# Chinese (Mandarin)/Print version

The current, editable version of this book is available in Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection, at
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chinese_(Mandarin)

# Table of contents
## Text / 课文
### Introduction / 介绍

    About Chinese 中文是什么？
    How to use this textbook 如何使用这本教科书
    How to study Chinese 如何学习中文

## Pronunciation

    Pinyin Pronunciation Basics
    Pronunciation of Initials
    Pronunciation of Finals
    Possible Initial-Final Combinations
    Using Tones

# Text / 课文

* Hello! - 第一课：你好！
* Are you busy today? - 第二课：今天你忙不忙?
* An introduction to particles - 第三课：助词
* Word order and Verbs - 第四课：词序和动词
* Measure words/Counters - 第五课：量词
* More on interrogatives - 第六课：疑问助词
* What's this? - 第七课：这是什么?
* Who is she? - 第八课：她是谁?
* Where is the railway station? - 第九课：火车站在哪里？
* A telephone conversation - 第十课：电话
* Taiwan 第十一课：台湾
* Mandarin is so interesting! 第十二课：汉语真有趣
* I'm sick 第十三课：我生病了
* Drinking tea 第十四课：喝茶
* China 第十五课：中国
* Basic Chinese History 第十六课：基本中国历史

## Introduction / 介绍

| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# About Chinese

中华人民共和国（中国大陆） 中華人民共和國（中國大陸） :
| Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) | People's Republic of China (PRC, Mainland China) |
| 中华人民共和国（香港） 中華人民共和國（香港） | 中华人民共和国（澳门） 中華人民共和國（澳門） |
| People's Republic of China (Hong Kong) | People's Republic of China (Macau) |
| 新加坡共和国（新加坡） 新加坡共和國 (新加坡) | 马来西亚（大马） 馬來西亞 (大馬) |
| Republic of Singapore (Singapore) | Malaysia |
| The Chinese cultural sphere of influence ||||||
| Areas where (Mandarin) Chinese is spoken natively ||||||
The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語 or 中文; Pinyin: Hanyu, Huayu, Zhongwen) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. About one-fifth of the world speaks some form of Chinese as its native language, making it the most common natively-spoken language in the world.
There is great internal variety within Chinese, and spoken Chinese languages such as Standard Mandarin (Putonghua), Shanghainese (Wu), and Cantonese, which are not mutually intelligible. Nevertheless, there is a single standardized form of Chinese known as Standard Mandarin, which is based on the dialect of Beijing, which is in turn its own Mandarin dialect, among a large and diverse group of Chinese dialects spoken in Northern and Southwestern China. Standard Mandarin is the official language of Mainland China and Taiwan, one of four official languages of Singapore, and one of six official languages of the United Nations. Standard Mandarin also corresponds to the modern standard written Chinese language used by people speaking all forms of Chinese from all corners of China, including Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, Hakka, Min-nan, and so forth. This textbook will teach Standard Mandarin, both spoken and written.
Chinese grammar is in many ways simpler than European languages (for example, you will see no tenses, plurals, or subject-verb agreement), but there are also plenty of pitfalls that will trip up the unsuspecting beginner (for example, you will encounter tones, measure words, and discourse particles, which do not feature as strongly in European languages). In addition, the complexity of the writing system often daunts newcomers, as Chinese is one of the few languages in the world that does not use an alphabet or a syllabary; instead, thousands of characters are used, each representing a word or a part of a word. However, most complex Chinese characters are composed of only a few hundred simpler characters and many contain phonetic hints. There is a common Western misconception of Chinese writing as having thousands of distinct and idiomatic symbols each representing a single word. However, Chinese writing is surprisingly mnemonic, granted it is not as simple as the writing of Romance languages. The government of China has developed a system of writing Standard Mandarin pronunciation in the Roman alphabet, known as Hanyu Pinyin, or simply, pinyin (汉语拼音/漢語拼音, "spelling according to sounds"). Hanyu Pinyin is used to write out Chinese words phonetically in an effort to help learners of Chinese with their pronunciation. This wikibook will teach you Hanyu Pinyin first, before any actual sentences. All examples and new vocabulary will always be given together with Hanyu Pinyin.
There are two character sets: Simplified Chinese characters (简体字/簡體字, Pinyin: Jiǎntǐzì) and Traditional Chinese characters (繁体字/繁體字, Pinyin: Fántǐzì). Traditional characters trace their lineage through thousands of years of Chinese history, and continue to be used in Hong Kong, Macau, Republic of China, and among many overseas Chinese. Simplified Chinese characters were the result of reforms carried out in Mainland China to increase literacy rates and is now used in Singapore as well. Many people may think that Simplified Chinese was made by the PRC government, but in fact many characters in Simplified Chinese were assembled from the calligraphy in ancient China. There is no denying however that some characters were made up recently. Two systems share many of the same characters or with systematic, predictable reductions in stroke; however, some changes are not as formulaic. As a result, most native Chinese speakers are able to write in only one of the two systems, though they can usually read both. You are recommended to do the same. It is considered easier for people who learn Traditional to read both sets than people who learn Simplified only, but Simplified characters are less intimidating for beginners. In this wikibook, all examples and vocabulary are given in both systems, and you are encouraged to choose one system and stick with it throughout.
Chinese characters have also been used in the past by other neighbouring Asian countries, and are still being used by some of them today. Some older Koreans still know how to read and write Chinese characters, but although the members of younger generations are taught Chinese characters or hanja, they are rarely used and unnecessary for literacy in Korean, with the native alphabet, hangul. Chinese characters are occasionally used for abbreviations, to clarify technical vocabulary (as Chinese serves roughly the same role in Korean that Latin serves in English), and to write family and many personal names. The Japanese still preserve many Chinese characters or kanji today and use them along with two syllabaries to write the Japanese language.
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

## Expectations

This textbook will assume that you have no prior knowledge of Chinese, but are willing to take Chinese as a serious subject of study. Each lesson contains a combination of new vocabulary and new grammar in a gradual progression, building on previous lessons.
Each lesson should be appropriate for a week's worth of daily classes, so don't feel overwhelmed by the amount of material per lesson. Learning to write new characters will probably be your limiting factor, so split up the memorization of a lesson's characters over two or three days and use class time mostly for work on grammar and speaking skills.

## Lesson Sections

Each lesson consists of five parts:
* Dialogue. Here you will see a dialogue carried out by two or more people. All texts are given in 4 versions: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Hanyu Pinyin, and an English translation.
* Grammar. This section breaks down all of the new sentence structures introduced in the dialogue and shows example sentences to reinforce them.
* Vocabulary. New vocabulary for the lesson, with translation and pronunciation. Every newly introduced character will be linked to an image or animation showing its stroke order.
* Examples. A page of sentences and phrases giving more examples based on the lesson material.
* Exercises. Questions and activities to test comprehension of the material. May be used as homework or as review material for lesson exams.

## Wikibook Navigation

All the lessons and appendices of this Wikibook are arranged as subpages of the Chinese main page (the Table of Contents). Navigating between lessons is done by clicking the appropriate link in the green mini-Table of Contents box found at the top and bottom of every page. To navigate to less-commonly-accessed pages from a subpage, you must first return to the Chinese main page by clicking on "< Chinese" which appears in the top left corner of all subpages.
Additionally, lesson subpages have subpages branching off of them which contain supporting material for the lesson such as examples, exercises, and animations demonstrating the stroke orders of new characters. You'll also find "Traditional" listed as a subpage, which is a toggle button for accessing the traditional version of the page. Click on it, and "Simplified" replaces it, meaning you can easily switch back and forth between the simplified and traditional character versions of this text.
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

## Speaking and Pronunciation

* Learn pinyin. Not only is it used throughout this book to explain proper pronunciation, it is needed to look up words in dictionaries and to type in Chinese.
* Pay attention to the tones. Since there are so few syllables in Chinese, there are many homonyms, making attention to tones very important. Learning to write the pinyin with correct tones at the same time as you learn the characters will improve your pronunciation and your listening comprehension.
* Read the text aloud. Speaking (and hearing yourself speak) will help reinforce the text in your memory. Exaggerating the tones can help you remember them. In Chinese, character (something that when writing takes a space unit), word (which may include some characters or a single character), and sentence may be different from English. When speaking Chinese, the pronunciation of each character should be a single unit.
* Find a language partner. There may be a Chinese language club in a nearby city or university. There are also free websites on the Internet that can help you set up a language exchange using Skype or other VoIP programs. Two examples are The Mixxer and E-Tandem.
* Use a Text To Speech (TTS) service. In other words, have a computer read the text for you. Free examples include Google Translate and imtranslator.net. Google Translate can not only read the text (the volume icon, not available for large texts) but also give you the pinyin (the A with the umlaut), and, of course, translate.
* Consume Chinese media. Immersing yourself in Chinese after learning the basics will make learning easier. To learn pronunciation, make the voices of native speakers your constant companions, and after finishing this book, continue to immerse yourself—you will have learned enough to take on Chinese "in the wild". A wide variety of multimedia options exist for exposing your ears to native Chinese speakers. Two of the best sites for easy listening materials are Popup Chinese and ChineseClass101.com. Advanced learners can listen to broadcasts of Xinhua, China's official news network, or visit Youku, a Chinese incarnation of YouTube (YouTube is blocked in China, and Facebook as well, for that matter). Download as much audio as you can from these sites to your MP3 player and start listening. You can listen to Chinese whenever you're in the car, commuting, or doing mechanical tasks. Note that, since Internet Explorer 6 is still a popular browser in China, Chinese websites may seem a bit quirky, and video streaming services may not work at all on modern browsers.

