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How to use nominal predicates in Mandarin Chinese?

By: Grace Zhang Thu Sep 18 2025
Mandarin chinese
Sentence Structure

Nominal predicates are or that are used as comments on the . In these structures, (shì, to be) or (yǒu, there is/are, to have) are omitted. They are used a lot in spoken language.

Intrigued? If you want to get to know more about nominal predicates in Mandarin, dive in and read more! We will discuss:

  • How to form nominal predicate structures

  • What type of nouns can be used in nominal predicates

  • Where to place adverbs in nominal predicates

  • How to negate nominal predicates

Let’s start!

What is a nominal predicate?

First things first though, what is a predicate? A predicate comments on the subject of a sentence. A subject is about “what/who” and a predicate is “what about the subject.” For example, in “She dances,” “she” is the subject and “dances” is the predicate, which comments on the subject “she.”

Usually, predicates convey actions. However, there are cases in Mandarin Chinese where the predicate is a noun or noun phrase, and this is called a “nominal predicate.” For example,

Mandarin
Subject
Noun

今天

(jīntiān )

Today

晴天。 *

(qíngtiān)

sunny day.

* Note: “sunny day” is one word in Mandarin.
English
Subject
"to be"
"a"
Noun phrase

It (today)

is

a

sunny day.

In the sentence 今天晴天 (Jīntiān qíngtiān, It is a sunny day), 今天 is the subject and 晴天 is the predicate, which describes what the weather is like today. Unlike in English, “is” and “a” are not necessary between the subject and the nominal predicate in Mandarin Chinese.

How to form sentences with a nominal predicate in Mandarin Chinese?

To form sentences with a nominal predicate, verbs are replaced by nouns in Mandarin Chinese. For example, (shì, to be) is not needed in the sentence 今天晴天 (Jīntiān qíngtiān, Today is a sunny day). However, unlike adjectival predicates in Mandarin Chinese, nominal predicates can take  (shì). For example, we can still say, 今天晴天 (Jīntiān shì qíngtiān, Today is indeed a sunny day), but  (shì) here brings a touch of affirmative or differentiating tone. It is also important to know that 今天晴天 (Jīntiān qíngtiān, Today is a sunny day) sounds more natural when you are simply making a comment about the weather. In any case, keep in mind that nominal predicates are used a lot in spoken language and in writing, you would add  (shì).

subject + nominal predicate

Not every noun can act as a nominal predicate. Nominal predicates are commonly formed by nouns that indicate one of the following categories in the table below:

Nominal predicate
Literal translation
English translation
Category
1昨天阴天。

Zuótiān yīntiān.

yesterday-cloudy-day

It was a cloudy day yesterday.

weather

2舞会时间晚上八点。

Wǔhuì shíjiān
wǎnshàng bādiǎn.

dance party
evening-8 o’clock

The dance party is at 8 o’clock in the evening.

time

3后天星期五。

Hòutiān xīngqīwǔ.

the day after tomorrow-Friday

The day after tomorrow is Friday.

day

4今天六号。

Jīntiān liùhào.

today-the sixth

Today is the sixth.

date

5现在春天。

Xiànzài chūntiān.

now-the spring

It is spring now.

season

6门前一条河。

Ménqián yītiáo hé.

the front of the door-a river

A river passes through the front of the door.

location

7她北京人。

Tā Běijīng rén.

She-Beijing person

She is from Beijing.

birthplace

8 妈妈中国人。

Māma Zhōngguó rén.

Mother-Chinese

Mother is Chinese.

nationality

9 他祖籍辽宁。

Tā zǔjí Liáoníng.

his family origin-Liaoning

His family is from Liaoning.

family origin

10我女儿两岁。

Wǒ nǚ'ér liǎng suì.

my daughter-two years

My daughter is two years old.

age

11他公务员。

Tā gōngwùyuán.

he-public servant

He is a civil servant.

post / occupation

12一公斤十块。

Yī gōngjīn shí kuài.

one kilo-ten yuan

One kilo for ten yuan.

price

13小王热心肠。

Xiǎo Wáng
rèxīncháng.

Xiao Wang-hot-heart- intestines

Xiao Wang is warm-hearted.

characteristic

14 小张一个孩子。

Xiǎo Zhāng yīgè háizi.

Xiao Zhang-one child

Xiao Zhang has one child.

possession

Notice that (shì, to be) or (yǒu, there is/are, to have) are omitted: In the last sentence for example, you do not need to add  (yǒu) to express possession.

How to use adverbs in nominal predicates in Mandarin Chinese?

Some adverbs, like 已经 (yǐjīng, already), (kuài, almost), (cái, only), and (gāng, just), can be used to modify nominal predicates in Mandarin Chinese in order to convey more complex meanings. Adverbs don’t normally modify nouns, but they do in the case of a nominal predicate. The nominal predicates that can be modified by an adverb are limited, for usually they consist of numerals or describe a post someone holds. For example:

我的同学已经教授了。

(Wǒ de tóngxué yǐjīng jiàoshòu le.)

My classmate has already been a professor.

婚礼两个小时了。

(Hūnlǐ kuài liǎnggè xiǎoshíliǎo.)

It's been almost two hours since the wedding.

三十岁了。

(dōu sānshí suì le.)

He is already thirty years old.

两岁。

(cái liǎng suì.)

She was only two years old.

现在十点。

(Xiànzài gāng shídiǎn.)

It's just ten o'clock.

How to negate nominal predicates in Mandarin Chinese?

The negative form of a nominal predicate is made by putting 不是 (bùshì, is/am not) before the nominal predicate. If the positive sentence omits  (yǒu), the negative sentence will use 没有 (méi yǒu) or  (méi) for short. The pattern is:

subject + 不是 (bùshì) + nominal predicate

subject + 没有 (méi yǒu) +  (méi) + nominal predicate

For example:

昨天不是星期五。

(Zuótiān bùshì xīngqīwǔ.)

Yesterday was not Friday.

他不是中国人。

(Tā bùshì Zhōngguó rén.)

He is not Chinese.

不是教授。

(Wǒ bùshì jiàoshòu.)

I am not a professor.

我女儿没有/没两岁。

(Wǒ nǚ'ér méi yǒu / 没 méi liǎng suì.)

My daughter is not two years old.

Important

As you can see in the first example above, the negative word 不是 (bùshì, is/am not) in this case does not change to (méi, not) when describing past events, probably because of the nominal nature of the predicate. That is, there is no action involved here, therefore there is no need to use  (méi) to refer to a past event.

To sum up

This post talks about nominal predicates in Mandarin Chinese.

  • The pattern a nominal predicate follows is “subject + nominal predicate.”

  • No (shì, to be) is needed in between the subject and the predicate.

  • Nominal predicates tend to convey information relating to weather, time, day, date, season, location, birthplace, nationality, family origin, age, post, price, and characteristics.

  • When a nominal predicate takes on an adverb, it follows this pattern: “subject + adverb + nominal predicate.” However, this type of sentence is limited and only occurs with nominal predicates that convey numerals or a post.

Right, it is time to put what we have talked about into practice. Go on and do these exercises to practice your knowledge of nominal predicates in Mandarin Chinese!

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