You may remember way back in school, your teacher will have told you that an adjective is a describing word. Well, just like in English, a Chinese adjective is added to a noun to give it a quality or to define it in a better way.
You could say that adjectives are all about making the noun better.
Whether it's in English, Chinese, or any other languages, a world without adjectives would be a very dull and boring world indeed. There would be no fast cars, they'd just be cars. No sunny days, they'd just be days...
So, let's celebrate the power of the descriptive word, and find out all about Chinese adjectives.
Resources for further reading:
According to the noun it's linked to, adjectives can have: An attributive function, when it is linked directly to a noun.
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我喜欢蓝色的天空。
I like blue sky.
A predicative function, when it is linked to the noun through the verb 是 shì (to be).
天空是蓝色的。
The sky is blue.
我需要一条新的围巾和一件新的外套。
I need a new scarf and a new jacket.
这两部电影都很好看。
Both of these two movies are enjoyable.
一辆红色的汽车
a red car
一个友好的人
a friendly person
好吃的饭
yummy food
动人的时刻
a touching moment
粉色的墙
pink wall
很大的房子
a very big house
一本有趣的书
an interesting book
一个很难回答的问题
a question that is difficult to answer
The adjectives that are used to describe nouns in Chinese are always put IN FRONT OF the noun they describe, no matter how long or short the adjective description is.
那儿有一个很大的湖。
Over there is a big lake.
那就是我照这张照片的那个湖。
That was the lake where I took this picture.
汉语是一种很有意思的语言。
Chinese is an interesting language.
汉语是世界上说的人最多的一种语言。
Chinese is a language that is spoken by the most number of people in the world.
这是一架很快的飞机。
This is a fast airplane.
那架飞机很快地飞过去了。
The plane flew past very fast.
那是一个很慢的过程。
That was a slow process.
乌龟正在慢慢地游来游去。
The turtle is swimming around very slowly.
他是一个很努力工作的职员。
He is a hard-working clerk.
他努力地工作。
He works hard.
That's it for this lesson! Here are a few recommended Chinese lessons to try next!
回头见！Huítóu jiàn!
Lin Ping: Rocket Chinese
Reinforce your learning from this lesson with the Rocket Reinforcement activities!