## Reading and Writing

* Practice writing—a lot. When you study, write a character at least ten times, and more if you have trouble remembering it. You can find special grid paper for writing practice with Chinese characters on the Internet; for example, PDF sheets are available on UVM's web site, and a practice sheet generator is available at www.chinesetools.eu (or original site, French). The output is set up as a grid, so that a typical printer can print 11 characters with 8 boxes each per page in portrait mode, giving each character one row, or 5 characters with 17 boxes each, and so on. In landscape mode, a printer can print 8 characters with 11 boxes each per page, or 4 characters with 23 boxes each giving each character two lines. Remember to quiz yourself periodically to test your memory and to find which characters you need to practice more. As you write, think of the sound and meaning of the character, or say it out loud. Check out the East Asian Calligraphy wikibook for more help with Chinese writing. Learn the correct stroke order initially and write carefully, looking at the printed character each time before copying. Actually writing is important to establish a 'motor memory' of each character, which will allow your writing to flow more easily.
* Use a flashcard program. Many people who use flash cards memorize information, but there's often much time wasted reviewing what they already know well, or in relearning what they forgot. The free programs Anki and Mnemosyne, can optimize your review schedule using their algorithms. They can also use audio for pronunciation help and 3-sided cards to study reading, writing, and translation separately. You can download free cardsets, export your own, or write them yourself to fully customize your character selection.
* Look for radicals. Radicals are components of Chinese characters that you will see repeated over and over again. Learning the meaning of radicals will help you to see the connections between similar categories of words. Many characters are comprised of radical-phonetic pairings, where the radical is the "root" that hints at the meaning of the word, while another part of the character hints at the sound of the word. Learning to spot radicals is also useful since they can be used when looking up words when you don't know the pinyin in Chinese dictionaries.
* Buy a dictionary. They're useful for looking up new words or just browsing. Beginner's dictionaries have larger fonts, usage examples, and Pinyin pronunciation, all of which are sometimes missing in comprehensive dictionaries. CC-CEDICT is a thorough Chinese-English dictionary available under Creative Commons. KTdict C-E is a free iOS app that uses CEDICT. A good physical dictionary that provides many example sentences and phrases is The Starter Oxford Chinese Dictionary (Simplified characters only). A good online dictionary would be nciku. It is searchable by pinyin, characters, and sketches, via a drawing panel. It not only contains definitions, also shows the stroke order of a character, and gives examples of its use.

### Suggested Reading Materials

   * Children's story books (the characters are easier, many include pinyin or zhuyin for difficult characters)
   * Xinhua is the official Chinese news network, but again, it is mostly for advanced learners.
   * LWO Flashcard program
   * Pinyin/Pinyin-English News Summary
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Pronunciation

| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Pinyin Pronunciation

This lesson shows the pronunciation of pinyin, the standard Romanization system used for Mandarin Chinese and the one that will be used throughout the textbook. While many of the letters are the same or very close to the English usage, there are some important differences.

# Pronunciation Basics

Pinyin may look strange, but is actually relatively easy for English speakers to pick up. It basically follows the "one letter one sound" principle, with some exceptions easy to notice. Remember that as you proceed through these first lessons on pronunciation!
One very different aspect of Chinese is its use of tones. Because of its limited sound inventory, the pitch, also known as the tone or inflection, is used to help differentiate between words. Words with different tones have entirely different meanings, but may have the same base with different radicals. While some dialects of Chinese have up to nine tones, Mandarin is comparatively easy with only four. It's often difficult for beginners to distinguish the tone of a word, especially when not sure of the context, people who do not speak a tonal language are not used to listening for pitch in conversation. Speaking Chinese is like singing, but even if you have perfect pitch, it may be hard to follow or reproduce what seems like a roller coaster ride of tonal transitions. Don't worry though, you'll improve by listening and practicing. These lessons will describe how to understand and reproduce all the syllables and tones of Mandarin.

## Other Chinese phonetic systems and the IPA

If you are familiar with Zhuyin (bopomofo), Tongyong Pinyin or the Wade–Giles system, Wikipedia has an equivalency chart comparing these different systems.
Hanyu Pinyin is the most common Romanization system for Chinese, which will be used for the rest of the text. However, you may find Tongyong Pinyin and Zhuyin helpful in understanding the correct pronunciation, as they treat exceptions to initial-final combinations in syllables differently (see below).
The IPA, or International Phonetic Alphabet, is a standard set of symbols that can be used to write any sound from any human language. The sounds of pinyin will be listed on the next pages in IPA.

# Alphabet

a o e i u ü
b p m f d t n l
g k h j q x
zh ch sh r z c s
y w
ai ei ui ao ou iu
ie üe er
an en in un ün
ang eng ing ong

# Pinyin syllable

There are three parts to all syllables in Mandarin: initials, finals and tones. They are represented as follows.

## Tone

The tone is represented by a tone mark placed on top of the syllable. There are four tone marks: ˉ, ˊ, ˇ and ˋ. The two dots on ü (an umlaut like in German) do not have to do with the tone. So if you see ǖ, ǘ, ǚ or ǜ, the symbol above the dots represents the tone.

## Initial

The initial is:
* in the beginning of a syllable
* a consonant (excluding y or w in some cases)
* usually one letter, except for zh, ch and sh

## Final

The final is the letter(s) after a syllable's initial, excluding the tone mark. A final:
* begins with a vowel
* ends with a vowel, n, ng or r
* a syllable can have 1 or 2 finals
For example: in duàn, d is the initial, uan is the final, and ˋ is the tone.

## Exceptions

Some syllables have no initial or no final. In Pinyin, this is shown as follows:
* For syllables with no final:
** an unpronounced i is added to the end of the syllable, and the tone is marked above the i: ch → chi.
** Occurs only with the following initials: zh, ch, sh, r, z, c and s.
* For syllables with no initial:
** if the final begins with an i, it is replaced with a y: iao → yao (pronounced like English "yow")
** if the final begins with an u, it is replaced with a w: uan → wan (pronounced like English "won/one")
** if the final begins with an ü, it is replaced with yu: üan → yuan
** Exceptions:
*** i alone is replaced by yi, in is replaced by yin, ing is replaced by ying;
**** iu is replaced by you.
*** u alone is replaced by wu;
**** ui is replaced by wei, un is replaced by wen, ueng is replaced by weng.
When ü is combined with initials j, q, x and y, the umlaut is removed, like jū.
If those look intimidating, don't sweat it. The next few pages will give some actual examples of how initials and finals are pronounced and put together, and how to use tones.
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
Remember, since hearing is very important for learning to speak, audio samples and the voices of native speakers should be your constant companions.

## Pronunciation of initials

| Pinyin | IPA | Explanation | Examples |
| b | [p] | unaspirated p, as in spit | 帮 bāng, to help 包 bāo, (Chinese) bun |
| p | [pʰ] | as in English | 炮 pào, gun; cannon |
| m | [m] | as in English | 马 mǎ, horse |
| f | [f] | as in English | 风 fēng, wind |
| d | [t] | unaspirated t, as in stand | 大 dà, big 刀 dāo, knife |
| t | [tʰ] | as in English | 头 tóu, head |
| n | [n] | as in English | 男 nán, male |
| l | [l] | as in English | 老 lǎo, old |
| g | [k] | unaspirated k, as in skill | 格 gé, grid 歌 gē, song |
| k | [kʰ] | as in English | 看 kàn, to see |
| h | [x] | like the English h if followed by "a"; otherwise it is pronounced more roughly (not unlike the Scots ch) | 好 hǎo, good 喝 hē, to drink 画 huà, to draw |
| j | [tɕ] | like q, but unaspirated. (To get this sound, first take the sound halfway between joke and check, and then slowly pass it backwards along the tongue until it is entirely clear of the tongue tip.) While this exact sound is not used in English, the closest match is the j in ajar, not the s in Asia; this means that "Beijing" is pronounced like "bay-jing", not like "beige-ing". | 叫 jiào, to call 家 jiā, home, family 近 jìn, close 尖 jiān, sharp |
| q | [tɕʰ] | like j above, but with strong aspiration. Similar to church; pass it backwards along the tongue until it is free of the tongue tip | 气 qì, air, gas 桥 qiáo, bridge |
| x | [ɕ] | like sh, but take the sound and pass it backwards along the tongue until it is clear of the tongue tip; very similar to the final sound in German ich, Portuguese enxada, luxo, xícara, puxa, and to huge or Hugh in some English dialects | 小 xiǎo, little, small 心 xīn, heart 想 xiǎng, to think; to want |
| zh | [tʂ] | ch with no aspiration (take the sound halfway between joke and church and curl it upwards); very similar to merger in American English, but not voiced | 长 zhǎng, to grow 中 zhōng, center, middle 重 zhòng, heavy |
| ch | [tʂʰ] | Like zh above, but with strong aspiration. Similar to chin, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to nurture in American English, but strongly aspirated | 吃 chī, to eat 茶 chá, tea |
| sh | [ʂ] | as in shinbone, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to undershirt in American English | 沙 shā, sand 手 shǒu, hand 上 shàng, up, on |
| r | [ɻ] | similar to the English r in rank, but with the lips spread and with the tongue curled upwards | 日 rì, sun 热 rè, hot |
| z | [ts] | unaspirated c (halfway between beds and bets), (more common example is suds) | 紫 zǐ, purple |
| c | [tsʰ] | like ts, aspirated (more common example is cats) | 草 cǎo, grass 次 cì, time(s) |
| s | [s] | as in sun | 送 sòng, to send |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

