Intermediate Chinese Grammar
Like Duolingo, but for Intermediate Chinese Grammar. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
95 levels across 8 sections, about 190 minutes end to end, roughly 38 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Expressing Nuance in Action, Structuring Complex Sentences, Precision with Time and Aspect, Comparison and Degree, Logical Connections and Flow, Emphasis and Rhetorical Flair, Modality and Attitude, and The Mechanics of Formal Chinese. It assumes you already know the basics.
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Key ideas in Intermediate Chinese Grammar
- Verbs like 'zhao' (look) only describe the action, not the result
- Adding 'dao' or 'zhao' as a complement confirms the outcome was achieved
- Resultative complements are placed immediately after the verb
- The distinction between an action's attempt and its specific outcome
- 'Wan' indicates a chronological end to an activity
- 'Hao' implies the action reached a standard of readiness or quality
- Choosing 'hao' suggests a positive or successful state of completion
- The nuanced difference between 'wan' (completion) and 'hao' (satisfaction)
- 'Dao' marks the successful perception of a sense (seeing, hearing)
- 'Dao' indicates reaching a physical destination or a specific time
- 'Dao' signals the attainment of a difficult-to-get object
- 'Mei' or 'meiyou' negates a past result or a change in state
- Using 'bu' negates the intention or habit, not the resultative outcome
- The complement remains in the sentence even when negated by 'mei'
- The versatile applications of the complement 'dao'
- Correct negation of resultative outcomes using 'mei'
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Intermediate Chinese Grammar the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
If you want to tell a friend you successfully found your lost wallet, which structure should you use?
Get it right to open this lesson and 94 more in the app.
Where Intermediate Chinese Grammar takes you
Bridge the gap between basic phrases and fluent expression by mastering the structural logic, nuanced particles, and complex sentence patterns of Mandarin.
- 1
Expressing Nuance in Action
- Refining Resultative Complements
- Directional Complements beyond Movement
- Mastering the Potential Complement
- 2
Structuring Complex Sentences
- The 'Ba' Construction in Multi-Step Actions
- Passive Voice with 'Bei' and Alternatives
- Serial Verbs and Pivotal Sentences
- 3
Precision with Time and Aspect
- Distinguishing 'Le': Completion vs. Change
- Duration and Frequency of Actions
- Expressing Experience and Imminence
- 4
Comparison and Degree
- Advanced 'Bi' Comparisons and Disparities
- Expressing Extremes and Sufficiency
- Correlative Progress with 'Yue... Yue...'
- 5
Logical Connections and Flow
- Hypothetical and Conditional Scenarios
- Concessive Clauses and Unexpected Results
- Transitioning and Summarizing in Speech
- 6
Emphasis and Rhetorical Flair
- The 'Shi... de' Construction for Focus
- Rhetorical Questions and Double Negatives
- Emphatic Adverbs for Tone
- 7
Modality and Attitude
- Expressing Probability and Inference
- Softening Requests and Commands
- Expressing Regret and Counterfactuals
- 8
The Mechanics of Formal Chinese
- Nominalization and Abstract Subjects
- Reduplication for Nuance and Tone
- Word Order Constraints in Long Sentences
8 sections · 24 units · 95 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Intermediate Chinese Grammar is taught in the The Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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