Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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The 的 Phrase — Mine, the Red One, the One I Made
「的」字短语——我的、红的、我做的
Drop the noun and let 的 hold its place: 这个手机是我的, 我想买红的, 这是我做的. Ownership, choice and credit, all without repeating the thing.
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Memory hook
X + 的 = the X one (noun gone, 的 stays)
Whose, which, who did it
The noun is missing from every line. Listen for what stands in front of 的 — a person, a colour, a verb — and supply the noun in your head.
Tap any line to hear it
Leave the noun at home名词不用说
No pressure — just making it stick.
这个手机不是我的，是____。
Zhè ge shǒujī bú shì wǒ de, shì ____.
This phone isn't mine, it's the company's.
The seller holds up two bowls. Which answer works?
This photo is one I took.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
我想买这个____。
Wǒ xiǎng mǎi zhè ge ____.
I want to buy this red one.
Your turn — say it
这个牛排是我做的。
This steak — I made it.
这些牛奶是____，不要喝了。
Zhèxiē niúnǎi shì ____, bú yào hē le.
This milk is from yesterday — don't drink it.
Fill the shopping and the credit with the right 的 phrase.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5On the table桌上的东西
No pressure — just making it stick.
Five things from the deck are on the table. Match each picture — then ask 这个是谁的？ about it.
Tap a picture, then choose its word. Picked wrong? Tap that picture and choose again. Match all the cards to finish.
Your turn — say it
这个包是谁买的？——是我男朋友买的。
Who bought this bag? — My boyfriend did.
This watch isn't mine.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
Your turn — say it
我想买这个红的。
I want to buy this red one.
This lesson's characters
Three things from the table — the watch, the ear behind 耳机, and the photograph you took.
surface; watch; to show
会two ideas joined
The old form was a fur coat: 衣 clothing with 毛 fur on the outside. The outside of a garment became 'surface, outer' — and from showing on the surface came 表示, to express, and 表, a chart. A watch is 手表, the surface on your wrist that shows the time; 这块手表不是我的 measures it with 块, like a slab.
ear
象drawn from life
An ear drawn from the side — the outer curl, the lobe hanging below. Turn the character and you can still see it. 耳机 is the ear-machine you put on; 木耳, 'wood ear', is the black fungus in your stir-fry, named for its shape. As a part it says listening: 听 once carried it, and 聪, clever, still does.
to pat; to take (a photo)
形meaning + sound
A hand 扌 and 白 for the sound: to slap or pat with the flat hand. When the camera arrived, pressing its button became 拍 too — 拍照, to take a photo, 这张照片是我拍的. The same hand pats a shoulder and slaps a table: 拍手 is to clap.
Take these with you
Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Take five things out of your bag and say whose each one is — 这是我的, 这是公司的 — then who bought it. That is the deck's pair-work, done alone in one minute.
- At the next market, answer with the 的 phrase only: 便宜的。大的。红的。 Watch the seller's face — you sound like you have been here before.
- The test that never fails: can the noun go back after 的? If 我的手机 and 我拍的照片 make sense, the short form is yours to use.