## Pronunciation of finals

| Pinyin | Pinyin | IPA | Final-only form | Description |
| Single finals | a | [a:] | a | as in "father" |
| Single finals | o | [ɔ:] | o | as in "got" |
| Single finals | e | [ɤə] | e | a backward, unrounded vowel: first place the tongue between [ŋ] and [ə] to produce [ɤ], and then lower the tongue to slide to [ə] a bit like English "duh", but not as "open" |
| Single finals | (ê) | [e] | ê | as in "get" |
| Single finals | i | [i:] | yi | as in "he" |
| Single finals | (-i) | [ɻ̩], [ɹ̩] | | i is a buzzed continuation of the consonant when it appears after these initials: z-, c-, s-, zh-, ch-, sh- and r- |
| Single finals | u | [u:] | wu | as in "who" |
| Single finals | ü | [y:] | yu | as in German "üben" or French "lune" (to get this sound, say "ee" with rounded lips) |
| Plural finals | ai | [ai̯] | ai | like "eye", but a bit lighter |
| Plural finals | ei | [ei̯] | ei | as in "say" |
| Plural finals | ui | [uei̯] | wei | like "way", but a bit lighter |
| Plural finals | ao | [au̯] | ao | like "cow", the a is much more audible than the o |
| Plural finals | ou | [ou̯] | ou | as in "so", "dough" |
| Plural finals | iu | [iəu̯] | you | as in "Leo" |
| Plural finals | ie | [i̯e] | ye | like "yet" |
| Plural finals | üe | [y̯e] | yue | as pinyin ü + ê |
| Plural finals | er | [aɚ̯] | er | as in "bar" in American English (the r is always pronounced) (this final doesn't combine with any initials) |
| Plural finals | an | [an] | an | as in "stun", "fun" |
| Plural finals | en | [ən] | en | as in "taken" |
| Plural finals | in | [in] | yin | as in "in" |
| Plural finals | un | [u̯ən] | wen | as pinyin u + en |
| Plural finals | ün | [yn] | yun | as pinyin ü + n |
| Plural finals | ang | [aŋ] | ang | as in "young", like "song" in American English |
| Plural finals | eng | [əŋ] | eng | replace the [n] in en with [ŋ] |
| Plural finals | ing | [iŋ] | ying | as in "thing" |
| Plural finals | ong | [ɔŋ] | | replace the [n] in "yawn" with [ŋ] |

## Rolled finals

Rolled finals (儿化音) are a phenomenon in spoken Mandarin. People from northern China like to roll their tongue when saying specific words (usually nouns and verbs) in daily dialogues. On the other hand, people from southern China rarely do that. Foreign Chinese learners are not quite suggested to learn so, as this is sometimes considered as a northern China accent instead of standard Mandarin. This table's purpose is to enable Chinese learners to recognize and understand them when hearing somebody using them.
| Pinyin | IPA | Explanation |
| e'r | [ɤ˞] | as e + er (not to be confused with the final er on its own, e'r only exists with an initial character before it) |
| ￼ar, air, anr air, anr | [aɚ̯] | as ai + er, an + er |
| aor | [au̯˞] | as ao + er |
| our | [ou̯˞] | as ou + er |
| angr | [ãɚ̯̃] | as ang + er |
| iar, ianr | [i̯aɚ̯] | as ia + er, ian + er |
| inr, ir | [i̯ɚ] | as in + er, i + er |
| ingr | [i̯ɚ̃] | as ing + er |
| ur | [u˞] | as u + er |
| uor | [u̯o˞] | as uo + er |
| uir | [u̯ɚ] | as ui + er |
| ongr | [ʊ̃˞] | as ong + er |
| ür | [y̯ɚ] | as ü + er |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

## Using Tones

Every syllable in Chinese has a clearly defined pitch of voice associated with it to distinguish characters with the same sound from each other. Unfortunately, there is no indication of the tone given when reading a character, so the tones for words must be individually memorized. To help with this, pinyin uses four easily-remembered diacritical marks to tell you what the tones of words are. The diagram to the right shows the pitch changes of the four tones on a five-bar scale going from lowest (1), to highest (5), while the five tone marks are:
* First tone (阴平)( ˉ ), high level.
* Second tone (阳平)(ˊ), middle rising.
* Third tone (上声)( ˇ ), low dipping.
* Fourth tone (去声)(ˋ), high falling.
* Tone of unstressed syllable (轻声)(without any marks), low level.
Tone marks are always placed over vowels, never consonants. If there is more than one vowel in the syllable, the mark placement is determined by three simple rules.
* If there is an a, the tone goes on the a.
* In the ei and ou combinations, the first vowel takes the tone mark.
* In all other finals, the last vowel gets the tone mark.
You can also do this:
* In the IU final, the tone mark is on the U.
* In the IONG final, O gets the tone mark.
* In all other finals, the tone mark is on the vowel listed first in AEIOUÜ.

### Pronouncing the tones

Say the first tone as if you were singing a high note. The second tone is pronounced like a question in English, with your pitch rising at the end of the syllable. Third tones are low and extended, noticeably longer than the other tones because of the dip. The fourth tone is said abruptly and forcefully, like a curt command in English. The neutral tone's pitch depends on the tone that precedes it. It is described more fully below, but in general, they are pronounced quickly and softly. The classic example used to show the difference tones make is:
| 妈(mā) 麻(má) 马(mǎ) 骂(mà) 吗(·ma) (Being "mother", "hemp", "horse", "scold" and a question particle, respectively.) | mā má mǎ mà A sound sample of the four tones |
In many cases, several characters can have exactly the same syllable and tone. For example, along with 马, the characters 码 and 蚂 are also pronounced exactly the same (mǎ). 马 can be used alone to mean the animal "horse." It can also be combined with other characters for new meanings. 马上mǎshàng-immediately; 马球mǎqiú-polo; 马路mǎlù-street; etc. Other characters with the same pronunciation will be used differently as well. 数码相机shùmǎ xiàngjī-digital camera; 蚂蚁mǎyǐ-ant; etc. Since these characters alone sound exactly the same in conversation, the only way to distinguish them is through context.

### Tone changes

The third tone, with its dip-and-rebound, is hard to fit into a continuous sentence. This is why the third-tone changes depending on its environment. There are two rules:
* If a third tone comes before another third tone, then it is pronounced as a second tone.
* If a third tone comes before any other tone, then it only dips, and doesn't rebound and is called a half-third tone (see image).
Because of these broad rules, the majority of third tones you encounter will be spoken as second tones or half-third tones. Be mindful of this because the written tone marks remain unchanged despite the differences in actual pronunciation.

### Neutral Tones

Some syllables don't have a tone and carry no tone mark. They are not stressed, and they take their tone from the syllable before them:
* If it follows a first- or second-tone syllable, then the toneless syllable is mid-range.
* If it follows a third-tone syllable, then the toneless syllable is high, as if the dip-and-rebound of the third-tone continues right into it.
* If it follows a fourth-tone syllable, then the toneless syllable is low, as if the fall of the fourth-tone continues right into it.

## Test and Review

Mandarin One: Lesson One
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lessons / 课程

| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lesson 1: 你好！

It is appropriate to start off the introduction to Chinese with the common greeting 你好 ‹nǐ hǎo› (“hello”)。 Below is a dialogue between two people meeting each other for the first time.

