Mandarin Page One Go all the way through the pages, don t worry about the tones for now. Learn what seems useful or memorable. The initial and final sounds plus special cases result in 411 possible words. * Use the first link at the end to hear all 411 pinyin words. Initials and Finals are like: Two syllables, aproximately 98% of characters have. Note: Over 90 percent of words have exactly two Chinese Characters. Simultaneously, while you get the hang of a few Chinese words studying pinyin, try this very useful Icebreaker level vocab. Initials: The 21possible initial sounds: b, c, ch, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, sh, t, x, z, zh Finals: 6 simple finals : a, e, i, o, u, ü 13 compound finals : ai, ao, ei, ia, iao, ie, iou, ou, ua, uai, üe, uei, uo 16 nasal finals : 8 front nasals: an, en, ian, in, uan, üan, uen, ün 8 back nasals : ang, eng, iang, ing, iong, ong, uang, ueng Additional : 5 special cases: er, hm, hng, ng, ~r Zhong Guo - China Mei Guo - America Jiao Zi - Dumplings Bang - Great Zhong Wen Chinese (language) Mei Guo Ren - American (person)
Hao - Good Bu Ke Qi - You re welcome Bu Hao - Not good Hao Hao Xue XI - Good Good Study Xie Xie - Thank You Tian Tian Xiang Shang - Day Day Up - 好好学习天天向上 Xi Huan - To like hao hao xue xi tian tian xiang shang Jue de - To feel Bu Hao Yi Si - Excuse me, Sorry Shen Me - What - 不好意思 Zen Me Yang - How s it like Wo shi de - I m (x country) of Ex. 我是美国的 - I am beautiful country of You - Have Ex. Wo shi mei guo de - I m American Hen - Very Dui - Right, Correct Xian Zai Ji Dian - What time is it? - 现在几点? Zuo - Do
Numbers and Time, Time 17 Shi qi 十七 1 Yi 一 20 Er shi 二十 2 Er 二 30 San shi 三十 3 San 三 42 Si shi er 四十二 4 Si 四 55 Wu shi wu 五十五 5 Wu 五 60 Liu shi 六十 6 Liu 六 100 Yi bai 一百 7 Qi 七 290 Er bai jiu 二百九 8 Ba 八 1000 Yi qian 一千 9 Jiu 久 10,000 Yi wan 一万 10 Shi 十 200,000 Er shi wan 二十万 13 Shi san 十三
750,214 Qi bai wu, er bai yi shi si 七百五, 二百一十四 100,000,000 Yi yi 一亿 In China large numbers are counted by the wan 万 or 10,000 and the yi 亿 100,000,000 only. (ten thousand and ten thousand ten thousand; that s it.) Note: when you want to refer to a period of time, use shi hou 时候 instead of shi jian 时间 cont... numbers etc.. the number one, instead of yi- 一 is yao- 么. In general, aside from these exceptions, once you know how to count from one to ten,working out other numbers comes with ease. Yi dian (zhong) (refers to clock above) liang dian yi ke = 2:15 yi dian ban = 1:30 Note 2: about the specialness of the number 2. Half an hour Ban ge xiao shi 半个小时 Notice the 2 of two o clock, when counting and using ge- 个 (individual), liang- 两 replaces er- 二. Liang 两 is not used for years or for telephone numbers. Western numbers are used predominately in China. As a further note, for telephone numbers, bank accounts, passport One hour An hour and a half All day Yi ge xiao shi Yi ge ban xiao shi Yi zheng tian Midnight Ban ye 一个小时一个半小时一整天半夜
Forever - Yong jiu 永久 Morning Zao shang 早上 Time Shi jian 时间 Night Wan shang 晚上 Yesterday Zuo tian 昨天 Today Jin tian 今天 Your Words (English, Pinyin, Character) Tomorrow Ming tian 明天 Now Xian zai 现在 Just now Gang cai 刚才 Day Tian 天 Month Yue 月 Year Nian 年 Before Yi qian 以前 Later Yi hou 以后
Basic Vocabulary ( verbs ) Play Wan 玩 Go Qu 去 See Kan 看 Say Shuo 说 Should Ying gai 应该 Come Lai 来 Prepare Zhun bei 准备 Have You 有 Like Xi huan 喜欢 Bring (take s/t or s/o s/w) Dai 带 Is Shi 是 Pick up (by car, etc ) Jie 接 Want Xiang yao 想要 Give Gei 给 Do Zuo 做 Understand Ming bai 明白 Try Shi shi 试试 Get up (from bed) Qi chuang 起床 Feel Jue de 觉得 Listen Ting (first tone) 听 Can Neng 能 Stop Ting (second tone) 停 Eat Chi 吃 Read Du 读
