If I tell you that the basic Chinese sentence order is Subject + Time + location + predicate, that's an example of grammar. If Chinese didn't have grammar, no one would ever need to correct you. It is absolutely not true that Chinese doesn't have grammar. There is a class on youtube, taught at a university in Taiwan, which proves that Chinese has grammar. And just because the average person doesn't know it or study it, does not mean, it does not exist. As far as the best way to study it, there are about 330 sentence patterns in Chinese. Things like 是。。。的， subject+把+object+predicate，some place 有 some thing。。。these patterns are short but they do exist ...they might be easier to learn then 10,000 sentences ...

The simple answer is just learn how Chinese people say these things. You need to know how they express certain things in Chinese. If you get it wrong, people just stare at you blankly. It's not even just like nuances that people don't get, people really don't have the faintest idea of what you want to say. I was out with a bunch of Chinese people and I wanted to say "pandas can't really be pets". Not knowing how to say this, I kept quiet. The girl next to me said 啊...熊貓沒辦法當寵物. Now that is a sentence that would NEVER have crossed my mind. You have you just accept that it's said like that and say it that way yourself. It takes a lot of time, a lot of reading, and a lot of exposure. Chinese grammar, on a basic level, works like this: Subject Time Place With ___ Verb Duration OR Time Subject Place With ___ Verb Duration 例句：我昨天在大學的圖書館跟朋友學了兩個小時的中文。 例句：昨天我在大學的圖書館跟朋友學了兩個小時的中文。 There are many patterns in Chinese. To get the hang of patterns, you need to read A LOT. Patterns, like 大偉 said, are structures like 把、因爲___所以、是___的、衹有___就才（能，可以）、衹要___才、不但/不僅___而且/還有、（衹不過）___罷了/而已、得、一點都/也、極了、死了 - you simply have to get used to how they work. I recommend you write a few hundred sentences to get the hang of these. Let's take 得 as as example: 你中文説得好。You speak Chinese well 他説得特別慢！He spoke particularly slowly 因爲他有點緊張，所以説得結結巴巴。He stuttered badly because he was a bit nervous 先生，對不起，你説得太快了。Sir, I'm sorry, you are speaking too quickly 今天冷得誰都不想出去！It's so cold today that nobody wants to go out(side) I hope this helps.

In my humble opinion, there is no Chinese grammar, not in the sense that English or French has formal and rigid grammatical rules. The best way to learn to write (and speak) good native Chinese is fivefold: 1. Follow a good Chinese course which forbids the use of English, taught by qualified native speakers. 2. Faithfully follow the official HSK syllabus, using standard textbooks. 3. Read a lot of Chinese texts of all kinds - news, leisure, fashion, health, food. 4. Make a lot of native speaker friends and spend time with them. 5. Write a lot (phone texts, Whatsapp, wechat, short essays) and let your Chinese friends correct you. Finally, if time and money permit, spend a year in Beijing at a university on a full time Chinese course.

中国人是学会了中文，近三十年来，有老外问他，回头看，才套用英语文法勉强把所谓中文文法凑拼出来的。千百年来根本中国就没有这么一回事，没有人这样学中文的，没有什么主语宾语的。 中文有它本身的行文和说话的习惯和语感，但并不是像英语一样必需依从铁打的规矩，好像insist必须用on, on 之后必须用participle, 不能用infinitive, 但可用noun, 不过noun 之前必须有article 或者是 posessive prounoun, 不能用 a bare noun, 除非那个noun是极为抽象的宏观状态。说了这么一大堆，原来是: ○ She insisted on coming to the party. ○ The hotel guest insisted on a clean bed sheet every three hours. ○ The headmaster insisted on his participation. ○ Hitler insisted on war and not peace. 不管你住在哪个国家，要学好中文，就要沉浸在中文的环境里，电脑视窗和软件要改为用中文的，只交中国朋友，除了生活必需外(上班、或者上其他语言的课)， 余下的时间只接触中文，包括看新闻、看书、看电影、看视频。Laurence住在伦敦，绝对可以做到，伦敦可多中国人呢。Learner SC住在香港，更容易了，从社交生活到打的到买手纸，都可以全盘普通话化。 真正的中文"文法"，核心就是国民习惯和语感，用法和对错都很有弹性的，这给了中文它的活力与精彩，那么，我们应该拥抱这种精彩，而不是把它委屈在英式文法的牢笼里! 否则就变得不伦不类，不再是中文来的了。"她有着长长的秀发"，这就是英语式现代汉语，中文是这样的: "她秀发长长"，中文根本没有"有着"这个用法的。 Grammar不是什么东西，有未必佳，不用争着说: "我们也有啊! 肯定有!"，这不是菜市场，不用喊"她有得卖的，我也有! "

This is quite an interesting question and answer. I met a linguistics graduate last week who said exactly the same thing as Ben commented on, she said "you have to let go and empty your mind of the old rules". For example, it was difficult with 把字句 (I am told many English speakers have the same issue) but after playing around with it, asking different people, doing some exercises and variations, it is getting there. Trouble is, I had never been previously concious of it during listening or reading so it initially felt like a new concept. I wish I could go and study Mandarin full time for a period of time and immerse myself but that is not going to happen. :-)