也
Use 也 when you want to add something to a previous statement — 'also,' 'too,' 'as well.' It is one of the most common adverbs in Chinese and shows up the moment you have two parallel facts: I am Chinese; she is also Chinese. The English 'also' floats around the sentence, but 也 has exactly one home: right before the verb. Master that placement and you have the pattern.
Structure
[SUBJECT] 也 + [VERB / VERB PHRASE]
... yě ...
How to Think About It
也 attaches to the VERB, never to the noun. English speakers say 'I also like it' or 'me too' — both feel natural. Chinese always routes 也 to the same slot: subject, then 也, then verb. 'Also I' (也我) is ungrammatical. The reason is that 也 is an adverb in the strictest sense — it modifies the predicate, not the topic. Once you internalize 'subject + 也 + verb,' the whole pattern becomes automatic.
Examples
我是学生，他也是学生。
wǒ shì xuésheng, tā yě shì xuésheng.
I'm a student; he's a student too.
她喜欢跑步，我也喜欢跑步。
tā xǐhuān pǎobù, wǒ yě xǐhuān pǎobù.
She likes running, and I like running too.
今天很冷，明天也很冷。
jīntiān hěn lěng, míngtiān yě hěn lěng.
It's cold today, and it'll also be cold tomorrow.
Common Mistake
Learners place 也 before the subject to mirror English 'also I went.' In Chinese, 也 must sit between the subject and the verb. Putting it at the front sounds like a fragment.
也我喜欢中国菜。
我也喜欢中国菜。
Don't Confuse With
还
还 means 'in addition' and adds MORE items to the same subject (我喜欢茶，还喜欢咖啡). 也 adds a PARALLEL subject doing the same thing (他喜欢茶，我也喜欢).
都
都 means 'all/both,' grouping multiple subjects under one predicate (我们都去). 也 chains two separate statements; 都 collapses them into one.
也是
Just 也 in front of 是 — 'is also.' Same placement rule. Use 也是 specifically when the verb is 是 (他是学生，我也是学生).
Practice
Fill the blank: 我是中国人，他____是中国人。
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也
Fill the blank: 她喜欢音乐，我也____音乐。
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喜欢
Arrange: 喜欢 / 茶 / 我 / 也
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我也喜欢茶。
Translate to Chinese: He is tired, and I am also tired.
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他累了，我也累了。
Write a sentence using 也 to add a parallel fact.
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我妈妈是医生，我爸爸也是医生。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode: