The Chinese Grammar Library
One topic per guide, fully settled — honest explanations, native audio on every example, and the classic mistakes corrected. The way a teacher explains it.
Particles — the small words that run the language
5 guides了 (le) — completion & change
The two jobs of Mandarin’s busiest particle, with audio on every example.
Read the guide →的 / 得 / 地 — the three de
One sound, three jobs: possession, degree and manner, untangled for good.
Read the guide →吗 / 呢 / 吧 — question particles
Three endings that turn statements into questions, echoes and suggestions.
Read the guide →不 / 没 — the two negations
“Don’t” vs “didn’t”: which “not” to use, and why 有 always takes 没.
Read the guide →过 (guo) — the experience marker
How “ever” and “never” work in Mandarin, and where 过 beats 了.
Read the guide →Sentence structures — patterns that unlock fluency
6 guidess把 (bǎ) — the handling structure
The pattern that moves the object forward and unlocks natural Mandarin.
Read the guide →被 (bèi) — the passive
When Mandarin marks the passive voice, and the everyday cases where it doesn’t.
Read the guide →比 (bǐ) — comparisons
Bigger, faster, much more so: the comparison pattern and its classic traps.
Read the guide →是…的 — spotlighting the detail
The structure that stresses when, where and how something already happened.
Read the guide →Chinese word order — SVO & beyond
Subject-Verb-Object like English — and why time and place go before the verb.
Read the guide →Chinese conjunctions — paired connectors
不但…而且, 因为…所以, 虽然…但是 — why Chinese keeps both halves.
Read the guide →Verbs, aspect & counting — the daily machinery
6 guides在 / 正在 — the progressive
Saying what’s happening right now — actions in progress, the “-ing” of Mandarin.
Read the guide →着 (zhe) — the continuous aspect
How Chinese marks an ongoing state — 门开着, “the door is open.” With audio on every example.
Read the guide →着 (zhe) — ongoing states
Doors that stand open and lights left on: the duration marker explained.
会 / 能 / 可以 — three cans
Learned skill, raw ability and permission — choosing the right “can”.
Read the guide →想 / 要 / 需要 — want, will & need
A soft wish, a firm intention or a real necessity — plus the 不想/不要 trap.
Read the guide →Measure words — the system
Why it’s 一本书 but 一张桌子, and the twelve that cover daily life.
Read the guide →才 vs 就 — the timing twins
Two tiny adverbs that say whether things happened sooner or later than expected.
Not sure where to start?
Follow the ladder — each stage names the grammar that carries it.
Beginner · HSK 1–3
The particles and measure words that run every basic conversation — start here alongside your first word lists.
Lower intermediate · HSK 3–4
Experience, ability and comparison — the patterns that turn sentences into stories.
Upper intermediate · HSK 4+
The structures that make Mandarin sound like Mandarin — and the timing words that sharpen it.
How to use this library
Don’t read it like a textbook — grammar sticks when it solves a problem you actually have. The honest sequence: take the free level test, work through the vocabulary list for your level, and open a guide here the moment a pattern confuses you in the wild. Every example in every guide carries native audio, because grammar you can’t hear is grammar you can’t use — listen, repeat aloud, then test yourself against each guide’s mistake table.
And each guide ends with the same advice because it’s true: rules get you to “correct slowly”; only corrected conversation gets you to “right at speed”. That’s what the 1-on-1 courses are for.