Chinese adjectives

adjectives differ from those in in that they can be used as verbs and thus s sometimes prefer to use the terms static or stative verb to describe them. In most dictionaries 形容词 is used to identify this part of speech.

Before nouns

When describing a noun with an adjective, the associative particle 的 ''de'' is inserted between the adjective and the noun. For example, 高兴的孩子 ''gāo xìng de hái zi'' "happy child". 的 is sometimes omitted to reduce repetitiveness ; it is also omitted in some established adjective-noun pairs to improve sentence flow . In general, there are no strict rules when 的 can be omitted; however, some adjectives and adjective-noun pairs are more often seen without the associative particle than others.

Some examples:
* — "bad person"
* — "strange person"
* — "cute panda"

After nouns

First pattern

Unlike English, subjects and predicate adjectives in a Chinese sentence are not linked by copula but by degree adverbs, such as 很 hěn "very," 好 hǎo "highly," 真 zhēn "really," and 非常 fēicháng "extraordinarily, extremely." For example, the following sentences express increasing degrees of "beauty":
* 。
She is beautiful.
* 。
She is very beautiful.
* 。
She is really beautiful.
* 。
She is extraordinarily beautiful.

A complementary adverb can also specify the degree of an adjective:
* 。
She is exceedingly beautiful.

It should be noted that 很 often functions as a generic linking adverb and does not carry the meaning of "very". For example, 她很漂亮 is often understood and translated as "She is beautiful".

Second pattern

The linking verb 是 ''shì'' is used with adjectives in the pattern -- Noun + 是 + Adj + 的 -- to state or emphasize a fact or a perceived fact. For example:
* 。
He is male.
* 。
That car is new.
* 。
That cat is black.

Parts of speech

*Chinese pronouns
*Chinese verbs
*Chinese particles
*Chinese grammar