## Dialogues
### Dialogue 1

| | Simplified Characters | | Traditional Characters |
| 金妮: | 你好。 | 金妮: | 你好。 |
| 欧文: | 你好。 | 歐文: | 你好。 |
| 金妮: | 我叫金妮。你叫什么名字？ | 金妮: | 我叫金妮。你叫什麽名字？ |
| 欧文: | 我叫欧文。 | 歐文: | 我叫歐文。 |
| | Pīnyīn | | English |
| Jīnní: | Nǐ hǎo. | Ginny: | Hello. |
| Ōuwén: | Nǐ hǎo. | Owen: | Hello. |
| Jīnní: | Wǒ jiào Jīnní. Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi? | Ginny: | I'm Ginny. What's your name? |
| Ōuwén: | Wǒ jiào Ōuwén. | Owen: | I'm Owen. |

### Dialogue 2

| | Simplified Characters | | Traditional Characters |
| 金妮: | 他们是谁？ | 金妮: | 他們是誰？ |
| 欧文: | 她是艾美，她是中国人。他是东尼，他是美国人。 | 歐文: | 她是艾美，她是中國人。他是東尼，他是美國人。 |
| 金妮: | 你也是美国人吗？ | 金妮: | 你也是美國人嗎？ |
| 欧文: | 不是，我是英国人。你呢？你是哪国人？ | 歐文: | 不是，我是英國人。你呢？你是哪國人？ |
| 金妮: | 我是法国人。 | 金妮: | 我是法國人。 |
| | Pīnyīn | | English |
| Jīnní: | Tāmen shì shéi? | Ginny: | Who are they? |
| Ōuwén: | Tā shì Àiměi, tā shì Zhōngguórén. Tā shì Dōngní, tā shì Měiguórén. | Owen: | She is Amy. She's Chinese. He's Tony, an American. |
| Jīnní: | Nǐ yě shì Měiguórén ma? | Ginny: | Are you also American? |
| Ōuwén: | Bú shì. Wǒ shì Yīngguórén. Nǐ ne? Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén? | Owen: | No, I'm British. How about you? Which nationality are you? |
| Jīnní: | Wǒ shì Fǎguórén. | Ginny: | I'm French. |

## Vocabulary

Note: Visit this lesson's Stroke Order subpage to see images and animations detailing how to write the following characters. Audio files of the words are linked from the pīnyīn when available. Problems listening? See media help.
| | Simplified | Traditional (if diff.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | English [‍m.‍] |
| 1a. | 你 | | nǐ | (pro) | you (singular, masculine) |
| 1b. | 妳 | 妳 | nǐ | (pro) | you (singular, feminine), rarely used in the Mainland |
| 2. | 好 | | hǎo | (adj) | good |
| 3. | 们 | 們 | men | (particle) | (noun plural marker) |
| 4a. | 你们 | 你們 | nǐmen | (pro) | you all (plural, masculine) |
| 4b. | 妳们 | 妳們 | nǐmen | (pro) | you all (plural, feminine) |
| 5. | 我 | | wǒ | (pro) | I, me |
| 6. | 我们 | 我們 | wǒmen | (pro) | we, us |
| 7. | 他 | | tā | (pro) | he, him |
| 8. | 她 | | tā | (pro) | she, her |
| 9. | 他们 | 他們 | tāmen | (pro) | they, them (masc.) |
| 10. | 她们 | 她們 | tāmen | (pro) | they, them (fem.) |
| 11. | 叫 | | jiào | (v) | to be named, (lit.) to call |
| 12. | 什么 | 什麽 | shénme | (pro) | what |
| 13. | 名字 | | míngzi | (n) | name |
| 14. | 是 | | shì | (v) | to be (am/is/are) |
| 15. | 谁 | 誰 | shéi OR shuí | (pro) | who, whom |
| 16. | 国 | 國 | guó | (n) | country |
| 17. | 人 | | rén | (n) | person [个 ‹gè› (個 )] |
| 18. | 也 | | yě | (adv) | also |
| 19. | 吗 | 嗎 | ma | (part) | (question particle for yes or no questions) |
| 20. | 呢 | | ne | (part) | (question particle for known context) |
| 21. | 哪 | | nǎ OR něi | (pro) | what, which |
| 22. | 不 | | bù | (adv) | (negates verbs) |

### Proper Nouns

| | Simplified | Traditional (if diff.) | Pīnyīn | English |
| 1. | 金妮 | | Jīnní | Ginny |
| 2. | 欧文 | 歐文 | Ōuwén | Owen |
| 3. | 艾美 | | Àiměi | Amy |
| 4. | 东尼 | 東尼 | Dōngní | Tony |
| 5. | 中国 | 中國 | Zhōngguó | China |
| 6. | 美国 | 美國 | Měiguó | United States |
| 7. | 英国 | 英國 | Yīngguó | United Kingdom |
| 8. | 法国 | 法國 | Fǎguó | France |
Forming the nationality is usually as simple as adding on 人 ‹rén› (“person”) to the country name. 中国 ‹Zhōngguó› (“China”) becomes 中国人 ‹Zhōngguó rén› (“a person of Chinese nationality”), and so forth.

## Grammar
### Basic Sentences

* The sentence structure of Chinese is very similar to that of English in that they both follow the pattern of Subject-Verb-Object (SVO). Unlike many languages, verbs in Chinese are not conjugated and noun and adjective endings do not change. They are never affected by things such as time or person.
1. 我叫艾美。
    Wǒ jiào Àiměi.
    I'm called Amy.

### Sentences using shì [是]

* The equational verb 是  ‹shì› (“to be”) can be used as the English is or equals. 是  ‹shì› can only be used to equate combinations of nouns, noun phrases, and pronouns. In Chinese, 是  ‹shì› (“to be”) is not used with adjectives, as it is in English, as in, "He is cold."
* S + 是 + O
1. 我是中国人。
    Wǒ shì Zhōngguórén.
    I am a Chinese person.
2. 她是金妮。
    Tā shì Jīnní.
    She is Ginny.
3. 她们是英国人。
    Tāmen shì Yīngguórén.
    They are English.
* 是  ‹shì› is negated when preceded by 不  ‹bù› (“not”). 不  ‹bù› is normally 4th tone, but changes to a 2nd tone when it precedes another 4th tone.
* S + 不 + 是 + O
1. 他不是东尼。
    Tā bú shì Dōngní.
    He is not Tony.
2. 我不是美国人。
    Wǒ bú shì Měiguórén.
    I am not American.

### Articles

There are no articles in Chinese grammar. While English noun clauses often begin with "a", "an", or "the", Chinese is less verbose.
An example:
* 我是中国人。
    Wǒ shì Zhōngguórén.
    I am [a] Chinese person.
An "a" appears in the English translation, but the singular and indefinite nature of 中国人 ‹Zhōngguórén› (“Chinese person”) is just inferred in Chinese.

### The question particle 吗  ‹ma›

* Adding the modal particle 吗  ‹ma› to the end of a sentence makes a statement into a question. There is no change in word order unlike in English.
The declarative example sentence in #1 is transformed into an interrogative in #2.
1. 她是金妮。
    Tā shì Jīnní.
    She is Ginny.
2. 她是金妮吗？
    Tā shì Jīnní ma?
    She is Ginny ?

### The question particle 呢  ‹ne›

* Using the ending modal particle 呢  ‹ne› makes a question when the context is already known, similar to saying "How about...?" in English. A common circumstance is when you wish to repeat a question that was just asked for another subject. Simply add 呢  ‹ne› to the end of the noun or pronoun to ask "How about this".
1. 我叫东尼, 你呢？
    Wǒ jiào Dōngní, nǐ ne?
    I'm called Tony. How about you?
2. 艾美是中国人, 他呢？
    Àiměi shì Zhōngguórén, tā ne?
    Amy is Chinese. How about him?

### Question words

* Question words like 哪  ‹nǎ› (“what”) and 谁  ‹shéi› (“who”) also make statements into questions without changing the order of the sentence. In Chinese, each question word appears where its answer would complete the surrounding sentence.
1. 他们是哪国人？
    Tāmen shì nǎ guó rén?
    What nationality are they? (literally, "They are what country person?")
2. 谁是美国人？
    Shéi shì Měiguórén?
    Who is American?
3. 她是谁？
    Tā shì shéi?
    Who is she? (literally, "She is who?")
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lesson 2: 今天你忙不忙？

Lesson 2 contains a dialogue of two students discussing their classes for the day.

## Dialogues

Dialogue 1
| | Simplified Characters | | Traditional Characters |
| 东尼: | 艾美，早上好（早安）。 | 東尼: | 艾美，早上好（早安）。 |
| 艾美: | 早。你好吗？ | 艾美: | 早。你好嗎？ |
| 东尼: | 我很好，谢谢。你呢？ | 東尼: | 我很好，謝謝。你呢？ |
| 艾美: | 我也很好。你今天忙吗？ | 艾美: | 我也很好。你今天有空嗎？ |
| 东尼: | 今天我很忙。我有五门课。 | 東尼: | 今天我很忙。我有五門課。 |
| 艾美: | 五门？太多了！我今天只有一门。 | 艾美: | 五門？太多了！我今天只有一門。 |
| 东尼: | 一门？太少了！ | 東尼: | 一門？太少了！ |
| | Pīnyīn | | English |
| Dōngní: | Àiměi, zăoshang hǎo (zǎo'ān). | Tony: | Good morning, Amy. |
| Àiměi: | Zăo. Nǐ hǎo ma? | Amy: | Good morning. How are you? |
| Dōngní: | Wǒ hěn hǎo, xièxie. Nǐ ne? | Tony: | I'm fine, thanks. And you? |
| Àiměi: | Wǒ yě hěn hǎo. Nǐ jīntiān (máng ma?) (yǒukòng ma?) | Amy: | I'm also fine. Are you busy today? |
| Dōngní: | Jīntiān wǒ hěn máng. Wǒ yǒu wǔ-mén kè. | Tony: | I'm very busy today. I have five classes. |
| Àiměi: | Wǔ-mén? Tài duō le! Wǒ jīntiān zhĭyǒu yī-mén. | Amy: | Five? That's too many! Today I only have one. |
| Dōngní: | Yī-mén? Tài shǎo le! | Tony: | One? That's too few! |
Dialogue 2
| | Simplified Characters | | Traditional Characters |
| 东尼: | 艾美，下午好。 | 東尼: | 艾美，下午好。 |
| 艾美: | 下午好。你那五门课上完了吗？ | 艾美: | 下午好。你那五門課上完了嗎？ |
| 东尼: | 上了三节，你呢？ | 東尼: | 上了三節。你呢？ |
| 艾美: | 上完了，下午想去公园。 | 艾美: | 上完了，下午想去公園。 |
| 东尼: | 哦。这个计划不错。 | 東尼: | 哦。這個計劃不錯。 |
| 艾美: | 谢谢夸奖。那么，明天见！ | 艾美: | 謝謝誇獎。那麼，明天見！ |
| 东尼: | 明天见。 | 東尼: | 明天見。 |
| | Pīnyīn | | English |
| Dōngní: | Àiměi, xiàwǔ hǎo. | Tony: | Good afternoon, Amy. |
| Àiměi: | Xiàwǔ hǎo. Nǐ nà wǔ-mén kè shàng-wánle ma? | Amy: | Good afternoon. Did you finish your five classes? |
| Dōngní: | Shàng-le sān-jié, nǐ ne? | Tony: | I finished 3 of them. And you? |
| Àiměi: | Shàng-wánle, xiàwǔ xiǎng qù gōngyuán. | Amy: | I'm free now. I am going to the park. |
| Dōngní: | O. Zhègè jìhuà bùcuò. | Tony: | Oh. That's a good plan. |
| Àiměi: | Xièxiè kuājiǎng. Nàme, míngtiān jiàn! | Amy: | Thanks a lot. Hey, see you tomorrow! |
| Dōngní: | Míngtiān jiàn! | Tony: | See you tomorrow! |

