The common structure of Chinese declarative sentences is 'subject＋predicate＋object'. The subject indicates who or what, the predicate indicates the action or state, and the object indicates the object involved in the action. This structure determines the sentence's basic word order.

The subject can be a noun, pronoun, noun phrase, or a modifier-containing component. Chinese often uses an explicit subject; sometimes the subject is omitted depending on context, but complete sentences prefer to make the subject clear. Once the subject is determined, the sentence's proposition becomes clear.

Predicates can be verbs, adjectives, or verb phrases. Verb predicates express actions or changes, adjective predicates express properties or states. The predicate determines the main information category of the sentence.

The object is usually a noun or noun phrase, placed after the verb. The verb determines whether an object is required; some verbs can take an object, and some verbs are used alone. Choosing the right object makes the sentence information complete.

Chinese can use 'subject + adjective' to directly state, indicating a state or property. It commonly uses '很' as a degree adverb to avoid implying comparison. This expression is concise and suitable for describing attributes.

Time words are often placed after the subject, before the predicate, and can also be placed at the sentence start as a time frame. Choosing the right position can make time information clear; expressions are flexible but follow conventions.

Chinese commonly uses '不' to negate general actions or states, and '没' to negate past events and possession. The negation word typically goes before the predicate, forming the structure 'subject + negation + predicate'.

Declarative sentences can be turned into questions by adding question words or changing the intonation, but the basic word order remains the same. It is common to add 'ma' at the end to form a general question; the word order remains S–V–O. Question formation relies on form changes rather than major structural changes.

Chinese declarative sentences emphasize 'who＋does what＋to whom' (subject first, predicate middle, object last). Modifiers generally stay close to the thing they modify, avoiding interruption of the main structure. Maintaining the basic word order helps express clearly.

Chinese can front the topic, placing the topic at the start of the sentence, followed by a 'subject＋predicate' statement. A common structure is 'topic＋,＋comment', making information order more aligned with expression needs. This usage is common in both spoken and written language.