Carbohydrates are readily biodegradable substrates, though accounting only for 10%~20% of soil organic matter (SOM), they are considered as an important indicator in the research of SOM and soil properties. Soil carbohydrates, including monosaccharides, disaccharides, polysaccharides and sugar derivatives, are essential components of and energy sources for microorganisms in soil. Polysaccharides are also important binding material for the formation of soil aggregates. Neutral sugar is commonly used to evaluate stability of SOM, while the amino sugar is used to predict C source from microorganisms in SOM. The processes of absorption and conversion of carbohydrates were related to structure of soil microbial community and biomass of soil microorganisms. Monosaccharides and disaccharides are generally assimilated by bacteria firstly, while polysaccharides are hydrolyzed into simple sugars by fungi. Decomposition of SOM is closely related to distribution of carbohydrates in soil fractions as well as their combination with mineral particles. The turnover of SOM, which including microbial, chemical and physical processes, is very complicated, however, all these processes can be boiled down to the dynamical process of carbohydrates partly. The accumulation of carbohydrates in soil is also affected by soil microorganisms, and fungi and G bacteria are much more conducive to the accumulation of carbohydrates. The effects of soil tillage and fertilization on carbohydrates depend on the content of SOM. This paper reviewed the factors that affect the distribution and transformation of carbohydrates and pointed out future direction of the research on soil carbohydrates.