Important Vocabulary to begin to make Simple Sentences As you are learning new words, flashcards go a long way! Jia You! - add oil, add gas Individual 个 - Ge From Cong 从 One, a Yi ge 一个 Very, really, so Hen 很 And He 和 Here Zhe li 这里 There Na li 那里 Still Hai 还 With Gen 跟 In, at Zai 在 Thing (s) Dong xi 东西 Certainly Yi ding 一定 Therefore Suo yi 所以 Already Yi jing 已经 This (one) Zhe ge 这个 That (one) Na ge 那个 These Zhe xie 这些 Those Na xie 那些 But Dan shi 但是 Or Hai shi 还是 Always Zong shi 总是 Maybe Ke neng 可能 Prefer - Ning Ke 宁可
Important Adjectives Clean Gan jing 干净 Big Da 大 Small Xiao 小 Happy Gao xing 高兴 Sad Bu kuai le 不快乐 Famous You ming 有名 Smart Cong ming 聪明 Easy Rong yi 容易 Strange Qi guai 奇怪 Annoying Tao yan 讨厌 Beautiful Piao liang 漂亮 Free Mian fei 免费 Dirty Zang 脏 Expensive Gui 贵 Cheap Pian yi 便宜 Real Zhen shi 真实 Fake Jia 假 Good hao 好 Bad Huai 坏 Strong qiang 强 Funny Hao xiao 好笑 Friendly You hao 有好 Lovely Ke ai 可爱
Important words for asking questions What Shen me 什么 Why Wei shen me 为什么 How Zen me 怎么 How was it? Zen me yang 怎么样 Where Na li (3 rd tone na) 哪里 Which (one) Na ge (3 rd tone na) 哪个 When Shen me shi jian 什么时间 Who Shei 谁 Really Zhen de ma 真的吗 Can you? Ke yi ma 可以吗 Right? Dui ba 对吧 Do you have free time? You kong ma 有空吗
Useful phrases That makes sense You dao li 有道理 Sorry about that Bu hao yi si 不好意思 What s wrong? Zen me le 怎么了 More or less Cha bu duo 差不多 It doesn t matter Mei guan xi 没关系 No problem Mei you wen ti 没有问题 It s nothing! Mei shi 没事 Let it go Suan le 算了 No way, method Mei ban fa 没办法 Wait a second Deng yi xia 等一下 Interesting You xing qu 有兴趣 Impossible Bu ken neng 不可能
Try the Sentences, Learn More Words Set A- Pronouns You really like texting Ni hen xi huan fa duan xin 你很喜欢发短信 He eats an apple Ta chi yi ge ping guo 他吃一个苹果 She rents a house Ta zu yi ge fang zi 他租一个房子 I ride a bus They find a good price We know how to get there Wo zuo yi liang gong gong qi che Ta men zhao dao yi ge hao de jia ge Wo men zhi dao zen me zou 我坐一辆公共汽车 他们找到一个好的价格 我们知道怎么走 The dog likes to eat Na ge gou xi huan chi fan 那个狗喜欢吃饭 Set B- Adjectives This coat is very good Zhe ge wai tao hen hao 这个外套很好 This song sounds good Zhe shou ge hao ting 这首歌好听
That game is so easy Na ge you xi hen rong yi 那个游戏很容易 That car is really nice Na liang qi che hen hao 那辆汽车很好 This food isn t fresh Zhe ge shi wu bu xin xian 这个事物不新鲜 This city is very large Zhe ge cheng shi hen da 这个城市很大 These people are very poor Zhe xie ren hen qiong 这些人很穷 Set C- Miscellaneous We still have time Wo men hai you shi jian 我们还有时间 My friend and I are going Wo he wo de peng you yi qi yu 我和我的朋友一起去 In my house (phrase) Zai wo de fang zi 在我的房子 She has an orange Ta you yi ge cheng zi 她有一个橙子 They are my classmates Ta men shi wo de tong xue 他们是我的同学
We are colleagues Zan men shi tong shi 咱们是同事 He also likes that TV show Ta ye xi huan na ge jie mu 他也喜欢那个节目 Set D- Gender and Nationality He is a Brittish man Ta shi yi ge ying guo de nan ren 她是一个英国的男人 She is a French woman Ta shi yi ge fa guo de nv ren 她是一个法国的女人 We are Japanese boys Wo men shi ri ben de nan hai zi 我们是中国的男孩子 They are American girls Ta men shi mei guo de nv hai zi 他们是美国的女孩子 You are a German teenager Ni shi de guo de qing shao nian 你是德国的青少年 That Chinese woman is cool Na ge zhong guo de nv ren hen ku 那个中国的女人很酷 This is a Japanese baby Zhe shi yi ge ri ben de xiao hai zi 这是一个日本小孩子
General Words for Nationality British Ying guo ren 英国人 Spanish Xi ban ya ren 西班牙人 German De guo ren 德国人 American Mei guo ren 美国人 Italian Yi da li ren 意大利人 Japanese Ri ben ren 日本人 French Fa guo ren 法国人 Korean Han guo ren 韩国人 Russian E guo ren 俄国人 Saudi Arabian Sha te ren 沙特人 Indian Yin du ren 印度人 Useful Resources www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/mandarin1/contents www.xiaoma.info www.yellowbridge.com www.chinesepod.com www.livemocha.com Han zi Card App QQ Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar Flashcards A Chinese Friend Patience More Patience
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