Chinese is the official language of China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, and is one of the four official languages of Singapore. About one fifth of the people in the world speak some form of Chinese as their native language. It is a tonal language that is related to Burmese and Tibetan. Although Japanese and Korean use Chinese written characters they are not related to Chinese. Also the unrelated Vietnamese language has borrowed many words from Chinese.
Although the Chinese consider that they only have a single language, there are major regional dialectal differences that would be considered to be separate languages in other parts of the world. In many cases the regional dialects are not clearly regionalised but vary gradually across a region. Thus linguists can identify anywhere between seven and seventeen separate Chinese languages where the speakers of different dialects are mutually unintelligible.
Putonghua (普通话), commonly known in English as Mandarin, is considered the official dialect and is covered by this phrasebook. Putonghua is based on, but not identical to, the Chinese spoken in and around Beijing. However, the Cantonese dialect, for example, is widely spoken, especially in the former British colony of Hong Kong and by the ethnic minorities in other countries. While formally written Mandarin can be read by speakers of both dialects, the spoken languages are, for most purposes, mutually unintelligible and will require translation. Mandarin Chinese is now being uniformly taught in the schools of China.
Pronunciation guide
The pronunciation guide below uses Hanyu pinyin, the official romanization of the People's Republic of China. Until recently, Taiwan used the Wade-Giles system, which is quite different, but has recently officially switched to Tongyong pinyin, which is only slightly different.
Vowels
a
as in father
e
as in the hen
i
as in ping or key; after sh, zh, or r, as in shirr; after s or z, hold the z and make a vowel of it
o
as in saw or sung
u
as in soon; but as ü in ju, qu and xu
ü
as in French lune
Consonants
Chinese stops distinguish aspirated and unaspirated, not voiceless and voiced as in English. So p, t, and k should be pronounced with a puff of air.
b
as in ball or spall
c
as in rats
ch
as in chore
d
as in do or stew
f
as in fun
g
as in gang
h
as in her
j
as in jeer
k
as in king
l
as in lease
m
as in mow
n
as in none
ng
as in sing
p
as in pit
q
as in cheap
r
as in genre or fair
s
as in sag
sh
as in shoot
t
as in tongue
w
as in wing
x
as in sheep
y
as in yet
z
as in red zebra
zh
as in jungle
Exceptions
There are a fairly large number of niggling exceptions to the basic rules above, based on the position of the sound. Some of the more notable ones include:
-ian
as -ien, so 天安門 Tian'anmen is pronounced "Tien'anmen"
wu-
as u-, so 五百 wubai is pronounced "ubai"
yi-
as i-, so 一个 yige is pronounced "ige"
yü-
as ü-
Tones
There are four tones in Mandarin that must be followed for proper pronunciation.
first tone ( ā )
flat, high pitch
second tone ( á )
low to middle, rising
third tone ( ǎ )
middle to low to high, dipping
fourth tone ( à )
high to low, falling
There is also a fifth tone, the neutral tone, which is used rarely, mostly for phrase particles.
Phrase list
All phrases shown in here use the simplified characters used in mainland China and Singapore.
Basics
To be or not to be?
Chinese does not have words for "yes" and "no" as such; instead, questions are typically answered by repeating the verb. Common ones include:
To be or not to be
是 shì, 不是 bú shì
To have or not have / there is or is not
有 yǒu, 没有 méi yǒu
To be right or wrong
对 duì, 不对 bù duì
Hello.
你好。 Nǐ hǎo.
How are you?
你好吗？ Nǐ hǎo ma? 身体好吗? Shenti hao ma?
Fine, thank you.
很好, 谢谢。 Hěn hǎo, xièxiè.
What is your (first) name?
你叫什么名字？ Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
My name is ______ .
我叫 _____ 。 Wǒ jiào ______ .
Nice to meet you.
遇见您很高兴。 Yùjiàn ní hěn gaoxìng.
Please.
请。 Qǐng.
Thank you.
谢谢。 xìexie.
