The 'He' (和) Mistake: Stop Using It Like 'And'

The "He" (和) Mistake: Why You Can't Link Sentences With "And"

You look up "and" in the dictionary. You find 和 (hé). You assume they are the same. They are not.

In English, "and" is a universal connector. It glues nouns, verbs, adjectives, and entire sentences together. In Mandarin, 和 is extremely picky. It has one job: connecting nouns.

If you try to link actions or complete sentences with it, your Chinese will sound broken. It is the grammatical equivalent of a robot malfunction.

Here is how to stop overusing 和 and how to actually connect your thoughts like a native speaker.

The Nouns-Only Rule

Technically, 和 acts more like the mathematical "plus" sign (+) or the preposition "with."

You can say "Apple + Banana." You cannot say "I eat + I sleep."

If you are listing objects or people, go ahead and use it.

我要一杯咖啡和两个鸡蛋。

(Wǒ yào yībēi kāfēi hé liǎng gè jīdàn.)

I want a cup of coffee and two eggs.

Regional Note: In Mainland China, this is pronounced hé. In Taiwan, the standard pronunciation is hàn. Both are written as 和.

Alternatives for "And" (Nouns): In spoken Chinese, people often swap 和 for 跟 (gēn). It feels slightly more casual but works exactly the same way for nouns.

Solution 1: The "Comma Splice" (Zero Conjunction)

This is the hardest habit for English speakers to break because it feels wrong. In English, run-on sentences are bad grammar. In Chinese, they are the standard.

If you want to say, "I went to the store and bought a beer," you do not need a word for "and." The context connects the actions. You simply list them.

我去商店，买了啤酒。

(Wǒ qù shāngdiàn, mǎile píjiǔ.)

I went to the store, (and) bought beer.

This is often called the "Zero Conjunction" strategy. It makes your speech flow faster and sounds much more natural than forcing a connector where it doesn't belong. If you are just getting started with Chinese, getting comfortable with this "comma splicing" will immediately improve your rhythm.

Solution 2: Sequencing with Then (Ranhou)

If you strictly need to emphasize that one action happened after another, or if you feel the pause between sentences is too long, do not use 和. Use 然后 (rán hòu).

This translates to "and then" or "afterwards."

• Speaker A: 你早上做什么了？ (Nǐ zǎoshang zuò shénme le?) - What did you do this morning?
• Speaker B: 我先刷牙，然后洗脸。 (Wǒ xiān shuāyá, ránhòu xǐliǎn.) - I brushed my teeth first, then washed my face.

Solution 3: The "Double Adjective" Trap

You cannot say "She is smart and beautiful" using 和.

When someone or something possesses two qualities simultaneously, we use the 又...又... (yòu... yòu...) structure.

这个手机又贵又难用。

(Zhège shǒujī yòu guì yòu nán yòng.)

This phone is (both) expensive and hard to use.

Think of this structure as "simultaneously X and Y." It works for adjectives and sometimes verbs, but never nouns.

Solution 4: "Also" is the New "And"

Sometimes you want to link two independent ideas that aren't necessarily a sequence. Example: "I like him, and he likes me."

In Chinese logic, you are saying: "I like him, also he likes me."

You should use 也 (yě).

我喜欢他，他也喜欢我。

(Wǒ xǐhuān tā, tā yě xǐhuān wǒ.)

I like him, (and) he also likes me.

Grammar Rule: 也 must appear after the subject and before the verb. You generally cannot start a new sentence with it.

Quick Recap

If you are ever tempted to use 和, stop and ask what you are connecting.