Chinese Grammar Core Course — Assessment

Write or say a new sentence for each pattern using your own time, place, or object.

Read the pattern, cover the translation, and rebuild the sentence from its meaning. Return to the detailed articles for exceptions and nuance.

Score one point for each answer you can produce without looking. 20–24: ready for lower-intermediate work; 14–19: revisit the marked units; below 14: repeat Units 1–12 aloud.

How to score a response

Give yourself one point only when you can say or write the intended Chinese without copying the model.

✓: Accurate: the structure and the required meaning are both present.
△: Developing: the meaning is clear, but word order, marker choice, or result needs repair.
↺: Revisit: you cannot yet build the sentence without looking; return to the linked unit and rebuild three variants.

Record the unit number and the type of decision that failed, not just the total score.

Unit 1: Sentence frame: subject–time–place–verb–object
Replace tomorrow, school, and Chinese with details from your own day.
把「明天」换成「周末」，把「在家」换成一个地点。
Unit 2: Predicates: noun, adjective, and verb sentences
Make one identity sentence and one description of a person or thing.
用「是」介绍一个人，再用形容词描述这个人。
Unit 3: Time, place, and movement
Say where you study, work, or eat and when you do it.
把时间、地点和动作按中国语序排好。
Unit 4: Negation: 不, 没(有), and 别
Contrast “I do not go” with “I did not go yesterday”.
分别说一个习惯和一个昨天没有发生的动作。
Unit 5: Questions without inversion
Ask for a person, place, reason, and choice.
用一个疑问词和一个 A 不 A 问题提问。
Unit 6: Modifiers: 的, 地, and 得
Expand one noun, one action, and one result with the right marker.
用的修饰名词，再用得说明动作结果或程度。
Unit 7: Numbers and measure words
Count books, people, drinks, and flat objects around you.
说出两种物品和合适的量词。
Unit 8: Existence, location, and identification
Describe your desk using all three patterns.
先介绍一个存在的东西，再说它的位置。
Unit 9: Completed events with 了
Tell two completed events from yesterday and one new situation now.
说一个完成的动作和一个新出现的变化。
Unit 10: Ongoing, continuing, and experienced actions
Make one sentence for what is happening, what remains, and what you have experienced.
各造一句表示进行、持续状态和经验。
Unit 11: Modal verbs and intention
Ask permission, state an ability, and make a plan for tomorrow.
分别表达能力、条件上的不能和许可。
Unit 12: Comparison and degree
Compare two places, two people, and two prices.
用比和没有各比较一次。
Unit 13: Result and directional complements
Turn 看, 写, 找, and 拿 into completed or directional actions.
给一个动作加结果补语，再给一个动作加方向补语。
Unit 14: Duration, frequency, and repetition
Describe one habit and one finished activity with duration.
说一段学习时间和一个有频率的习惯。
Unit 15: 把: handling a known object
Give three practical instructions with a visible result.
把一个确定的物品放到动作前，并说出结果或位置。
Unit 16: 被: affected subject and passive meaning
Describe something that was lost, borrowed, or solved.
把受到影响的物品放在句首。
Unit 17: Coverbs: paths, recipients, and viewpoint
Say who you go with, where you come from, and whom you speak to.
用跟、从或给补充人物、起点或对象。
Unit 18: Serial verbs and purpose
Describe a trip made for a purpose and how you travel to work.
连续说出移动和目的动作。
Unit 19: Connectors and logical flow
Join four short facts into two cause, contrast, and condition sentences.
用因为所以、虽然但是或如果就连接两件事。
Unit 20: Sentence particles and reduplication
Soften one request and make one short “try it” action.
用吧软化一句邀请，再用重叠式表达短暂尝试。
Unit 21: Reading by grammatical blocks
Mark the predicate and every modifier in the three reading examples.
先找主语和主要谓语，再圈出修饰「书」的部分。
Unit 22: Writing a controlled paragraph
Write four linked sentences about a recent plan or outing.
按时间、同伴、地点、动作写一个四成分句。
Unit 23: Editing with contrasts
Correct four deliberately mixed-up sentences in the workbook.
检查否定、的/得和比较三处中的一处。
Unit 24: Cumulative review and diagnostic
Complete the final diagnostic without notes, then make a personal review queue.
不用笔记，把一个含连接词和一个含补语的句子重建出来。