## Vocabulary

Note: Visit this lesson's Stroke Order subpage to see images and animations detailing how to write the following characters. Audio files of the words are linked from the pīnyīn when available. Problems listening? See media help.
| | Simplified (traditional in parentheses) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | English [‍m.‍] |
| 1. | 一 | yī | (adj) | one |
| 2. | 二 | èr | (adj) | two |
| 3. | 三 | sān | (adj) | three |
| 4. | 四 | sì | (adj) | four |
| 5. | 五 | wǔ | (adj) | five |
| 6. | 六 | liù | (adj) | six |
| 7. | 七 | qī | (adj) | seven |
| 8. | 八 | bā | (adj) | eight |
| 9. | 九 | jiǔ | (adj) | nine |
| 10. | 十 | shí | (adj) | ten |
| 11. | 早 | zăo | (n) | morning (often spoken alone as a shortened form to mean "good morning" just like with English) |
| 12. | 安 | ān | (adj) | peaceful |
| 13. | 早安 | zăo'ān | (phrase) | good morning |
| 14. | 很 | hěn | (adv) | very |
| 15. | 谢谢 (謝謝) | xièxie | (v) | thanks |
| 16. | 天 | tiān | (n) | day/sky |
| 17. | 今天 | jīntiān | (n) | today |
| 18. | 忙 | máng | (adj) | busy |
| 19. | 有 | yǒu | (v) | to have, possess |
| 20. | 没(沒) | méi | (adv) | negates yǒu |
| 21. | 门 (門) | mén | (m) | (measure word for school courses) |
| 22. | 课 (課) | kè | (n) | class [節 ‹jié› is the measure word for class] |
| 23. | 太 | tài | (adv) | too, extremely |
| 24. | 了 | le | (part) | (combines with 太 - see grammar) |
| 25. | 多 | duō | (adj) | many |
| 26. | 少 | shăo | (adj) | few |
| 27. | 只 | zhĭ | (adv) | only, merely |
| 28. | 都 | dōu | (adv) | all,both |
| 29. | 早上好 | zǎoshàng hǎo | (phrase) | good morning |
| 30. | 下午好 | xiàwǔhǎo | (phrase) | good afternoon |

## Grammar
### The adverb Hěn [很]

* Though translated as "very", Hěn [很] has a weaker meaning than it does in English. It is often added before a single-syllable adjective just to enhance the rhythmic flow of the sentence. Hěn is used before the adjective in affirmative sentences, but not in negative sentences or questions. A common mistake of beginners is to insert shì [是] into adjectival sentences, but this usage is incorrect as shì can only be used to equate combinations of nouns, noun phrases and pronouns.
1. 我很忙。
    Wǒ hěn máng
    I am (very) busy.

### Le [了] as emphasizer

* The particle le [了] has many different functions in Chinese, but in this case, it serves to add emphasis to the verb or adjective of the sentence. It can be seen paired with tài [太] to express excessiveness.
1. 太多了。
    Tài duō le.
    (That's) too many.
2. 太少了。
    Tài shăo le.
    (That's) too few.

### Affirmative-negative questions

* A sentence can be made into a question by having both affirmative and negative options together. To answer in the affirmative, the verb or adjective is repeated. (An affirmative adjective in this case is usually preceded by hěn [很] to avoid a comparative tone.) Responding in the negative is simply saying "not verb" or "not adjective".
* S + V 不 V + O?
Example:
* Because the bù in affirmative-negative questions is often said quickly, marking the tone on bù is not strictly necessary in their case.
Q: 他是不是东尼？
    Tā shì bu shì Dōngní?
    Is he Tony?
    literally, "he is/is not Tony?"
A: 是的。（是，他是/嗯，他是。）or 不是。 （不，他不是。）
* The de is not necessary. You can simply answer 是 (shì).
    Shì de. (Shì tā shì) or Bú shì (Bù tā bú shì).
    Yes (he is). or No (he isn't).
* S + adj. 不 adj.? （The second adjective can be omitted.）
Example:
Q:艾美今天忙不忙？/艾美今天忙不？
    Àiměi jīntiān máng bù （máng）?
    Is Amy busy today?
    literally, "Today, Amy busy/not busy"
A: 她很忙。or 她不忙。
    Tā hěn máng. or Tā bù máng.
    Yes, she's (very) busy. or No, she's not busy.

### Sentences using yǒu [有]

* Yǒu [有] means to have and indicates possession.
* S + 有 + O
Example:
我有三门课。
    Wǒ yǒu sān mén kè.
    I have three classes.
* Yǒu is negated when preceded by méi [没].
* S + 没 + 有 + O
Example:
今天，他们没有课。
    Jīntiān tāmen méi yǒu kè.
    Today, they don't have any classes.
* Yǒu is negated when preceded by méi [没].
* S + 一 + O + 都没有
Example:
* The adverb 都 (dōu) is required here in front of 没有 to emphasize the lack of a single one of the object. Also, be sure to remember to place the proper measure word between 一 and the object.
今天，他们一门课都没有。
    Jīntiān tāmen yì mén kè dōu méi yǒu.
    Today, they don't have a single class.
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lesson 3: 助詞

The Chinese language employs heavy usage of particles to modify the meaning of characters and sentences. Since Chinese has neither inflections nor tense, the mastery of particles is an absolute must if one is to fully comprehend both written and spoken Chinese. Below, you will find some of the most common particles in everyday Chinese.

## The De {的} particle

* The particle de [的] can be used to indicate possession. It is roughly equivalent to the contraction "X's" in English, where X is the subject.
Example:
* sometimes "的" is suffixed to a word to indicate that it's used as an adjective.
Example 她是一个美丽的姑娘
where "美丽" "beautiful" is an adjective, and
Example 研究是一个科学的过程
and where "科学" is a noun in Chinese and is turned into adjective using "的".

## The Le {了} / Liăo {了} particle

Perfective Aspect Particle
* The {了} particle is used mainly to indicate a completed action (this overlaps somewhat with the English perfect aspect, i.e. "to have gone", "to have eaten").
Example:
※The "le" here is used to modify 走 (zŏu, to go) into an action which has already been completed.
* The {了} can also be used as an imperative, that is, a command which is issued by the subject
Example:
※In this instance, le is used in conjunction with bié ("do not") to form an imperative. Note: most imperatives are not formed using this construction.
* The {了} , as in Liăo (a homographic variant) can be used to indicate the subject's capability in doing such and such.
Example:
At first glance, this sentence may seem a bit daunting as it includes two instances of the le particle, paired side-by-side. However, the first le is understood to be liăo given its placement (bù + le is a nonsensical pairing). Therefore, liăo serves to indicate the capability of eating any further and le emphasizes this assertion.

## The Zhe [着] particle showing continuation

* The particle Zhe [着] is used after a verb to show that the action is in progress or that the results from that action are continuing.
1. 他睡着觉时有人敲门。
    Tā shuìzhe jiào shí yǒurén qiāomén
    While he was sleeping, someone knocked on the door.
    For this sentence, you can take out "着" and say "他睡觉时有人敲门。" as "时" means "while" here.

## The Zháo [着] particle indicating accomplishment

* The particle Zháo [着] is used after a verb to show accomplishment or result.
* Note: It is not to be confused with the identically written particle Zhe, which shows continuation (Lesson 3).
1. 我终于把东西买着了!
    Wŏ zhōngyú bă dōngxī măi zháo le.
    I've finally been able to buy this item!
And another word, dào [到], can be seen as a substitution for 着, in most cases they are interchangeable.
2. 他在行窃时被当场抓到。
    Tā zài xíng qìe shí beì dāng chǎng zhuā dào.
    He was(is) caught in the act of stealing.
The 把 + N + V + 着(到)了 construction is particularly useful and should be studied.

## The De [得] particle indicating degree

* The particle de [得] is used in few special constructs to indicate degree of complement (how fast, how early, how expensive, etc.). It has no equivalent in English but must be used to indicate the meanings below.
* S + V + 得 + adjective
1. 我说得很好.
    Wŏ shuō de hěn hăo.
    I speak very well.
This construct often requires a context to gain its full meaning.
If you wish to speak more specifically about an action, the two constructs below demonstrate the use of 得 with a direct object.
* S + V + O + V + 得 + adjective
2. 我说中文说得很好.
    Wŏ shuō zhōngwén shuō de hěn hăo.
    I speak Chinese very well.
Note the dual-use of the verb.
* O + S + V + 得 + adjective
3. 中文我说得很好.
    Zhōngwén wŏ shuō de hěn hăo.
    I speak Chinese very well.
This construct emphasizes the object (here being "Chinese").
* S + O + V + 得 + adjective
4. 我中文说得很好.
    Wŏ zhōngwén shuō de hěn hăo.
    I speak Chinese very well.
This expression is the simplification of the 2nd expression by eliminating the 1st verb. This form is even more frequently used than the 2nd expression above.

## Vocabulary

Note: Visit this lesson's Stroke Order subpage to see images and animations detailing how to write the following characters. Audio files of the words are linked from the pīnyīn when available. Problems listening? See media help.
| | Simplified | Traditional (if diff.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | English [‍m.‍] |
| 1. | 走 | | zǒu | (v) | to walk, leave |
| 2. | 打扰 | 打擾 | dărăo | (v) | to bother |
| 3. | 实在 | 實在 | shízài | (adv) | emphatically, etc. |
| 4. | 吃 | | chī | (v) | to eat |
| 5. | 睡觉 | 睡覺 | shuìjiào | (v) | to sleep |
| 6. | 时 | 時 | shí | (n) | (lit.) time. When used in conjunction with a verb, it means "when/as" that action is taking place |
| 7. | 敲 | | qiāo | (v) | to knock |
| 8. | 门 | 門 | mén | (n) | door, gate |
| 9. | 终于 | 終於 | zhōngyú | (adv) | finally, eventually |
| 10. | 东 | 東 | dōng | (adj) | east |
| 11. | 西 | | xī | (adj) | west |
| 12. | 东西 | 東西 | dōngxī | (n) | a general expression for "thing" |
| 13. | 玩 | | wán | (n) | Only be used to express "play" as in "play the game." It can't be used like "play the piano" or "play video"...etc. |
| 13. | 喝 | | hē | (v) | drink |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lesson 4: Word order and Verbs
## Basic Word Order
### Subject-Verb-Object

The order of most Chinese sentences, like in English, is S-V-O, that is Subject-Verb-Object.
    我看这本书。
    我看這本書。
    Wǒ kàn zhè běn shū.
    I read this book.
Word order in Chinese is more rigid than in English. However, sometimes you may find sentences that seem to defy normal word order. For example, 我住在中国。wǒ zhù zài zhōngguó. The English translation does this too: I live in China. The reason for this is that "in China" is a preposition (prepositions indicate place or time) that is tacked on to the main sentence—"I live." More examples:
    下午一点半，我们走。
    Xiàwǔ yīdiǎn bàn, wǒmen zǒu.
    At 1:30 in the afternoon, we'll go.
    在青岛，我看到了。
    Zài qīngdǎo, wǒ kàn dào le.
    In Qingdao, I saw it.
As in English, a preposition can also appear after a subject.
    我在我家看这本书。
    我在我家看這本書。
    Wǒ zài wǒ jiā kàn zhè běn shū.
    I read this book at my house.
    我明天看这本书。
    我明天看這本書。
    Wǒ míngtiān kàn zhè běn shū.
    I will read this book tomorrow.
When using both a preposition for time and a preposition for place, put the preposition for time first.
    我明天在我家看这本书。
    我明天在我家看這本書。
    Wǒ míngtiān zài wǒ jiā kàn zhè běn shū.
    I will read this book at my house tomorrow.
    明天在我家，我看这本书。
    明天在我家，我看這本書。
    Míngtiān zài wǒ jiā, wǒ kàn zhè běn shū.
    Tomorrow at my house, I will read this book.
    明天，我在我家看这本书。
    明天，我在我家看這本書。
    Míngtiān, wǒ zài wǒ jiā kàn zhè běn shū.
    Tomorrow, I will read this book at my house.
Note the variation in word order. You can also place a preposition for place, but not for time, at the end of a sentence.
    我看这本书在我家。
    我看這本書在我家。
    Wǒ kàn zhè běn shū zài wǒ jiā.
    I read this book at my house.

### Topic-Comment

Another structure for Chinese sentences is topic-comment. That is, the first thing mentioned is the topic of discussion and then the speaker will add a comment following that.
It is used to emphasize a certain part of the sentence. In the following example, the speaker wants to emphasize that he is going to read the particular book being discussed.
    这本书，我明天在我家看。
    這本書，我明天在我家看。
Zhè běn shū, wǒ míngtiān zài wǒ jiā kàn.
    I will read this book tomorrow.

## Comparisons Using bǐ [比]

    她比我忙。
    Tā bǐ wǒ máng.
    She is busier than I am.
    东尼也比我忙很多。
    東尼也比我忙很多。
    Dōngní yě bǐ wǒ máng hěn duō.
    Tony is also a lot busier than I am.

## Notes

| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lesson 5: Measure words
## Text

| Simplified Characters | Traditional Characters |
| 山村咏怀 【宋】邵雍 一去二三里 烟村四五家 亭台六七座 八九十枝花 | 山村詠懷 【宋】邵雍 一去二三里 煙村四五家 亭臺六七座 八九十枝花 |
| Pīnyīn | English |
| Shāncun Yǒnghuái 【Sòng】Shàoyōng Yí qù èrsān lǐ Yāncūn sìwǔjiā Tíngtái liùqīzuò Bājiǔshízhī huā | The sigh for a village 【Song】Shao Yong The distance is two or three miles, and I can see four or five houses with smoking chimneys. There are six or seven pavilions, and eight, nine or ten flowers. |

## Vocabulary

| | Simplified (traditional in parentheses) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | English [‍m.‍] | notes |
| 1. | 一 | yī | (adj) | one |
| 2. | 二 | èr | (adj) | two |
| 3. | 三 | sān | (adj) | three |
| 4. | 四 | sì | (adj) | four |
| 5. | 五 | wǔ | (adj) | five |
| 6. | 六 | liù | (adj) | six |
| 7. | 七 | qī | (adj) | seven |
| 8. | 八 | bā | (adj) | eight |
| 9. | 九 | jiǔ | (adj) | nine |
| 10. | 十 | shí | (adj) | ten |
| 11. | 山村 | shāncūn | (n) | mountain village |
| 12. | 宋 | sòng | (n) | song | It's short for 宋朝（song dynasty,960–1279）. |
| 13. | 邵雍 | shàoyōng | (n) | A poetic name. |
| 14. | 去 | qù | (v) | be apart (away) from; be at a distance from | This usage is only used classical Chinese. |
| 15. | 里 | lǐ | | mile | Mile and 里 are not identical.In song dynasty,1里≈415.8m.Now China,1里=500m. |
| 16. | 烟村（煙村） | yāncūn | (n) | The village with smoking chimneys | This usage is only literary works. |
| 17. | 家 | jiā | (ms) | the measure Words of family |
| 18. | 亭 | tíng | (n) | pavilions |
| 19. | 台（臺） | tái | (n) | platform |
| 20. | 座 | zuò | (ms) | the measure Words of building |
| 21. | 枝 | zhī | (ms) | the measure Words of flower |
| 22. | 花 | huā | (n) | flower |

## Measure Words/量词(liàngcí)

1. 这本书里没有一个汉字。
    Zhè bĕn shū lǐ méi yŏu yí gè Hànzì.
    This book doesn’t contain one Chinese character.
2. 那间宿舍有六十个学生。
    Nà jiān sùshè yŏu liùshí ge xuésheng.
    That dorm has sixty students.
The phrase 一朵花 (yī duǒ huā) means "one flower," but how would you say "a pile of flowers?" It's simple: just change the classifier. The phrase 一堆花 (yī duī huā) means "a pile of flowers." You could also say 一把花 (yī bǎ huā; a handful of flowers), 一桶花 (yī tǒng huā; a bucket of flowers), or 一种花 (yī zhǒng huā; a kind of flower). You can see that measure words act as adjectives.
In Chinese, like in English, you can omit the noun if it's already known, leaving only the classifier. 你看到那种（花）吗？ (Nǐ kàn dào nà zhǒng (huā) ma?) means "Did you see that kind (of flower)?" You can see that measure words also act as nouns.
Measure words are also used with demonstrative pronouns (this, that). For example, 这朵花 means "this flower," and 那朵花 means "that flower."
You might also encounter something like this: 书架上有书本。 (Shūjià shàng yǒu shūběn.) which means "The bookshelf has books on it." Note that the classifier is after the noun. This signifies multiple books where the exact number is not important, here translated "books." The sentence 书架上有书。, means the same as above, but is without the classifier.

### Some Common Measure Words

Column key: Trad. is Traditional, Simp. shows changes made for the simplified variant (if any).
| Trad. | Simp. | Pinyin | Main uses | Example |
| 個 | 个 | ge | individual things, people — usage of this classifier in conjunction with any noun is generally accepted if the person does not know the proper classifier. | 一个书包 yí ge shūbāo, a schoolbag |
| 把 | | bǎ | "handful", "fistful" — objects that can be held or grabbed (knives, scissors, keys; also chairs) | 一把刀 yì bă dāo. One knife. 一把盐 yì bă yán. A handful of salt. |
| 包 | | bāo | "package", "bundle" | 一包纸巾 yì bāo zhǐ jīn. A package of paper towels. |
| 杯 | | bēi | "cup" — drinks | 一杯水 yì bēi shuǐ. A cup of water. |
| 本 | | běn | "volume" — any bound print or written matter (books, etc.) | 一本书 yì běn shū. A book. |
| 册 | | cè | slimmer volumes of books |
| 次 | | cì | "time" — opportunities, accidents | 两次 liǎng cì. Twice. 三次 sān cì. Three times. |
| 滴 | | dī | "droplet" — water, blood, and other such fluids | 一滴水 yì dī shuǐ. A drop of water. |
| 點 | 点 | diǎn | ideas, suggestions, can also mean "a bit" | 你睡一点。 Nǐ shuì yīdiǎn. Sleep a bit. |
| 堆 | | duī | "pile" — anything in a pile | 一堆书 yī duī shū. A pile of books. |
| 朵 | | duǒ | flowers, clouds | 一朵花 yì duŏ huā. One flower. |
| 份 | | fèn | newspapers, jobs | 一份报 yì fèn bào. A newspaper |
| 根 | | gēn | thin, slender objects, lit. "a root of a..." (needles, pillars, grass, vegetable roots etc.) | 一根针 yì gēn zhēn. A needle |
| 家 | | jiā | gathering of people (families, companies, etc.) | 一家人 yī jiā rén. A family of people. |
| 架 | | jià | objects with a "frame" or structure; generally used for machines or mechanical objects (esp. cars, planes, etc.) | 一架飞机 yī jià fēijī. One plane. |
| 件 | | jiàn | matters, clothing, etc. | 一件衣服 yí jiàn yī fù. An article of clothing. |
| 節 | 节 | jié | "a section" — of bamboo, tutorials and classes, etc. |
| 輛 | 辆 | liàng | automobiles, bicycles, vehicles, etc. | 一辆车 yí liàng chē. One car. |
| 面 | | miàn | any flat and smooth objects, lit. "a surface of a..." (mirrors, flags, walls, etc.) | 一面镜子 yí miàn jìng zi. One mirror |
| 匹 | | pǐ | horses and other mounts, or rolls/bolts of cloth | 一匹马 yì pǐ mă. One horse. |
| 片 | | piàn | "slice" — any flat object, like cards, slices of bread, tree leaves, etc. | 一片叶子 yì piàn yè zi. One leaf. |
| 瓶 | | píng | "bottle" — drinks |
| 扇 | | shàn | objects that open and close (doors, windows) | 一扇门 yì shàn mén. One door |
| 艘 | | sōu | ships | 一艘船 yì sōu chuán. One ship. |
| 所 | | suǒ | any buildings, apartment |
| 台 | | tái | heavy objects (TVs, computers, etc.) and performances (esp. in theatre, etc.) | 一台电脑 yī tái diànnǎo. One computer. |
| 條 | 条 | tiáo | long, narrow, flexible objects (fish, trousers, etc.) | 一条鱼 yì tiáo yú. One fish. |
| 頭 | 头 | tóu | "head" — herd animals (pigs, cows, sheep etc., never for fowls or birds), hair | 一头牛 yì tóu niú. One head of cattle (Literally translated into English, "头" means head). |
| 位 | | wèi | polite classifier for people (e.g. gentlemen, professors, customers) | 几位？Jǐ wèi? How many (people)? |
| 些 | | xiē | "some" — anything that's plural | 一些书 yī xiē shū. Some books. Never 两些书 |
| 張 | 张 | zhāng | "sheet" — squarish or rectangular flat objects (paper, tables, etc.), faces, bows, paintings, tickets, constellations | 一张纸 yì zhāng zhǐ. One piece of paper. |
| 支 | | zhī | stick-like objects (pens, chopsticks, etc.) | 一支笔 yì zhī bǐ. One pen. |
| 隻 | 只 | zhī | one of a pair (e.g. hands, limbs), animals (birds, cats, etc.) | 一只狗 yì zhī gŏu. One dog. |
| 種 | 种 | zhǒng | types or kinds of objects, ideas, etc. | 一种书 yì zhǒng shū. One type of book. |
| 棟 | 栋 | dǒng | building object | 一栋房子 yí dòng fáng zí. One house |
See Chinese measure words on Wikipedia for a more complete reference.
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lesson 6: What do you want to buy? 你想要買什麼?

| 王明：你好，李红。 李红：嗨！王明。你去哪儿？ 王明：我去图书馆。你呢？ 李红：回家。 王明：再见。 李红：再见。 | Wang Ming: Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ Hóng. Li Hong: Hài! Wáng Míng. Nǐ qù nǎr? Wang Ming: Wǒ qù túshūguǎn, nǐ ne? Li Hong: Huí jiā. Wang Ming: Zài jiàn. Li Hong: Zài jiàn. | Wang Ming: Hello, Li Hong. Li Hong: Hi, Wang Ming. Where are you going? Wang Ming: I'm going to the library. What about you? Li Hong: Going home. Wang Ming: See you. Li Hong: See you. |
NOTE: It's also appropriate with close friends (ones who you would use "你" (nǐ) instead of "您" (nín) with) to greet with "哎" (aì), the closest equivalent in English being "Hey". This can precede or even take place of the traditional "你好" greeting, and partially serves as an attention-getter. However, if the pronunciation of "哎" (aì) is stretched/lengthened, it may sound as if you are complaining about something, which uses the same word.

## Vocabulary

* 嗨 / hài = hi
* 去 / qù = go
* 哪儿 （哪兒） / nǎr = where
* 图书馆 (圖書館） / túshūguǎn = library
* 再见 （再見 / zàijiàn = bye, goodbye (literally: see you again)
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lesson 7: 这是什么? What's this?
### Text 1

You can check out the translations here.
| 王明：这是什么？ 李红：这是书。 王明：那是什么？ 李红：那是钢笔。 王明：那是杂志吗？ 李红：不，那不是杂志。那是字典。 | Wáng Míng: Zhè shì shěnme? Lǐ Hóng: Zhè shì shū. Wáng Míng: Nà shì shěnme? Lǐ Hóng: Nà shì gāngbǐ. Wáng Míng: Nà shì zázhì ma? Lǐ Hóng: Bù, nà bùshì zázhì. Nà shì zìdiǎn. |

### Text 2

| 王明是中国人。 王明是学生。 史密斯是美国人。 史密斯是王明的朋友。 史密斯是律师。 | Wáng Míng shì Zhōngguórén. Wáng Míng shì xuéshēng. Shīmìsī shì Měiguórén. Shīmìsī shì Wángmíng de péngyǒu. Shīmìsī shì lǜshī. |

### Vocabulary

| 王明 (Wáng Míng) | n. Wang Ming [personal name] [Wang= Family Name, Ming=First name/Personal name] |
| 李红／李紅 (Lǐ Hóng) | n. Li Hong [personal name] [Li= Family Name, Hong= First/Personal name] |
| 这/這 (zhè) | pron. this |
| 是 (shì) | v. to be (is/are) |
| 什么／甚麼 (Mainland shénme and Taiwan shěme) | pron. what |
| 那 (nà) | pron. that |
| 笔 (bǐ) | n. pen; a generic term for all pens |
| 钢笔 (gāngbǐ) | n. fountain pen |
| 铅笔 (qiānbǐ) | n. pencil |
| 原子笔 (yuánzǐbǐ) | n. ballpoint pen |
| 毛笔 (máobǐ) | n. brush (calligraphy pen) |
| 杂志 (zázhì) | n. magazine |
| 报纸 (bàozhī) | n. newspaper |
| 书本 (shūběn) | n. book |
| 传单 (chuándān) | n. pamphlet |
| 吗 (ma) | final interrogative particle used to form a question sentence |
| 不 (bù) | adv. no |
| 字典 (zìdiǎn) | n. dictionary |
| 人 (rén) | n. person/people |
| 中国人 (Zhōngguórén) | n. PRC Chinese (中国：China　人：people) |
| 外国人 (Wàiguórén) | n. Foreigners (外：Outside　国：Country　人：people) |
| 日本人 (Rìběnrén) | n. Japanese (日本：Japan 人：people) |
| 英国人 (Yīngguórén) | n. British (英国：United Kingdom 人：people) |
| 新加坡人 (Xīnjiāpōrén) | n. Singaporean （新加坡：Singapore) |
| 美国人 (měiguórén) | n. American |
| 学生 (xuéshēng) | n. student |
| 老师 (lǎoshī) | n. teacher |
| 校长 (xiàozhǎng) | n. principal |
| 史密斯 (Shǐmìsī) | n. Smith |
| 美国人 (Měiguórén) | n. American |
| 朋友 (péngyǒu) | n. friend |
| 律师 (lǜshī) | n. lawyer |
| 笔记本/筆記本 (bǐjìběn) 铅笔/鉛筆 (qiānbǐ) 英国人/英國人 (Yīngguórén) 法国人/法國人 (Fǎguórén) 报纸/報紙 (bàozhǐ) 老师/老師 (lǎoshī) 作家 (zuòjiā) | n. notepads n. pencil n. British people n. French people n. newspaper n. teacher n. writer |

#### Stroke orders

More stroke orders will be added if it's helpful.

