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and in chinese
By Sheena DizonSheena Dizon Last updated:

And in Chinese: 11 Ways to Join Nouns, Verbal Phrases, Adjectives and Actions

One of the easiest ways to make your language skills sound more advanced is by connecting your thoughts using conjunctions like “and.”

Just look at the difference:

I like to eat chicken. I also like to eat beef.

I like to eat chicken and beef.

The second example is much better, right?

This is true in Chinese, as well. Because Chinese is a contextual language, there’s an “and” for every circumstance.

Now, let’s take a look at all the different ways you can say “and” in Chinese!

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Connecting Subjects or Objects with 和 (hé)

When you simply need to connect two nouns, go with 和. You can use 和 to connect two subjects or two objects.

Here’s an example of 和 connecting two subjects:

我和他只是朋友。
(wǒ hé tā zhǐ shì péng yǒu.)
He and I are just friends.

And here’s an example of 和 connecting two objects:

她喜欢四川和湖南菜。
(tā xǐ huan sì chuān hé hú nán cài.)
She likes Sichuan and Hunan cuisines.

Connecting People Performing the Same Action with 跟  (gēn)

When two people are doing something together, there are two ways to express that using conjunctions.

You can either say, “You and I are going shopping,”  or, “I am going shopping with you.”

Although the conjunction in the second option is “with” rather than “and,” it’s another option you can use to convey two people completing an action together.

So you can either stick 和 between the two people in the sentence, or you can swap that with 跟, which means “with.”

Here’s an example. Let’s say you want to share that you watched a movie with your boyfriend yesterday. There are two ways to express the same thought:

昨天我和男朋友看电影。
(zuó tiān wǒ hé nán péng yǒu kàn diàn yǐng.)
My boyfriend and I watched a movie yesterday.

昨天我跟男朋友(一起)看电影。
(zuó tiān wǒ gēn nán péng yǒu [yì qǐ] kàn diàn yǐng.)
I watched a movie with my boyfriend yesterday.

Both options are correct, though using 跟 takes your Chinese fluency up a notch.

Note: 一起 means “together.” Referring to the example above, it’s implied that you and your boyfriend watched a movie together. But in Mandarin, the sentence formula for 跟 is as follows:

Subject + 跟 + Person + (一起)

As you can see, 一起 is completely optional but highly encouraged.

Connecting Similar Verbal Phrases with 也  (yě)

When two subjects share the same action or verbal phrase, 也 meaning “(and) also” is the appropriate conjunction to use in Chinese.

她去过英国，我也去过英国。
(tā qù guò yīng guó, wǒ yě qù guò yīng guó.)
She’s been to England, and I’ve also been to England.

我的朋友想学中文，我也想学中文。
(wǒ de péng yǒu xiǎng xué zhōng wén, wǒ yě xiǎng xué zhōng wén.)
My friend wants to learn Chinese, and I also want to learn Chinese.

Additionally, you can use 也 to connect two similar verbal phrases or actions by a single subject. Here are some examples:

我去过英格兰，也去过苏格兰。
(wǒ qù guò yīng gé lán, yě qù guò sū gé lán.)
I’ve been to England, and I’ve also been to Scotland.

她不喜欢抱子甘蓝，也不喜欢西兰花。
(tā bù xǐ huan bào zi gān lán, yě bù xǐ huan xī lán huā.)
She doesn’t like Brussels sprouts, and she also doesn’t like broccoli.

Note: When used to connect verbal phrases, 也 is preceded by a comma.

Connecting Similar Adjectives/Adverbs with 又 (yòu)

If you’re looking to use multiple adjectives to describe a noun, the “and” to use in this situation would be 又. Please note that both adjectives have to be positive or negative.

Instead of simply placing 又 in between two adjectives, the correct format in Chinese is:

又 + adjective 1 + 又 + adjective 2

You can think of the double 又 as “both…and…” in English.

Here are a couple of examples:

姐姐的头发又长又卷。
(jiě jie de tóu fà yòu zhǎng yòu juǎn.)
(My) older sister’s hair is both long and curly.

那块蛋糕又浓奶油又多。
(nà kuài dàn gāo yòu nóng nǎi yóu yòu duō.)
That cake is both rich and creamy.

