Abbreviations of Chinese Grammar Terms

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A field guide for learners

Abbreviations of Chinese Grammar Terms

Every grammar term you meet in a Chinese textbook comes with a small-print abbreviation — n., v., adj. — borrowed straight from English. Taiwan and mainland China don’t always agree on the term itself, though. Here’s both, side by side.

Word-level — parts of speech, the building blocks Sentence-level — the roles words play once combined

Word-level terms

Parts of Speech

The abbreviation is what you’ll actually see in dictionaries and textbook glossaries — worth memorizing even before the full term.

Treat these as common conventions rather than a single fixed standard — some textbooks use M or Cl. for measure words instead of MW, for instance.

Term English Abbr. Example
名词míngcí noun noun n.
水shuǐ、狗gǒu
水shuǐ、狗gǒu
代词dàicí pronoun pronoun pron.
你nǐ、我wǒ
你nǐ、我wǒ
动词dòngcí verb verb v.
跑pǎo、看kàn
跑pǎo、看kàn
助动词zhùdòngcí auxiliary verb auxiliary verb aux.
可能kěnéng、必需bìxū
可能kěnéng、必需bìxū
形容词xíngróngcí / 靜態動詞xíngróngdòngcí adjective / stative verb adjective / stative verb adj. / sv
高gāo、胖pàng、美měi
高gāo、胖pàng、美měi
副词fùcí adverb adverb adv.
非常fēicháng、很hěn
非常fēicháng、很hěn
数量词shùliàngcí numeral numeral num.
一yī、五wǔ
一yī、五wǔ
量词liàngcí measure word measure word MW
位wèi、杯bēi
位wèi、杯bēi
介词jiècí preposition preposition prep.
在zài、到dào
在zài、到dào
连词liáncí conjunction conjunction conj.
但是dànshì、所以suǒyǐ
但是dànshì、所以suǒyǐ
助词zhùcí particle particle part.
吧ba、呢ne
吧ba、呢ne
拟声词nǐshēngcí onomatopoeia onomatopoeia onom.
喵miāo、汪wāng
喵miāo、汪wāng
叹词tàncí interjection interjection int.
啊a、唉āi
啊a、唉āi
数量词 shùliàngcí vs. 量词 liàngcí — easy to mix up since they sit right next to each other in a sentence. 数量词 shùliàngcí is the number itself (一 yī, 五 wǔ); 量词 liàngcí is the counting unit that follows it (只 zhī, 杯 bēi). Put together, they read as one phrase: 三 sān只 zhī — 数量词 “three” + 量词 “[for animals].”

Sentence-level terms

Roles Within a Sentence

Once words combine into a sentence, they take on roles — the same word can be a subject in one sentence and an object in the next. The highlighted character below shows each role in context.

Term English Definition Example
主语zhǔyǔ subject subject A person or thing that is being discussed, described, or dealt with.
我wǒ喝hē咖啡kāfēi
我wǒ喝hē咖啡kāfēi
谓语wèiyǔ predicate predicate The part of a sentence or clause containing a verb and stating something about the subject.
我wǒ喝hē咖啡kāfēi
我wǒ喝hē咖啡kāfēi
宾语bīnyǔ object object A noun or noun phrase governed by an active transitive verb or by a preposition.
我wǒ喝hē咖啡kāfēi
我wǒ喝hē咖啡kāfēi
补语bǔyǔ complement complement A word or phrase following a verb (or sometimes an adjective) that adds meaning — amount, time, result, place.
我wǒ喝hē一杯yī bēi咖啡kāfēi
我wǒ喝hē一杯yī bēi咖啡kāfēi
状语zhuàngyǔ adverbial modifier adverbial modifier Describes verbs, adjectives, clauses — anything that isn’t a noun.
我wǒ慢慢mànmàn地de喝hē一杯yī bēi咖啡kāfēi
我wǒ慢慢mànmàn地de喝hē一杯yī bēi咖啡kāfēi
定语dìngyǔ attributive modifier attributive modifier Modifies a noun, forming part of the same noun phrase.
好看hǎokàn的de我wǒ慢慢mànmàn地de喝hē一杯yī bēi冰bīng的de咖啡kāfēi
好看hǎokàn的de我wǒ慢慢mànmàn地de喝hē一杯yī bēi冰bīng的de咖啡kāfēi
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