A 病句 (a sentence with something wrong in it) is rarely a case of 'bad Chinese'. Usually the child has simply written the words in the order they thought of them, and one small link has broken: the subject has gone missing, two words do not go together, or the sentence argues with itself. Children who can name which link broke fix sentences faster than children who just 'feel' it is odd. This post gives a short checking routine for P4–P6 that works on school exercises and on the child's own composition.
Step 1: Read it aloud once, exactly as written
Do not fix anything yet. Read the sentence aloud and mark the spot where your voice stumbles. The ear catches many problems the eye skips. If you want a full routine for this, see the read-aloud method linked below.
Step 2: Find the spine — who did what
Strip the sentence down to 谁 + 做了什么 (or 什么 + 怎么样). Cross out descriptions until only the spine is left. If you cannot find a 'who', the subject is missing; if the spine does not make sense by itself, the problem is inside it.
Step 3: Check five common problems
| Problem | Ask yourself |
|---|---|
| 缺少成分 (missing part) | Is there a 'who'? Are 通过/使/由于 swallowing the subject? |
| 搭配不当 (words that don't go together) | Does each verb fit its object, and each adjective its noun? |
| 顺序不当 (wrong order) | Does the order follow time or logic — find, then correct? |
| 前后矛盾 (contradiction) | Do words like 大概/差不多 clash with 一定/没有一个? |
| 重复啰嗦 (repetition) | Are two words saying the same thing, like 约 and 左右? |
Original worked examples
- 「通过这次活动，使我懂得了团结的重要。」 The 'who' is missing, because 通过…and 使… both push the real subject (我) out of the sentence. One fix: 「通过这次活动，我懂得了团结的重要。」
- 「我们要不断改正并发现自己的缺点。」 The order is reversed — you must find a fault before you can correct it. Fix: 「我们要不断发现并改正自己的缺点。」
- 「全校同学差不多都参加了这次活动，没有一个人缺席。」 'Almost all' and 'nobody absent' disagree. Keep one: 「全校同学都参加了这次活动，没有一个人缺席。」
- 「他是一位年约五十岁左右的老师。」 约 and 左右 say the same thing. Keep one: 「他是一位年约五十岁的老师。」
Notice that each fix changes as little as possible. Rewriting the whole sentence is a different skill; correcting a 病句 means finding the broken link and mending only that. Where a fix could go more than one way, ask the school teacher which they prefer, and confirm word usage in a standard dictionary.
Step 4: Read the corrected sentence aloud again
A fix is finished only when the sentence reads smoothly and still means what the writer meant. If the meaning has changed, the fix has gone too far.
A 10-minute routine
- 3 minutes: the child copies two or three sentences from their own recent writing or exercise corrections.
- 4 minutes: for each, mark the spine, then name which of the five problems (if any) is present — in words, not just by circling.
- 3 minutes: correct with the smallest change, read aloud, and decide whether it is now right.
Keep the sentences in the child's 错题本 with the 'why' line filled in. After a few weeks you will usually see one or two problems dominate; that is where to spend the practice.
What a parent can do without reading Chinese
Ask: 「这句话是谁做了什么？」 and 「哪一部分读起来不顺？」 If the child can point to the spine and the stumble, they are doing the thinking. You do not need to know the answer; you are checking that there is a reason behind it.
Write a short paragraph and check each sentence's spine before you submit it for feedback.
Try composition feedbackCatch problems with your ear. Read next:
Read-Aloud (朗读) Method →Keep what you fix. Read next:
Chinese Mistake Notebook (错题本) →Sources
- Word meanings and usage should be checked against a standard dictionary such as 《现代汉语词典》 or the school's materials.
- The checking routine is the author's own tutoring practice, offered as a suggestion and not a promise of any result.
- All example sentences are original and illustrative.
- This post does not describe any exam format, mark allocation, frequency or prediction; check seab.gov.sg for official information.