Communicate in Chinese (Mandarin) for a chosen purpose
This domain asks you to produce a Chinese text for a stated purpose and audience: an invitation, email, notice, short article, speech or blog post. Marks come from communicating the message, using the right format and controlling language, not from length.
Core rules and concepts
- Identify purpose (invite, inform, persuade, thank), audience (friend, teacher, host family) and format (email, notice, postcard).
- Format conventions: 你好 to greet; 亲爱的… for a friendly letter; 此致/敬礼 only in formal letters; date order 年→月→日; sign off with 再见 or 你的朋友.
- Sentence order: subject + time + place + verb + object. 我明天在学校打篮球。
- Link ideas with 因为…所以…, 但是, 然后, 先…再…, 虽然…可是….
- Use measure words after numbers: 个, 本, 张, 只, 部, 杯, 件.
- Register: 你 with friends, 您 with adults; 请 for requests.
Worked example
Task: invite a Chinese friend to your birthday dinner by email. Reasoning: state the purpose early, give time and place in the correct order, then ask for a reply. Draft: 你好，小明！这个星期六是我的生日。我想请你来我家吃晚饭。晚饭六点开始。我家在学校旁边。你能来吗？请给我打电话。再见！你的朋友，安娜。 Why it works: the purpose appears in the second sentence, time and place precede the main verb, 你能来吗 invites a response, and the sign-off matches a friendly email. No English idiom is translated word for word.
Traps that cost marks
- Writing 我喜欢很 instead of 我很喜欢: adverbs go before the verb.
- Dropping the measure word after a number.
- Putting time after the verb instead of before it.
- Using 您 with a close friend, or 你 with a teacher in a formal notice.
- Emptying a dictionary into the text and losing the stated purpose.