What we can do is try to prevent bad things from happening. Let’s look at how to express warnings and alerts in Chinese.

Among all the Chinese learners, Lupishu think he's the cleverest!

Imagine someone can’t stop talking around you, all day long, or an unknown bell is ringing without interruption outside your window while you’re sleeping? Isn’t that annoying? We have all had to face situations like these, that disturb you, by continuously and constantly happening. In Chinese, there are two words you can use to describe “continuous” and “unceasing”: 不断 and 不停.

Since you guys have started studying Chinese with Nincha, you’ve already made great progress. That’s cool! So today let’s show you guys how to express “since...then” in Chinese.

The Chinese love to pepper their speech with interjections and particles. Some are extremely common and useful to know! You'll get the hang of them as you interact with native speakers, but here's a little push.

The Chinese love to pepper their speech with interjections and particles. Some are extremely common and useful to know! You'll get the hang of them as you interact with native speakers, but here's a little push.

China is well known for its dishes and specialties. They have a lot of diversity, and we are glad to present them on this world.

Here’s a very serious question for you: Do you like Nincha or Lupishu or Baimei more ? Ha-ha, maybe your answer is “All of them!” Good for you! Nonetheless, here we’re going to see how to say “or” in Chinese. It’s always useful to know how how to offer choices when you’re asking a question, and to have a way to give options, isn’t it? In Chinese, both 或者 and 还是 mean “or” but they are used in different situations. Let’s see when you should use 或者 or 还是 to say “or”!

Just not so long ago, Yocha told me he almost won a million dollars in the lottery. Wow! The numbers were correct, but you know what? He wrote them down on a piece of paper; unfortunately, he forgot to buy those numbers! What a pity!