S2 Chinese | Word Classes and Sentence Elements: Tutor Prep Guide (11 classes, 6 elements, 4 mistakes)

2026-11-12

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Secondary Chinese

Students label grammar by feel: asked for the subject of a sentence they simply read the whole line aloud. This lesson does three things only: split eleven word classes with two tests, cut a sentence into six named elements, and use a fixed order that finds the predicate first so a long sentence stops collapsing.

Objectives — Students can: (1) name the six content classes (noun, verb, adjective, numeral, measure word, pronoun) and the five function classes (adverb, preposition, conjunction, particle, interjection), and sort a word with two tests, whether it can stand alone and whether it carries real meaning; (2) split a sentence into the six elements, subject, predicate, object, attributive, adverbial and complement, and say which question each element answers; (3) find subject and object in a sentence of ten or more characters by locating the predicate first, then asking who and what; (4) state the one point students always mix up, that an adverbial sits before the predicate and a complement after it.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Word meaning	Do piao-liang and piao-liang-de mean different things?	Same meaning, but one modifies a noun and the other modifies an action
Whole sentence	What two parts must a sentence have at minimum?	A subject and a predicate
Punctuation	What is the job of a full stop versus a comma?	A full stop ends a sentence, a comma separates parts inside one

02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-5 min	Two piles first	Write content words and function words on the board, students place eleven words, wrong ones get the test explained	Place words and give a reason
5-15 min	Eleven classes	One example each, stressing that adverbs modify verbs and prepositions take objects	Add one example per class
15-26 min	Six elements	Take a twelve-character sentence and label all six elements with the question each answers	Put attributive and adverbial back on the sentence
26-36 min	Predicate first	A longer sentence: circle the predicate, then ask who and what, and explain why starting from the first character fails	Circle the predicate and name the subject
36-41 min	Four error cases	Four typical wrong answers, groups explain the faulty step, tutor adds one correction line	Explain one wrong answer
41-45 min	Exit check	Three questions marked on the spot, then name the act to reteach	Hand in three answers

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Act 1: Content words and function words, two tests are enough

The eleven classes are not a list to memorise, they are two questions. First: can the word stand alone and still mean something? Shu can, de cannot, so the first is a content word and the second a function word. Second: does it carry real meaning? Nouns, verbs, adjectives, numerals, measure words and pronouns all do; adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, particles and interjections only connect, modify or colour the tone. The common error is calling an adverb an adjective. The test is what it modifies: an adverb modifies a verb or an adjective, an adjective modifies a noun. In ta hen kuai de pao the phrase modifies pao, so it is adverbial; in hen kuai de che it modifies che, so it is adjectival. Same meaning, different target, different class, and that sentence needs saying three times.

Six content classes carry meaning; five function classes do grammatical work.

Scene 2: Act 2: Six elements, each answers one question

Knowing the six names is not the skill. Each element answers a question: subject answers who or what, predicate answers does what or is what, object answers to whom or to what, attributive answers what kind of, adverbial answers when, where or how, complement answers to what extent or with what result. Take one twelve-character sentence: circle the predicate verb, ask who on its left, ask what on its right, then whatever modifies a noun is attributive, whatever modifies the verb is adverbial, and whatever follows the verb to give a result is complement. Require students to write the question under every element they label. If they cannot write the question, they have not judged anything.

Every label must come with the question it answers.

Scene 3: Act 3: Predicate first, and a long sentence stops collapsing

The usual failure is labelling from the first character, and one long attributive destroys the whole analysis. There are only three steps: find the predicate, the core verb or the copula; ask who to its left for the subject; ask what to its right for the object. Everything that modifies a noun in between is one attributive block, everything that modifies the verb is one adverbial block, and no character-by-character labelling is allowed. Demonstrate on two sentences with different structures, let students do the second, and only ask where the predicate is. Close with the positional rule: adverbial before the predicate, complement after it, position is the answer.

Predicate, then subject, then object; adverbial before, complement after.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Word class	In ta tu-ran da-xiao, what class is tu-ran?	(1) Ask what it modifies (2) It modifies the action da-xiao (3) Words modifying verbs are adverbs (4) Contrast tu-ran de xiao-xi where it modifies a noun and is adjectival	Adverb, because it modifies the verb da-xiao
Element identification	In xiao-ming zai tu-shu-guan an-jing de kan shu, what are subject and predicate?	(1) Find the predicate verb (2) The predicate is kan (3) Ask who to its left (4) The subject is xiao-ming	Subject xiao-ming, predicate kan; the place and manner phrases are adverbials
Attributive or adverbial	In zuo-tian mai de na ben jiu shu, what element is zuo-tian mai de?	(1) See what it modifies (2) It modifies the noun shu (3) Words modifying nouns are attributive (4) Check it sits before the noun	Attributive modifying shu
Complement	In ta pao de hen kuai, what element is hen kuai?	(1) Is it before or after the predicate (2) pao is the predicate and it follows (3) What follows to give extent is a complement (4) Contrast ta hen kuai de pao where it is adverbial	Complement, giving the extent of pao

Sanity check (teach this): Checks: (1) A word has no fixed class outside a sentence, so every answer must quote the example. (2) The subject is not simply the first element; a time phrase at the start is normally adverbial. (3) In a copula sentence the object is the content being judged, not a thing acted upon. (4) An attributive only modifies a nominal, so anything modifying a verb must be adverbial. (5) Complement follows the predicate and adverbial precedes it; getting the position wrong is a worse error than using the wrong name.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
Name the six content classes.	Noun, verb, adjective, numeral, measure word, pronoun	All six present
What is the adverbial in xue-sheng ren-zhen de chao bi-ji?	Ren-zhen de, modifying the predicate chao	States the target of modification
What element is gong-zheng in ta xie de gong-zheng?	Complement, giving the result of xie	Says it follows the predicate

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Labelling from the first character	Zuo-tian is at the front so it is the subject	Find the predicate, then ask who to its left; a front time phrase is normally adverbial.
Adverb and adjective mixed	In hen kuai de pao the phrase is adjectival	It modifies the verb, so adverbial; only modifying a noun makes it adjectival.
Adverbial and complement swapped	In pao de hen kuai the phrase is adverbial	It follows the predicate and gives extent, so it is a complement.
Whole clause called subject	The whole line is the subject	The subject answers who or what and is one element, not the sentence.

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

Secondary Chinese chapter index — Other chapters in this subject run reading, writing, then language basics
Compare with the narrative elements chapter — That chapter covers content elements, this one covers sentence structure
Lesson prep master index — Other subjects use the same find-the-core-then-unpack order

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
How many content and function classes?	Six content, five function, eleven in total	Failure means reteach Act 1
Name the six sentence elements.	Subject, predicate, object, attributive, adverbial, complement	Missing any means reteach Act 2
What element is hen kuai in pao de hen kuai?	Complement	Answering adverbial means reteach the position rule

09 Tutor FAQ

Do students need the whole class table memorised?

No. Exams give sentences, so students need the act of asking what a word modifies; a memorised list fails the moment a word is used flexibly.

How deep should the analysis go?

Until every element answers its question. A long attributive counts as one block; labelling character by character guarantees a collapse on long sentences.

Which terminology should be used?

The Chinese set of six elements, matching the textbook. Do not mix in English complement sub-types, because two systems at once confuse students.

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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.