Another option is to swap out the first 又 with 既  (jì). 既…又… also means “both…and…” The only difference between these phrases is that 既…又… can be used to connect adjectives and adverbs, whereas the double 又 only connects adjectives.

既 + adjective/adverb 1 + 又 + adjective/adverb 2

Here’s how the 既…又… can be used with adjectives and adverbs.

演讲既混乱又无聊。
(yǎn jiǎng jì hùn luàn yòu wú liáo.)
The lecture was both disorganized and boring.

他工作既迅速又安静。
(tā gōng zuò jì xùn sù yòu ān jìng.)
He works both quickly and quietly.

Connecting Different Actions with 还 (hái)

What if you want to connect two different actions from a single subject?

Simple: Just use 还, meaning “and also,” as the conjunction.

我丈夫洗衣服，还做晚饭。
(wǒ zhàng fu xǐ yī fu, hái zuò wǎn fàn.)
My husband does the laundry and also makes dinner.

他们喝了酒，还吃了奶酪。
(tā men hē le jiǔ, hái chī le nǎi lào.)
They drank wine and also had cheese.

Other Ways to Express “And” in Chinese

Thinking of using a synonym of “and” instead? Here are other Chinese conjunctions you can use in place of “and.”

以及 (yǐ jí) — as well as

您要牛奶以及糖吗？
(nín yào niú nǎi yǐ jí táng ma?)
Do you want milk as well as sugar?

还有 (hái yǒu) — and also

有洋葱，胡萝卜，还有芹菜。
(yǒu yáng cōng, hú luó bo, hái yǒu qín cài.)
There are onions, carrots and (also) celery.

之后 (zhī hòu) — and then

她的儿子做了作业，之后玩电子游戏。
(tā de ér zi zuò le zuò yè, zhī hòu wán diàn zǐ yóu xì.)
Her son did his homework, and then played video games.

然后 (rán hòu) — then

他们想去西班牙，然后去意大利。
(tā men xiǎng qù xī bān yá, rán hòu qù yì dà lì.)
They want to go to Spain, then Italy.

不但…而且 (bú dàn…ér qiě) — not only… but also

她不但会唱歌，而且会跳舞。
(tā bú dàn huì chàng gē, ér qiě hái tiào wǔ.)
Not only can she sing, but she can also dance.

Or Don’t Say “And” in Chinese at All!

Now, why would I make you go through an entire list of translations for “and” in Chinese when there’s an option to not include it at all?

When it comes to speech, native and fluent speakers tend to drop words that can be inferred from conversation or context. One such word is “and.”

In spoken Chinese, you can drop the “and” to connect nouns.

爸爸妈妈到了吗？
(bà ba mā ma dào le ma?)
Have Mom and Dad arrived yet?

You can do the same when tying two actions to one subject.

她跑步游泳。
(tā pǎo bù yóu yǒng.)
She runs and swims.

You can also drop the “and” to connect adverbs.

他说话大声清晰。
(tā shuō huà dà shēng qīng xī.)
He speaks loudly and clearly.

And lastly, you can drop the “and” to connect adjectives.

您的说明必须清晰明确。
(nín de shuō míng bì xū qīng xī míng què.)
Your instructions need to be clear and specific.

Dropping the “and” can be risky, considering there are a lot of homonyms in Chinese. Two verbs, adjectives or adverbs put together could sound like you’re saying a completely different word than you’d intended.

Not having that clear division (“and”) between two ideas could lead to misinterpretation. That’s one of the reasons Westerners get confused with Chinese, even though there are plenty of similarities between English and Chinese grammar.

When dropping the “and,” it helps to pause in place of the conjunction to separate the ideas. You can also use a comma if you’re writing informally in chat, text, email, etc.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with keeping the conjunction in spoken and written Mandarin. For clarity’s sake, keep the conjunction in there, and let’s leave this option to the pros. 

 

I know that was a lot to take in, considering we only actually covered one conjunction. But having this insight into the various ways you can say “and” in Chinese immensely improves your speaking and writing skills.

Believe it or not, you’re well on your way to fluency already!

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