COMMON ADVERBS IN MANDARIN

A. Adverbs of Frequency
The usual formula for using Chinese adverbs of frequency is:
Subject + Adverb of Frequency + Verb + Object
1. (hěn shǎo)- rarely
Ex. (Wǒ xīng qī tiān hěn shǎo gōng zuò.) — I rarely work on Sundays.
(Tā hěn shǎo chī zǎo fàn.) — He rarely eats breakfast.
2. (jīng cháng/cháng cháng)-often
Ex. (Wǒ jīng cháng qù zhōng guó.) — I often go to China.
(Nǐ cháng cháng lái zhè lǐ ma?) — Do you come here often?
3. (cóng bù)-never
Ex. (Tā cóng bù hē pí jiǔ.) — He never drinks beer.
(Wǒ shì sù shí zhě, suǒ yǐ cóng bù chī ròu.) — I’m vegetarian, so I never eat meat.
4. (zǒng shì/dòng bù dòng (jiù)- always
Ex. (Nǐ dòng bù dòng jiù piàn wǒ.) — You always lie to me.
5. (yǒu (de) shí hou)-sometimes
Ex. (Wǒ yǒu de shí hou hē jiǔ.) — I sometimes drink alcohol.
(Tā yǒu shí hou lái wǒ de jiā.) — She sometimes comes to my house.
6. (tōng cháng/píng shí/yī bān)- usually/typically
Sometimes you can even use (tōng cháng), (yī bān) interchangably.
Ex. (Wǒ tōng cháng chī wǔ fàn.) — I usually eat lunch.
(Nǐ píng shí hé tā yì qǐ qù.) — You usually go with him.
(Wǒ yī bān zǎo shang qù pǎo bù.) — He’s usually in a bad mood on Monday.
7. (ǒu ěr)-occasionally
Ex. (Wǒ ǒu ěr lǚ yóu.) — I occasionally travel.
(Tā ǒu ěr qù měi guó.) — She occasionally goes to the United States.
B. Adverbs of Time
There are two positions adverbs of time can take when forming sentences—before the subject or
after the subject, and both are very common, such as this:
Subject + Adverb of Time + Verb + Object
Adverb of Time + Subject + Verb + Object
These patterns are mostly interchangeable, with a few exceptions (which we’ll explore soon!).
8. (zuó tiān/jīn tiān/míng tiān)- yesterday/today/tomorrow
Ex. (Wǒ zuó tiān kàn le nà bù diàn yǐng.) — I watched that movie yesterday.
(Míng tiān wǒ qù shàng hǎi.) — Tomorrow I’m going to Shanghai.
(Nǐ jīn tiān gōng zuò ma?) — Do you work today?
9. (hòu tiān/qián tiān)-the day after tomorrow/the day before yesterday
Ex. (Hòu tiān wǒ yào huí jiā.) — I will come back home the day after tomorrow.
(Nǐ qián tiān kàn nǐ fù mǔ le ma?) — Did you visit your parents the day before yesterday?
10. (xiàn zài)-now
Ex. (Nǐ xiàn zài yǒu kòng ma?) — Do you have time right now?
(Wǒ xiàn zài shuì jiào ne.) — I’m sleeping right now.
11. (hòu lái)- later/after
Ex. (Hòu lái wǒmen chū qù chī fàn le.) — Later on, we went out to eat.
(Tā hòu lái huí jiā le.) — She went home afterward.
12. (mǎ shàng)- immediately/right now/at once
Ex. (Nǐ mǎ shàng zǒu ma?) — Are you leaving immediately?
(Wǒ mǎ shàng jiù huí lái.) — I’ll be back in a minute/I’ll be right back.
13. (yǐ jīng)-already
Ex. (Nǐ yǐ jīng chī fàn le ma?) — Have you already eaten?
(Wǒ yǐ jīng kàn guo zhè bù diàn yǐng le.) — I already saw this movie.
14. (zuì jìn)- recently
Ex. (Nǐ zuì jìn zěnme yàng?) — How have you been recently?
(Zuì jìn wǒ zài xué zhōng wén.) — I’ve been studying Chinese recently.
15. (yǐ qián)-before/ago
Ex. Liǎng nián yǐ qián wǒ kāi shǐ xué zhōng wén.) — Two years ago, I started studying Chinese.
(Yǐ qián, wǒ cóng bù kàn diàn shì.) — Before, I never watched TV./Previously, I never watched
TV.
16. (hái)-still
Ex. (Wǒ hái méi qù guò zhōng guó.) — I still haven’t gone to China yet.
(Nǐ hái méi xiǎng hǎo ma?) — You still haven’t decided yet?