You're welcome.
不客气。 Bú kèqi.
Excuse me. (getting attention)
请问, qǐng wèn/ laojia, qing wèn
Excuse me. (begging pardon)
打擾一下。 Da jiao yi-xia ; 麻烦您一下, Má fan nǐ le.
I'm sorry.
对不起。 Duìbùqǐ.
Goodbye
再见。 Zàijiàn
Goodbye (informal)
拜拜。 Bai-bai (Byebye)
I can't speak Chinese.
我不会说汉语。 Wǒ bú hùi shūo hànyǔ.
Do you speak English?
你会说英语吗？ Nǐ hùi shūo yīngyǔ ma?
Is there someone here who speaks English?
这里有人会说英语吗？ Zheli you ren hui shuo Yingyu ma?
Help!
救命 jìu mìng
Good morning.
早上好。 Zǎoshàng hǎo.
Good evening.
晚上好。 Wǎnshàng hǎo.
Good night.
晚安。 Wǎn ān.
I don't understand.
我听不懂。 Wo ting bu dong.
Where is the toilet?
厕所在哪里？ Césǔo zài nǎli?
Problems
Leave me alone.
不要打擾我。 (búyào dǎrǎo wǒ)
Don't touch me!
不要碰我！ (búyào pèng wǒ!)
I'll call the police.
我要叫警察了。 (wǒ yào jiào jǐngchá le)
Police!
警察！ (jǐngchá!)
Stop! Thief!
停止！小偷！ (tíngzhǐ! xiǎotōu!)
I need your help.
我需要你的幫助。 (wǒ xūyào nǐde bāngzhù)
It's an emergency.
這是緊急情況。 (zhèshì jǐnjí qíngkuàng)
I'm lost.
我迷路了。 (wǒ mílù le)
I lost my bag.
我丟了手提包。 (wǒ diūle shǒutíbāo)
I lost my wallet.
我丟了錢包。 (wǒ diūle qiánbāo)
I'm sick.
我生病了。 (wǒ shēngbìng le)
I've been injured.
我受傷了。 (wǒ shòushāng le)
I need a doctor.
我需要醫生。 (wǒ xūyào yīshēng)
Can I use your phone?
我可以打個電話嗎？ (wǒ kěyǐ dǎ ge diànhuà ma?)
Numbers
Chinese numbers are very regular. While Arabic (Western) numerals have become more common, the Chinese numerals shown below are still used, particularly in informal contexts like markets.
0 〇, 零
líng
1 一
yī
2 二
èr
3 三
sān
4 四
sì
5 五
wǔ
6 六
lìu
7 七
qī
8 八
bā
9 九
jǐu
10 十
shí
11 十一
shí-yī
12 十二
shí-èr
13 十三
shí-sān
14 十四
shí-sì
15 十五
shí-wǔ
16 十六
shí-lìu
17 十七
shí-qī
18 十八
shí-bā
19 十九
shí-jǐu
20 二十
èr-shí
21 二十一
èr-shí-yī
22 二十二
èr-shí-èr
23 二十三
èr-shí-sān
30 三十
sān-shí
40 四十
sì-shí
50 五十
wǔ-shí
60 六十
lìu-shí
70 七十
qī-shí
80 八十
bā-shí
90 九十
jǐu-shí
For numbers above 100, any "gaps" must be filled in with 〇 líng, as eg. 一百一 yībǎiyī would otherwise be taken as shorthand for "110". A single unit of tens may be written and pronounced either 一十 yīshí or just 十 shí.
100 一百
yī-bǎi
101 一百〇一
yī-bǎi-líng-yī
110 一百一十
yī-bǎi-yī-shí
111 一百一十一
yī-bǎi-yī-shí-yī
200 二百
èr-bǎi
300 三百
sān-bǎi
500 五百
wǔ-bǎi
1000 一千
yī-qiān
2000 二千
èr-qiān
Numbers above 10,000 are grouped by in units of four digits, starting with 万 wàn (ten thousand). "One million" in Chinese is thus "hundred tenthousands" (一百万).
