It finally is time to test all the hard work made the last year mastering Mandarin Chinese! There is a little more than one month left for my proficiency test. Thus I will start posting my daily progress reviewing the vocabulary and key grammatical features that I have to master for July 13th challenge.
The learning material of this series can be found in the HSK4 textbook (汉语水平考试四级课本)。
The adverb 挺 has a similar meaning than 很 (rather, quite), it is usually found in the structure 廷......的。
例如：我听喜欢中国菜的，最喜欢的一个就是甜烤猪肉。
The adverb 本来 indicates that something occurs naturally, without effort, according to its nature. It also indicates that something is in a certain manner from the beginning.
例如：我本来认为中文很难，但学习中文快两年了，现在我相信中文很有意思。
The pronoun 另外 indicates the person(s) or thing(s) other than those who were mentioned before. It usually is used with the structure "另外 (+的) + Numeral-Measure word (+Noun)" or "另外 +的 (Noun)。
另外 can also be used as an adverb to express that the current statement is beyond the scope previously mentioned, it is often used with 再/又/还.
Also, 另外 is used as a conjuction to connect clauses or sentences. In such usage, it expresses "in addition" or "besides".
例如：这个问题特别难，我应该想 另外办法解决呢。除了我开始学习化学的时候遇到的问题，我从来另外再遇到这么多热点问题。另外，如果这些问题不是难的，所以我没有这么感兴趣。
The pronouns 首先 and 其次· are used together in writen Chinese to indicate a sequence of enumerated events.
例如：首先，我要提高语法和发音，其次要更多学会汉字。
The conjunction 不管 indicates that a conclusion or a result won't change under any assumed circumstances, it is often used alongside interrogative pronouns (those interrogative pronouns indicates a general scope while speaking) such as 什么，怎么，谁，哪儿。It's often collocated with 还是 or an affirmative-negative phrase, followed with a clause with 都 or other words.
例如：不管累不累，我每天都必须学习好汉语。
The adverb 以为 indicates that the speaker thoght goes against the fact.
例如：我以为每个人告诉了我汉语难极了，从开始学习中文后，我相信汉语不仅很有意思，也让我得到非常快乐的时期。
原来 can be used as a noun to mean "the beginning, the past", when used in such fashion, it indicates that the following statement in the clause is different from how it was in the past.
原来 can be used as an adjctive to mean "originally, unaltered". It cannot be used alone as the predicate, when it modifies a noun 的 should be used after it.
原来 can also be used as an adverb to indicate a certain period in the past, meaning something/somebody has changed since that time.
The adverb 原来 can also indicate the discovery of a formerly unknown situation. It can be placed both before and after the subject
原来 has a lot of similarities with 本来, for example, both of them can be used as adjectives meaning original, unaltered. Also, both can be used as adverbs indicating that the situation in the past is different from that at present. But one major difference is that when 原来 is used as an adverb it indicates a formerly unknown situation has been found out; when 本来 is used as an adverb, it indicates that something should have been in some way.
例如：原来同学聚会的地方是你哥哥的家，但是他刚才给我打个电话告诉了我王经理请他加班。
The preposition 按照 emphasizes a salient case or example.
例如：按照经验，这个问题应该可以快解决，请他家放心。
The conjuction 甚至 emphasizes a salient case or example. It can be put before the last one of the coordinates nouns, verbs or nouns to stress this item.
例如：很多时候，我们不得不做一些自己不愿意甚至是非常不喜欢的工作。
The conjunction 不仅 is used in the first clause of a sentence, often followed by 而/还/而且 in the second clause, indicating a further meaning in addition to what has been said in the first clause. 不仅 is written after the subject if the two clauses share the same subject and are written before the subject when the first and second clause has different subjects.
例如：她不仅每天努力工作，而且对她说话的人总是很善良。
The adverb 从来 indicates that something has remained unaltered from the initial point to the present, it is often used in negative sentences.
例如：从来他不喜欢晚睡觉。
The adverb 刚 indicates that an action took place not long ago, it is used after the subject and before the verb.
There is a similar structure (刚才) and it is necessary to emphasize their similarities and differences: 刚 can only be used after the subject and before the verb since it is an adverb; 刚才 is a temporal noun and it can be placed either before or after the subject. 刚 can be preceded by a temporal noun or can be followed by a word of duration; 刚才 cannot. 刚 cannot be used alongside with a negative word while 刚才 can.
例如：你阿姨刚才出去商店麦写东西。
The conjunction 即使 is used in the first clause of a sentence coordinating with 也 in the second clause. It indicates a hypothetical concession or something that has already happened or been in existence.
例如：每天早上都你要练习语法和发音，还即使只十几个汉字你也要学会些生词。
The noun locality 上 is used after another noun to indicate "the surface of an object" or "within a certain scope regarding certain aspect".
例如：桌子上的饮料是我在回家的路上买的。
正好 can be used as an adjective to mean "just right", indicating a certain condition (in terms of location, time, position, size, quantity or degree) is met.
正好 can also be used as an adverb to mean that "it is the right time or opportunity to do something".
例如：非常感谢你，你正好来了，突然我眼镜找不到，麻烦你帮助我一下。
差不多 can be used as an adjective to mean "approximate" and "without much difference".
差不多 can also be used as an adverb to indicate being close in terms of degree, scope, time, distance or quantity.
There is another similar structure (几乎), let's see their differences: 差不多 can be used right before a monosyllabic adjective, while before or after 几乎 there must be other words. 差不多 can proceed numeral-classifier compound to express proximity to a quantity, 几乎 has not such usage. 差不多 can also be used as an adjective to serve as the predicate, in such a case it indicates being similar and without much difference. 几乎 can is often used when something undesirable almost happened, yet finally it didn't; 差不多 cannot be used in this way.
例如：这件事你几乎忘了，那你马上再给他发一条短信。
The conjunction 尽管 is often used in the first clause of a sentence to state a fact, it is usually preceded by one of the following coordinating words 但是，可是，却，还是 in the second clause which introduce a result that won't occur under normal circumstances.
例如：尽管不认真的人很多，我还是相信每个人能够成为对社会有用的人。
The adverb 却 is often used to indicacte a transition in meaning in a softer tone.
例如：虽然每天都你忙努力工作，你却应该锻炼身体。
The conjuction 而 can be used to connect two coordinating clauses. It can also be used to indicate an adversative relation.
例如：我认为最重要的事就是尊重和与被尊重而理解和被理解。