C. Adverbs of Place
Subject + Adverb of Place + Verb + Object
Or, adverbs of place can simply follow the verb 在 (zài) — to be located, to show location.
Other times, the adverb of place can become the subject, coming at the beginning of the sentence
like this:
Adverb of Place + Verb + Object
17. (zhè lǐ)-here
Ex. (Wǒ zài zhè lǐ shàng xué.) — I go to school here.
(Nǐ zhù zài zhè lǐ ba?) — You live here, right?
18. (nà lǐ)- there
Ex. (wǒ zài nà lǐ gōng zuò .) — I work there.
(Tāmen zài nà lǐ rèn shi de.) — They met there.
19. (dào chù (dōu))-everywhere

This adverb can be used either as 到处 (dào chù) by itself or with 都 (dōu) added to it. However,
the extra 都 (dōu) doesn’t add any other meaning to the word.
Ex. (dào chù dōu shì rén.) — There are people everywhere.
(Nǐ dào chù néng shuì jiào.) — You can sleep everywhere.
20. (nǎ lǐ dōu)-anywhere
Ex. (Nǐ zài nǎ lǐ dōu kě yǐ shēng huó.) — You can live anywhere.
(Wǒ bà ba zài nǎ lǐ dōu néng shuì zháo.) — My dad can fall asleep anywhere.
Adverbs of Manner
21. (tǐng…de) -pretty/quite + adjective
Ex. (Nǐ zhōng wén shuō de tǐng hǎo de.) — You speak Chinese pretty well.
(Tā xué de tǐng kuài de.) — She learns quite fast.
22. (hěn/fēi cháng)-very
So when you want to use the word “very” or “really,” a better option would be 非常 (fēi cháng).
Ex. (nǐ de yǎn jing hěn měi lì.) — Your eyes are (very) pretty.
(Tā chàng gē chàng de fēi cháng hǎo.) — She sings really/extremely well.
23. (zhēn)- really
Ex. (zhè lǐ de huán jìng zhēn mèi.) — The scenery here is really beautiful.
(Nǐ shuō de zhēn hǎo.) — You speak really well.
24. (hǎo)-very/so
Ex. (Wǒ hǎo lèi.) — I’m so tired.
(Tā de yī fu hǎo piào liǎng.) — Her clothes are so pretty.
25. (màn màn de)-slowly
Ex. (Tài yángde màn màn de luò shān le.) — Please speak slowly.
(Tā màn màn de zǒu .) — He walks slowly.
26. (jī hū bù/méi)-hardly/barely
Ex. (Tā jī hū bù shuō yīng wén.) — He barely speaks English.
(Jīn tiān wǒ jī hū méi gōng zuò.) — I barely worked today.
27. (zhǔ yào)-primarily/mainly/mostly
Ex. (Zhōng wén hé rì wén wǒ dōu xué, dàn shì zhǔ yào xué zhōng wén.) — I study both Chinese
and Japanese, but I mainly learn Chinese.
(Yǐ qián yóu lǎn lún dūn de zuì jiā shí jiān zhǔ yào shì xià jì.) — The best time to visit London
used to be mainly in summer.
28. (jī hū)- almost
Ex. (Wǒ jī hū yào gào sù tā le.) — I almost told her.
(Tā jī hū ná zǒu le suǒ yǒu dōng xi.) — He almost took away everything.

Source: https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/chinese-adverbs/