10,000 一万
yī-wàn
10,001 一万〇一
yī-wàn-líng-yī
10,002 一万〇二
yī-wàn-líng-èr
20,000 二万
èr-wàn
50,000 五万
wǔ-wàn
100,000 十万
shí-wàn
200,0000 二十万
èr-shí-wàn
1,000,000 一百万
yī-bǎi-wàn
10,000,000 一亿
yi1yi4
number _____ (train, bus, etc.)
number measure word (lu4 or hao4 etc.) _____ (huo3 che1, gong1 gong4 qi4 chi1, etc. Measure words are used in combination with a number to indicate the count of mass nouns. Check out here for more details.)
half
半 bàn (...)
less
少於 shao3yu1 (...)
more
多於 duo1yu1 (...)
Time
now
现在 xiànzài
later
以后， yǐhòu or shāohòu
before
以前, yǐqián
morning
早上, zǎoshàng
afternoon
下午, xiàwǔ
night
晚上, wǎnshàng
Clock time
What time is it?
现在几点？ Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?
It is nine in the morning.
早上9点钟。 Zǎoshàng jǐu diǎn zhōng.
Three-thirty PM.
下午3点半. Xiàwǔ sān diǎn bàn.
Duration
_____ minute(s)
_____ 分钟 fēnzhōng
_____ hour(s)
_____ 小时 xiǎoshí
_____ day(s)
_____ 天 tiān
_____ week(s)
_____ 星期 xīngqī
_____ month(s)
_____ 月 yùe
_____ year(s)
_____ 年 nián
Days
today
今天 jīntiān
yesterday
昨天 zuótiān
tomorrow
明天 míngtiān
this week
这个星期 zhège xīngqī
last week
上个星期 shàngge xīngqī
next week
下个星期 xiàge xīngqī
Weekdays in Chinese are easy: starting with 1 for Monday, just add the number after 星期 xīngqī.
Sunday
星期天 xīngqītiān or xing1 qi1 ri4 or xing1 qi1 qi1
Monday
星期一 xīngqīyī
Tuesday
星期二 xīngqīèr
Wednesday
星期三 xīngqīsān
Thursday
星期四 xīngqīsì
Friday
星期五 xīngqīwǔ
Saturday
星期六 xīngqīlìu
Months
Months in Chinese are also easy: starting with 1 for January, just add the number after 月 yùe.
January
一月, yī yùe
February
二月, èr yùe
March
三月, sān yùe
April
四月, sì yùe
May
五月, wŭ yùe
June
六月, liù yùe
July
七月, qī yùe
August
八月, bā yùe
September
九月, jiŭ yùe
October
十月, shí yùe
November
十一月, shí yī yùe
December
十二月, shí èr yùe
Tips: From January to December, you just need to use this pattern: number (1-12) + yùe
Writing Time and Date
Colors
black
黑色 hei se
white
白色 bai se
gray
灰色 hui se
red
红色 hong se
blue
蓝色 lan se
yellow
黄色 huang se
green
绿色 lǜ sè
orange
橙色 cheng se
purple
紫色 zi se
brown
褐色 he se, 棕色 zōng sè
Do you have it in another color?
你们有没有另外颜色? nǐmen yǒu méiyǒu lìngwài yánsè ?
Tips: Se4 means 'color', therefore, 'hong2 se4' is 'red color'(literally).
Zhongwen.com: Chinese to English dictionary and other resources presented in English; searchable by English meanings; Chinese text displayed as graphics (i.e. does not require any Chinese font).
mandarin123.com: Practice Chinese vocabularies with flash card, match game and mini-quizzes.
Chinese-tools.com: Learn Chinese Online, Free Mandarin lessons + many tools and dictionaries.
China West Exchange: Free Cantonese and Mandarin lessons and a discussion board.
Chinese to English Dictionary: searchable by English meanings; Chinese text in Big5 code (i.e. requires Chinese font).
