主谓宾【zhǔ-wèi-bīn】

A basic statement runs subject, then verb, then object, the same order as English.

The difference is where the rest goes. English hangs time, place and manner off the end of the sentence; Chinese puts them in front of the verb: time first, then place, then manner, then the verb.

Time and place go before the verb

A time word sits after the subject or before it, never after the verb.

• × 我去学校每天。 → 我每天去学校。

A place works the same way. It attaches to 在 and sits in front of the verb, not after the object.

• × 他看书在图书馆。 → 他在图书馆看书。

How long something lasted and how it turned out are the exceptions: those come after the verb, as complements.

A question keeps the word order of the statement

English moves a verb to the front of a question; Chinese moves nothing. Add 吗 at the end, or put a question word in the slot you are asking about.

什么 sits where the object sits, because the object is what the question is about.

The topic can move to the front

A noun the sentence is about can be lifted out and placed before the subject. The rest of the sentence then comments on it.

这本书 is announced first, and 我看过 says something about it. The verb stays active and nothing else changes.