DSE Chinese — Classical Sentence Patterns Guide for Tutors: Judgement, Passive and Inverted Sentences in Three Steps

2026-11-05

Tutor lesson-prep guides · Secondary Chinese

Students decode every character and still mistranslate the sentence, because they never learned to look for the pattern. This lesson covers three patterns and nine examples, so that markers such as zhe-ye, wei-su and zhi become readable signals.

Objectives — Students can: (1) identify 9 classical sentences as judgement, passive or inverted, 3 of each, naming the marker; (2) translate a judgement sentence with the copula rather than as a noun phrase; (3) name the pattern and the marker for all three exit sentences in the final three minutes.

01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)

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

Skill	Quick check	Pass mark
Function words	What does ye at the end of a clause usually do?	It marks judgement or emphasis and often has no direct translation.
Clause structure	What are subject, predicate and object?	Can point to the three slots in a simple sentence.
Literal translation	May a translator add many words?	Stay literal; added subjects go in brackets.

02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)

Time	Stage	Tutor does	Student does
0-5 min	Prior knowledge check	Ask about function words, clause slots and literal translation	Answer aloud; write errors on page one
5-15 min	Act 1: judgement	Model zhe-ye, nai and ji as copula markers	Circle the markers in each example
15-33 min	Act 2: passive	Model jian, wei-su and bei, translating each	Underline the passive span and rewrite it as active
33-42 min	Act 3: inversion	Model object fronting and postposed adverbials, restoring order	Restore the order, then translate
42-45 min	Mixed translation	Hand out 9 mixed sentences; label first, then translate	Label, translate, compare with a partner
45-45 min	Exit check	Ask three exit questions and record answers	Answer aloud; misses become next lesson starters

03 Teaching script (read it out)

Scene 1: Act 1: a judgement sentence says A is B

A judgement sentence does one job: it says what the subject is or which class it belongs to. The usual marker is zhe-ye: Chen Sheng zhe, Yangcheng ren ye.
Two fixed steps: find zhe, everything before it is the subject; find ye, everything before it is the predicate. Other markers are nai, ji, ze and fei, where fei is a negative judgement.
Common misconception box: students read the final ye as the adverb also. It is a modal particle and does not appear in the translation.

Ask students to repeat: what precedes zhe is the subject, and final ye is not translated.

Scene 2: Act 2: in a passive sentence the subject is acted upon

The difficulty is direction, not vocabulary. Seeing jian xin er bei bang, weaker students translate it as trusting and slandering, reversing the roles.
Three markers: jian, wei plus suo, and bei. The fixed question is: who is acted upon by whom. Draw an arrow from the agent to the subject.
Common misconception box: students assume jian always means to see. When jian plus a verb makes no sense, try the passive reading.

Ask students to repeat: jian, wei-su and bei all prompt the question of who is acted upon.

Scene 3: Act 3: inversion means restoring the order first

Two tested forms: fronted object and postposed adverbial. The method is always the same: restore the normal order, then translate.
He lou zhi you becomes you he lou; qu zhi yu lan becomes yu lan qu zhi. Here zhi is a fronting marker, not a possessive and not a pronoun.
Common misconception box: translating word by word produces nonsense such as what crude has, and students think they missed a character.

Ask students to repeat: restore the order before translating, and zhi here is only a marker.

04 Question types and worked steps

Type	Example	Steps	Answer
Judgement translation	Chen Sheng zhe, Yangcheng ren ye.	Find subject before zhe, predicate before ye, supply the copula	Chen Sheng was from Yangcheng.
Passive translation	Wei tianxia xiao.	Spot the marker, ask who is acted upon, restore the agent	Was laughed at by the whole world.
Fronted object restoration	He lou zhi you?	Spot zhi as a marker, restore you he lou, translate the rhetorical question	What is so crude about it?
Mixed analysis	Xin er jian yi, zhong er bei bang.	Ask the passive question twice, name the subjects, translate	Trustworthy yet suspected, loyal yet slandered.

Sanity check (teach this): Sanity checks: every translation needs a subject, supplied in brackets when the original omits it; a passive translation must keep the direction of action; an inverted sentence must be reordered before translation, and a translation that does not read naturally signals a missing reorder; a judgement translation uses the copula even though the original has no copula character.

05 Independent practice (3 questions)

Question	Answer	What to watch
Label and translate: A ci nai tian yi ye. B jian xiao yu dafang. C wei ming shi cong.	A judgement (nai), B passive (jian yu), C fronted object (shi)	Whether the label comes before the translation
Restore and translate: qing, qu zhi yu lan.	yu lan qu zhi; indigo is extracted from the indigo plant	Whether the restored order is written down
Find the passive clause in a short passage, name the marker and translate it.	Depends on the passage; marker and translation must both appear	Whether the agent is identified

06 Common mistakes and what to say

Mistake	Student writes	Say this
Reading final ye as an adverb	Translating the sentence as Chen Sheng, also from Yangcheng.	Final ye is a modal particle, so it does not appear in the translation.
Reversing the passive	Translating jian qi yu wang as deceiving the king.	When jian appears, ask who is acted upon; the subject is usually the one acted upon.
Translating inversion in place	Rendering he lou zhi you as what crude has.	Restore you he lou first; without restoring it the line cannot read naturally.
Adding too much	Expanding nai into a long explanatory phrase.	Nai simply means is; one or two words are enough.

07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)

Redo this chapter — Redo all 9 sentences, labelling before translating
Chinese chapter index — Open the classical vocabulary chapter and write two examples each for zhe, ye, zhi and jian
Marker table — Make a three-column table: pattern, marker, translation action

08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)

Question	Answer	Decision
What pattern is zhe-ye?	Judgement, translated with the copula	If not, reteach Act 1
In wei tianxia xiao, who laughs at whom?	The world laughs at the subject	If reversed, reteach Act 2
What is the normal order of he lou zhi you?	you he lou	If not, reteach Act 3

09 Tutor FAQ

How many markers are enough?

Three judgement, three passive and two inversion markers cover most school and exam items.

Should the translation keep a classical tone?

Prioritise natural modern Chinese, but never change the direction of a passive or judgement.

How much is the pattern question worth?

It usually sits with vocabulary questions, and a wrong pattern loses the whole sentence.

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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.