Hi everyone, welcome to join Silk Mandarin today to learn Chinese sentence order with just one rule!

So, what's this one rule?

As you might know, different languages could have different word orders. Let's have a look at the sentences in the picture below.

Listen the audio below to learn more about Slow Motion Technique:

We speak English in this way:
- I finished drinking a cup of coffee.

However, if you speak Chinese in the English order:
- 我完了喝一杯咖啡。(Wǒ wán le hē yī bēi kāfēi.)

You've just made a common mistake influenced by English!

So, how can we get rid of English thinking way when speaking Chinese?

How to switch to the Chinese mindset?
Follow our Slow Motion Technique!

Imagine the sentence we presented as if it were seen in a movie, playing in slow motion. In this way, you can clearly see each step:
- The first step is "I, as a subject, exist"
- The second step is "I drink"
- The third step is "I finished drinking"
- The fourth step is "a cup of coffee"

When you combine these steps together, you have the perfect Chinese sentence:
- 我喝完了一杯咖啡。(Wǒ hē wán le yī bēi kāfēi.)

Basically, with the Slow Motion Technique, the Chinese order is exactly the order in which the actions are taking place. 

If you start to view what you want to say with this Slow Motion Technique, you will never get the Chinese order wrong.