Self-check

Model and reason

我周末在图书馆学习中文。
Chinese often keeps the action early and places time before the action. Build the short subject–verb–object spine first, then add time and place.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 1
我姐姐是老师。她很认真。
A noun predicate normally needs 是, while an adjective can be the predicate directly. 很 often links a neutral description rather than simply meaning “very”.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 2
我星期六在朋友家做饭。
Time usually comes before the verb; a place where an action happens normally comes before that verb too. Do not copy English post-verbal place phrases blindly.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 3
我不抽烟。昨天没看电影。
Use 不 for habits, intention, and future; use 没(有) for an action that did not happen. 别 is a direct negative request.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 4
你为什么学习中文？你想不想去？
Question words stay in the slot where the answer would go. Yes–no questions use 吗, an A-not-A pattern, or an interrogative word; the word order does not flip.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 5
她写的文章很好。我听得懂。
的 attaches a modifier to a noun, 地 marks the manner before a verb in formal writing, and 得 introduces a complement after a verb. First decide what is being modified.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 6
两本书，四个人。
A number normally needs a measure word before a noun, and 两 is common before measure words. Learn noun and measure word together as one usable chunk.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 7
桌子上有电脑。电脑在桌子上。
有 introduces what exists somewhere; 在 states where a known item is; 是 identifies or classifies. Switching these changes the information focus.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 8
我写了作业。天黑了。
了 marks a bounded or newly relevant event, not a simple past tense. Look for a completed action, a change of situation, or a contrast with the present.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 9
我在做饭。灯亮着。我看过这本书。
在/正在 show an action in progress, 着 highlights a continuing state, and 过 marks life experience. Choose the viewpoint before choosing a marker.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 10
我会开车。今天不能去。我可以进来吗？
会 can mean learned ability or prediction; 能 concerns practical possibility; 可以 grants permission; 想 and 要 express desire or plan. Their differences matter more than an English “can”.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 11
今天比昨天冷。我没有他忙。
With 比, do not add 很 before the adjective. Use 没有 for “not as … as”, and use 一点儿 or 更 to express small or greater degree.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 12
他找到了钥匙。请走进去。
A complement tells whether an action succeeded, finished, found something, or moved in a direction. It is part of the verb phrase, so keep it next to the verb.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 13
她在北京住了三年。他每周看两次电影。
Duration answers “for how long”, frequency answers “how often”, and number of times answers “how many times”. Their positions depend on whether the object is definite.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 14
请把书放在桌子上。
把 brings a definite, affected object before the verb and normally requires a result, location, quantity, or other outcome. It is not a decorative replacement for normal order.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 15
我的自行车被朋友借走了。
被 foregrounds the person or thing affected, often when the result matters or is unwelcome. Chinese also frequently leaves the agent unstated.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 16
我给老师写信。她从北京来。
Words such as 在, 从, 到, 给, 跟, and 对 introduce the setting, path, recipient, companion, or viewpoint before the main verb. Read them as a relationship, not as isolated translations.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 17
他来中国学习中文。
Several verbs can share one subject without extra “to” or “and”: go somewhere, then do something. Keep the actions in their real-world order.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 18
因为下雨，所以我没去。
Because–therefore, although–but, and if–then pairs make the relationship visible. Do not use both halves mechanically when context already makes one clear.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 19
请等一下吧。我看看。
吗, 呢, 吧, and sentence-final 了 manage questions, shared context, softening, and change. Reduplication can make a brief action or a request sound lighter.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 20
主语：那本书；主要谓语：很好看；修饰：我昨天在书店买的。
Find the main predicate before translating. Then bracket time, place, coverb phrases, modifiers, and complements; a long sentence becomes several manageable blocks.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 21
我周末想跟同学去公园散步。
Draft from a skeleton: topic, time/place, action, result, and reason. Check measure words, negation, and aspect before you add more vocabulary.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 22
她说得很快。这个比那个便宜。
A strong revision asks targeted questions: 不 or 没? 的 or 得? 比 or 没有? Then read the sentence aloud for its information order.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 23
因为下雨，所以我没出去。我看懂了这篇文章。
A diagnostic should reveal a next step, not merely give a score. Rebuild the answers from meaning, mark weak patterns, and return to a single unit the next day.
Check the answer only after you have said or written your version.
Unit 24