48 Chinese Adverbs You Need to Sound More Native
Adverbs, or 副词 (fù cí) in Chinese, your sentences more clarity and detail. They help you express yourself better and provide extra information that might be important.
So in this blog post, I’ll cover different adverbial categories, important Chinese adverbs and how to use each of them.
Contents
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Adverbs of Frequency
These Chinese adverbs are used to express how often or how little a certain event happens.
The usual formula for using adverbs of frequency is:
Subject + Adverb of Frequency + Verb + Object
Let’s take a look at some common adverbs of frequency and how they’re used:
| Chinese | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 很少 (hěn shǎo) | rarely | 我星期天很少工作。 (wǒ xīng qī tiān hěn shǎo gōng zuò.) I rarely work on Sundays. |
| 经常 (jīng cháng) | often (interchangeable with 常常 as an adverb) | 我经常去中国。 (wǒ jīng cháng qù zhōng guó.) I often go to China. |
| 常常 (cháng cháng) | often | 你常常来这里吗？ (nǐ cháng cháng lái zhè lǐ ma?) Do you come here often? |
| 从不 (cóng bù) | never | 我是素食者，所以从不吃肉。 (wǒ shì sù shí zhě, suǒ yǐ cóng bù chī ròu.) I'm vegetarian, so I never eat meat. |
| 总是 (zǒng shì) | always | 我不喜欢她，因为她总是斤斤计较。 (wǒ bù xǐ huān tā, yīn wèi tā zǒng shì jīn jīn jì jiào.) I don't like her, because she always haggles over every ounce (fusses about everything). |
| 动不动（就） (dòng bú dòng [jiù]) | always (only for negative events, literally “at every turn.”) | 你动不动就骗我。 (nǐ dòng bú dòng jiù piàn wǒ.) You always lie to me. |
| 有（的）时候 (yǒu [de] shí hou) | sometimes | 我有的时候会喝酒。 (wǒ yǒu de shí hou huì hē jiǔ.) I sometimes drink alcohol. |
| 通常 (tōng cháng) | usually, typically | 我通常走路上下班。 (wǒ tōng cháng zǒu lù shàng xià bān.) I usually walk to and from work. |
| 平时 (píng shí) | usually, typically | 我平时会在早上喝咖啡。 (wǒ píng shí huì zài zǎo shàng hē kā fēi.) I usually have coffee in the morning. |
| 一般 (yì bān) | usually, typically | 我一般早上去跑步。 (wǒ yì bān zǎo shang qù pǎo bù.) I usually go running in the morning. |
| 偶尔 (ǒu ěr) | occasionally | 我偶尔旅游。 (wǒ ǒu ěr lǚ yóu.) I occasionally travel. |
Adverbs of Time
These useful words tell us when an event takes place.
There are two positions adverbs of time can take when forming sentences—before the subject or after the subject, and both are very common:
Subject + Adverb of Time + Verb + Object
Adverb of Time + Subject + Verb + Object
These patterns are mostly interchangeable, with a few exceptions (which we’ll explore soon!). Luckily, you probably already know many (if not all) of the adverbs of time.
| Chinese | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 昨天 (zuó tiān) | yesterday | 我昨天看了那部电影。 (wǒ zuó tiān kàn le nà bù diàn yǐng.) I watched that movie yesterday. |
| 今天 (jīn tiān) | today | 你今天工作吗? (nǐ jīn tiān gōng zuò ma?) Do you work today? |
| 明天 (míng tiān) | tomorrow | 明天我去上海。 (míng tiān wǒ qù shàng hǎi.) Tomorrow I'm going to Shanghai. |
| 后天 (hòu tiān) | the day after tomorrow | 后天我要回家。 (hòu tiān wǒ yào huí jiā.) I will come back home the day after tomorrow. |
| 前天 (qián tiān) | the day before yesterday | 你前天去看你父母了吗？ (nǐ qián tiān kàn nǐ fù mǔ le ma?) Did you visit your parents the day before yesterday? |
| 现在 (xiàn zài) | now | 她现在在睡觉呢。 (tā xiàn zài zài shuì jiào ne.) She's sleeping right now. |
| 后来 (hòu lái) | later, after | 她后来回家了。 (tā hòu lái huí jiā le.) She went home afterward. |
| 马上 (mǎ shàng) | immediately, right now, at once | 我马上就回来。 (wǒ mǎ shàng jiù huí lái.) I'll be back in a minute/I'll be right back. |
| 已经 (yǐ jīng) | already (must be placed after the subject) | 我已经看过这部电影了。 (wǒ yǐ jīng kàn guo zhè bù diàn yǐng le.) I already saw this movie. |
| 最近 (zuì jìn) | recently | 你最近怎么样? (nǐ zuì jìn zěnme yàng?) How have you been recently? |
| 以前 (yǐ qián) | before, ago | 两年以前我开始学中文。 (liǎng nián yǐ qián wǒ kāi shǐ xué zhōng wén.) Two years ago, I started studying Chinese. |
| 还 (hái) | still (must be placed after the subject) | 我还没去过中国。 (wǒ hái méi qù guò zhōng guó.) I still haven't gone to China yet. |
Adverbs of Place
Third on the list are adverbs of place. These words you likely also already know, and they follow this simple formula:
Subject + Adverb of Place + Verb + Object
Or, adverbs of place can simply follow the verb 在 (zài) — to be located, to show location.
