Please could someone try to explain to me in english please the grammer behind why this is wrong- 我没有自信用中文and this is right?我用中文没有自信 == in my humble opinion,both of the two are right ,but they apply to different meanings. 我沒有自信用中文：I dont have confidence to use chinese (the same as you said） 我用中文沒有自信：strictly speaking，this sentence only appears in oral ，it literally means “i use chinese but i don't have confidence”。you may seperate the sentence in half to make it easier for understanding as well like“我用中文，（但是我）沒有自信。” pls notice the words in the brackets that originally omit from the senstence. sentence like this （我用中文没有自信）is probably going to be sentenced to death in an exam i guess cos it's grammarly wrong。~~(╯﹏╰)b 我不用中文沒有自信：it's also better to put a“，”to make the sentence in half.我不用中文，（因为我）沒有自信。i don't use chinese because i don't have confidence.it's correct just as what you wrote above。 hope it helps

When you speak Chinese you have to let go of your English thought system/structure. Both sentences are fine but can be interchanged depending on which part of your sentence you want to stand out (i.e. stress) If you always refer to English grammar when speaking Chinese, you'll be using English-Chinese (the opposite of Chinglish)

First of all, both are right. Secondly, they just have the different meaning. 1.我没有自信用中文=I dont have confidence to use chinese . That means, you don't have confidence, so u won't use Chinese. In Chinese , you can say : 因为我没有自信， 所以我不用中文。or 我没有自信（去）用中文。去=to 用中文 is qualified by 没有自信. 2.我用中文没有自信=I use Chinese without confidence. That means, you do use Chinese sometimes, but you don't have confidence when you are using it. In Chinese , you can say : 我用中文，但是我没有自信。 Both 用中文 and 没有自信 are predicates. I hope it will be helpful to you.

well, as i native chinese speaker, i am not good at explaining grammar, but i will try to answer this question, for it is quite interesting. um...firstly, i dont think that language can be translated word by word, and thats the right reason why we have to learn grammar . secondly, i will say there is no "to do" in chinese, it is simply the same as "do". maybe you can just remember it as one difference from english. dont think my answer will help... btw, i always say something like "我没自信用中文" ...so it is not wrong to me...

sometimes Chinese is like English, for example, in english,i go to hospital by bike= i ride a bike to go to hospital,it's the same meanin,right...many expressions.....like ur question.maybe something that confused u is a kind of habit to use words between two countries..honestly,in starderd Chinese the first Chinese sentence that u mentioned is completely correct including grammer,. the second is not really right,just one 's habit or manner to use language and express things..whatever it right or wrong.. but u know ,if u say any of the two sentences in China i believe anyone can understand what u mean. it's normal,Chinese people also say some mistakes,but sometimes it has formed a habit,so someone like to speak like that,and others like that, for example, in Chinese.someone say:你去哪=你哪去 or 咱们就住在这里吧，someone like to say：咱们住在这里吧，就。。。ect，hehe, a little funny, seems like hyperbaton..................there are many examples if u r deeply into the language.but one thing u should know,the first one is standard ,Chinese beginers should learn the standard Chinese first. that is ,the sentence that u see most of time... then use it fluently no matter what expression(but in my opinion, you'd better use the correct sentences since u know how to say it correctly).