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A1 Beginner Sentence Structure

How to Say “Also” / “Too” with 也 (yě)

也 (yě) means “also” or “too” — and it always sits before the verb, never at the end like English. The same 也 covers “either” in negatives.

Why this trips learners up

“I like it too.” In English, “too” sits comfortably at the end of the sentence — so when you learn that 也 (yě) means “also” or “too” in Chinese, that's exactly where you want to put it: 我喜欢也. It feels natural, and it's completely wrong.

也 is an adverb, and Chinese adverbs go after the subject and before the verb: 我也喜欢. Two things follow. In negatives, English switches “too” to “either”, but Chinese just keeps 也 (before the 不 or 没): 我也不喜欢 = “I don't like it either”. And “me too” can't be a bare 我也 — 也 can never end a sentence — so you say 我也是.

The structure

Subject 也 yě Verb
Colour key

Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.

Pattern Subject Verb Object Negation Adverb Function word Adjective Question

Examples in context

Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.

Tap a word to see its grammatical role.

wǒ 我 Subject yě 也 Pattern yào 要 Verb yì bēi 一杯 Object

I'll have one too.

zhè jiā 这家 Subject yě 也 Pattern hěn 很 Adverb piányi 便宜 Adjective

This place is cheap too.

wǒ 我 Subject yě 也 Pattern shì 是 Verb

Me too. / Same here.

tā 他 Subject yě 也 Pattern bú 不 Negation huì 会 Function word kāichē 开车 Verb

He can't drive either.

nǐ 你 Subject yě 也 Pattern xiǎng 想 Function word shìshi 试试 Verb ma 吗 Question

Do you want to give it a try too?

tāmen 他们 Subject yě 也 Pattern dōu 都 Adverb tóngyì 同意 Verb le 了 Function word

They've all agreed too.

Common mistakes

Avoid: 我喜欢也。 wǒ xǐhuan yě.
Say this: 我也喜欢。 wǒ yě xǐhuan.

Why it happens: English lets “too” trail at the end, so 我喜欢也 feels right — but 也 is an adverb and must come before the verb: 我也喜欢. 也 at the end of a sentence is never correct.

Avoid: 我也。 wǒ yě.
Say this: 我也是。 wǒ yě shì.

Why it happens: “Me too” tempts a bare 我也 — but 也 can't be left hanging; something must follow it. The fix is 我也是 (“I am too”), where 是 stands in for whatever was just said.

Avoid: 我不也喜欢。 wǒ bù yě xǐhuan.
Say this: 我也不喜欢。 wǒ yě bù xǐhuan.

Why it happens: In a negative, 也 still comes first — before 不 or 没, not after. “I don't like it either” is 我也不喜欢 (also → not → like), never 我不也喜欢.

Compare & contrast

Positive — “too”Negative — “either”The difference
我也想去。wǒ yě xiǎng qù.我也不想去。wǒ yě bù xiǎng qù.English flips “too” to “either” for the negative. Chinese keeps 也 in both — just place it before 不.
她也有。tā yě yǒu.她也没有。tā yě méiyǒu.Same word 也 whether she has one (有) or doesn't (没有). English needs two words; Chinese needs one.
Rule of thumbWhere English switches “too” ↔ “either”, Chinese uses one word — 也 — for both. Keep it after the subject and before the verb, and before any 不/没.

Try it yourself

Say “I don't want to go either” — tap the words into the right order.

Related patterns

都How to Say “All” & “Both” with 都 (dōu)

也都 — when “also” meets “all”, 也 goes first.

 和How to Say “And” with 和 (hé)

和 joins nouns; 也 adds “too” — two different kinds of “and”.

 不Negating with 不 (bù): “Don't” & “Isn't”

也不 — “not either” keeps 也 in front of 不.

 没有How to Say “Don't Have” (没有)

也没有 — “doesn't have it either”.

 我吃饭How to Build a Basic Chinese Sentence

也 is one of the adverbs that breaks the English order — it sits before the verb.
Quick reference card
Merry Mandarin How to Say “Also” / “Too” with 也 (yě) grammar.merrymandarin.com

A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.

Structure
Subject + 也 + Verb
Example
我也要一杯
I'll have one too.
Watch out
✗ 我喜欢也。  →  ✓ 我也喜欢。