Other times, the adverb of place can become the subject, coming at the beginning of the sentence like this:
Adverb of Place + Verb + Object
| Chinese | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 这里 (zhè lǐ) | here | 我在这里上学。 (wǒ zài zhè lǐ shàng xué.) I go to school here. |
| 那里 (nà lǐ) | there | 他们是在那里认识的。 (tā men shì zài nà lǐ rèn shi de.) They met there. |
| 到处 （ 都 ） (dào chù [dōu]) | everywhere | 到处都是人。 (dào chù dōu shì rén.) There are people everywhere. |
| 哪里都 (nǎ lǐ dōu) | anywhere | 我爸爸在哪里都能睡着。 (wǒ bà ba zài nǎ lǐ dōu néng shuì zháo.) My dad can fall asleep anywhere. |
Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of manner describe how an action was done.
Mastering these will definitely help you express what you want to say better, with more detail and more precisely.
| Chinese | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 挺。。。的 (tǐng...de) | pretty/quite + adjective | 你中文说得挺好的。 (nǐ zhōng wén shuō de tǐng hǎo de.) You speak Chinese pretty well. |
| 很 (hěn) | to be (very) + adjective | 你的眼睛很美丽。 (nǐ de yǎn jing hěn měi lì.) Your eyes are (very) pretty. |
| 非常 (fēi cháng) | very, extremely | 她唱歌唱得非常好。 (tā chàng gē chàng de fēi cháng hǎo.) She sings really/extremely well. |
| 真 (zhēn) | really | 这里的环境真美。 (zhè lǐ de huán jìng zhēn měi.) The scenery here is really beautiful. |
| 好 (hǎo) | very, so | 我好累。 (wǒ hǎo lèi.) I'm so tired. |
| 慢慢地 (màn màn de) | slowly | 太阳慢慢地落山了。 (tài yáng màn màn de luò shān le.) Please speak slowly. |
| 几乎不 (jī hū bù) | hardly, barely | 他几乎不说英文。 (tā jī hū bù shuō yīng wén.) He barely speaks English. |
| 几乎没 (jī hū méi) | barely | 今天我几乎没工作。 (jīn tiān wǒ jī hū méi gōng zuò.) I barely worked today. |
| 主要 (zhǔ yào) | primarily, mainly, mostly | 游览伦敦的最佳时间主要是夏季。 (yóu lǎn lún dūn de zuì jiā shí jiān zhǔ yào shì xià jì.) The best time to visit London is mainly in summer. |
| 几乎 (jī hū) | almost | 我几乎要告诉她了。 (wǒ jī hū yào gào sù tā le.) I almost told her. |
Adverbs of Mood
Lastly, adverbs of mood express the attitude, feelings and mood you have around what you’re talking about.
| Chinese | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 确实 (què shí) | indeed, truly | 他的建议确实很好。 (tā de jiàn yì què shí hěn hǎo.) His suggestion is indeed very good. |
| 肯定 (kěn dìng) | definitely, certainly | 他肯定会来参加聚会。 (tā kěn dìng huì lái cān jiā jù huì.) He will definitely come to the party. |
| 恐怕 (kǒng pà) | I’m afraid, perhaps, probably | 今天恐怕会下雨。 (jīn tiān kǒng pà huì xià yǔ.) I'm afraid it will rain today. |
| 大概 (dà gài) | approximately, probably | 他大概已经回家了。 (tā dà gài yǐ jīng huí jiā le.) He has probably already gone home. |
| 也许 (yě xǔ) | maybe, perhaps | 他也许会迟到。 (tā yě xǔ huì chí dào.) He might be late. |
| 果然 (guǒ rán) | as expected, really | 她说会下雨，果然下雨了。 (tā shuō huì xià yǔ, guǒ rán xià yǔ le.) She said it would rain, and it did. |
| 幸好 (xìng hǎo) | fortunately, luckily | 幸好我们提前出发，不然会迟到。 (xìng hǎo wǒ men tí qián chū fā, bù rán huì chí dào.) Fortunately, we left early, otherwise we would have been late. |
| 居然 (jū rán) | unexpectedly, surprisingly | 他居然不知道这件事。 (tā jū rán bù zhī dào zhè jiàn shì.) He surprisingly didn't know about this matter. |
| 显然 (xiǎn rán) | obviously, evidently | 他显然没有准备好。 (tā xiǎn rán méi yǒu zhǔn bèi hǎo.) He obviously wasn’t ready. |
| 似乎 (sì hū) | seemingly, as if | 她似乎很累。 (tā sì hū hěn lèi.) She seems very tired. |
| 幸亏 (xìng kuī) | fortunately, luckily | 幸亏我带了伞，不然我会被淋湿。 (xìng kuī wǒ dài le sǎn, bù rán wǒ huì bèi lín shī.) Luckily, I brought an umbrella, otherwise, I would have gotten wet. |
That was a lot of adverbs—But it probably didn’t feel like it, because you likely already knew many of them! Next, I recommend using a program like FluentU to see these adverbs in use naturally, through videos with learning tools. FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons. You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app. P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
By now, you should feel confident in your ability to maneuver Chinese adverbs as you wish. And this puts you well on your way to making stronger, clearer, more descriptive sentences.
If you want to continue learning Chinese with interactive and authentic Chinese content, then you'll love FluentU.
FluentU naturally eases you into learning Chinese language. Native Chinese content comes within reach, and you'll learn Chinese as it's spoken in real life.
FluentU has a wide range of contemporary videos—like dramas, TV shows, commercials and music videos.
FluentU brings these native Chinese videos within reach via interactive captions. You can tap on any word to instantly look it up. All words have carefully written definitions and examples that will help you understand how a word is used. Tap to add words you'd like to review to a vocab list.
FluentU's Learn Mode turns every video into a language learning lesson. You can always swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you're learning.
The best part is that FluentU always keeps track of your vocabulary. It customizes quizzes to focus on areas that need attention and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. You have a 100% personalized experience.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)
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