Grammar
Chinese uses limited inflection, yet word order, function words, aspect, and information structure perform grammatical work. The difference lies in the means of expression, not grammar’s absence.
Does having little inflection mean having no grammar?
Grammar Does Not Disappear When Inflection Does
Mandarin may lack verb conjugations and noun inflections, but it still encodes grammatical relationships. We examine how word order, aspect particles, and question structures divide that work.
9 min read→
The Bridges Between Words, Quantity, and Context
Knowing every word in a Chinese sentence may still leave its meaning out of reach. Classifiers, modal verbs, and context reveal the relationships that turn separate vocabulary items into a coherent message.
9 min read→