## Grammar
### Chinese Names

* In Chinese names, the family name comes before the given name. Family names are passed down paternally and usually have only one character. Chinese given names are usually two characters long, but may also be one character.
* Hence a man called 王明 (Wáng Míng) is addressed as Mr. Wang, not Mr. Ming. A woman called 李红 (Lǐ Hóng) is addressed as Mrs./Miss Li.
* However, if the person has a western personal name, it is presented in the GIVEN-NAME/FAMILY-NAME format, following the Western convention. Hence if 李红 (Lǐ Hóng) has a western-style personal name of Mary, she is usually introduced as "Mary Li" and not "Li Mary"
In this lesson, we learn how to say "something is something" in Chinese. The first thing you need to know is that the sentence structure of Chinese is very similar to that of English in that they both follow the pattern of Subject-Verb-Object (SVO). But unlike many Western languages, verbs in Chinese aren't conjugated and noun and adjective endings don't change. They are never affected by things such as time or person.

### 这(/那)是什么？

This sentence means "What's this/that?":
* 这是什么？(What's this?)
* 那是什么？(What's that?)
The sentences, if broken down literally, shows that the ordering of words differs in English and Chinese:
| 这/那 | 是 | 什么 | ? |
| this/that | is | what | ? |
The order of the sentences may seem a little bit tricky, but don't worry about that, we will discuss this later.

### A　是　B

This sentence means "A is B."
"是" (shì), the equational verb to be, can be used as the English is or equals. When used in a simple Subject-Verb-Object sentence, the subject defines the object. Since Chinese verbs never change, no other forms for shì exist such as was or am in English. Also, articles like a and the are absent in Chinese. They are not translated.
For example:
* 这是书 (zhè shì shū): this is (a) book.
* 那是杂志 (nà shì zázhì): that is (a) magazine.

### A　不是　B

This sentence means "A is not B." in which shì is negated when preceded by "不" (bu). "不" literally means "no", "not".
For example:
* 这不是书 (zhè bú shì shū): this is not (a) book.
Now, we come back to the "what's this/that?" questions. We already see that the order is a bit tricky comparing to the English question order. But comparing to the latter pattern "A　是　B", we find the similarity: their orders are identically the same. In fact, like particles, question words make statements into questions without changing the order of the sentence. To make one, simply substitute the QW in where the subject would be in the answer.
Comparison:
* 这是书。(This is (a) book.)
* 这是什么？(This is what?)
* 那是杂志。(That is (a) magazine.)
* 那是什么？(That is what?)

### 吗

"吗"(ma) is a final interrogative particle used to form a question sentence. Adding this character at the end of a statement transforms the sentence into a question.
Example 1:
* 这是书 (zhè shì shū)。(This is (a) book.)
** 这是书吗 (zhè shì shū ma)？(Is this (a) book?)
Example 2:
* 这不是杂志 (zhè bú shì zázhì)。(This is not (a) magazine.)
** 这不是杂志吗(zhè bú shì zázhì ma)？(Isn't this (a) magazine?)

### 是/不

"是" (shì) can be used to answer a simple yes/no question. In this case, "是" means yes, whilst "不" (bú) or "不是" (bú shì) means no (literally, not is).
How to answer yes/no questions correctly in Chinese? Usually, it's the same as in English, but pay attention if the questions are negative, like "Isn't this a book?". In Chinese, you answer to the questions, not the fact. If the question itself is a negative answer, use "不是" or simply "不", vice versa. For example:
* A: 这不是书吗？zhè bú shì shū ma? (Isn't this (a) book? = This is not a book, right?)
** B: 是，这不是书。shì, zhè bú shì shū. (No, this is not (a) book. = You are right; this is not a book.)
** B: 不，这是书。bù, zhè shì shū. (Yes, this is (a) book. = You're wrong; this is a book.)
A asks if that's a book in a negative way. If the object is not a book, you should nevertheless approve A's saying first. So we use "是" to acknowledge that A is correct, and then say "this is not (a) book" to emphasis A is right; In the case of that is a book, you should deny A's saying first, using "不" (no) to point out A is wrong, then make a new statement by noting that "这是书" (this is (a) book). One more example:
* 他今天晚上不来参加宴会了，对吗？(He's not going to the party tonight, is he?)
** 不，他肯定要来。(Yes, he's definitely coming.)
** 是 啊，他很忙呢！(No, he's so busy!)

### 的

Character "的" (de) indicates that the previous word has possession of the next one. In English it functions like 's or like the word of but with the position of possessor and possessee switched. For example:
* 史密斯(Shǐmìsī)的书(shū: book) <-> Smith's book
* 王明的钢笔 <-> Wang Ming's pen
* 约翰** (Yuēhàn: John)的朋友** (péngyǒu: friend) <-> John's friend or a friend of John's

## Exercise

* Replace the underline words, and practice.
** 史密斯是美国人。
*** 英国人
*** 法国人
** 这不是杂志。
*** 书
*** 笔记本*
*** 铅笔
* Replace the underline words, and then answer the questions with both positive answers and negative answers.
** Example:
** 史密斯是法国人吗？
*** 是，史密斯是法国人。
*** 不，史密斯不是法国人。
** 那是杂志吗？
*** 钢笔
*** 铅笔
*** 报纸*
** 王明是学生吗？
*** 律师
*** 老师*
*** 作家*
* Translate the following English into Chinese.
** Wang Ming is not a teacher. Wang Ming is a student. Wang Ming is a Chinese. Wang Ming is not an American.
*** Answer(答):Wang Ming不是老師。Wang Ming是學生。Wang Ming是中國人。Wang Ming不是美國人。
** Smith is a lawyer. Smith is not a writer. Smith is an American. Smith is not a French.
*** Answer(答):Smith是律師。Smith不是作家。Smith是美國人。Smith不是法國人。
** This is Smith's book. That is Wang Ming's pen.
*** Answer(答):這是Smith的書。那是Wang Ming的筆。

## Further reading

Read the following article, and then answer the questions in Chinese.
    你好(nǐhǎo, hello)，我(wǒ, I)是王明。我是学生，我是中国人。这是史密斯。史密斯是我的$^1$ 朋友，史密斯是律师。那是史密斯的妻子(qīzi, wife)，安娜(Ana)。安娜是我的英语(yīngyǔ, English language)老师。
       1."我　的" means "my", we will discuss this in the next lesson.
Questions:
* Who is "I"?
* What does Smith do?
* Who is Ana?
* What does Ana do?

## Translation for the text

| Chinese characters | Sentences breakdown | English translation |
| Text 1 王明：这是什么？ (王明：這是什麼？) 李红：这是书。 (李紅：這是書。) 王明：那是什么？ (王明：那是什麼？) 李红：那是钢笔。 (李紅：那是鋼筆。) 王明：那是杂志吗？ (王明：那是雜誌嗎？) 李红：不，那不是杂志。那是字典。 (李紅：不，那不是雜誌。那是字典。) | Text 1 Wang Ming: This is what? Li Hong: This is book. Wang Ming: That is what? Li Hong: That is pen. Wang Ming: That is magazine (final interrogative particle)? Li Hong: No, that not is magazine, this is dictionary. | Text 1 Wang Ming: What's this? Li Hong: This is a book. Wang Ming: What's that? Li Hong: That's a pen. Wang Ming: Is this a magazine? Li Hong: No, that's not a magazine. That's a dictionary. |
| Text 2 王明是中国人。 王明是学生。 史密斯是美国人。 史密斯是王明　的　朋友。 史密斯是律师。 | Text 2 Wang Ming is Chinese. Wang Ming is student. Smith is American. Smith is Wang Ming's friend. Smith is lawyer. | Text 2 Wang Ming is a Chinese. Wang Ming is a student. Smith is an American. Smith is Wang Ming's friend. Smith is a lawyer. |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# 她是谁？
## Dialogues

You can check out the translation here

### Dialogue 1

| Simplified Characters | Traditional Characters |
| 杨勋：你今天好吗？ 何铭：我很好。 杨勋：你吃饭了吗？ 何铭：还没。 杨勋：要不要一起去吃饭？ 何铭：好啊。我昨天看到你跟一个女生去图书馆，她是谁？ 杨勋：她是我的女朋友，她叫陈洁。 何铭：原来你有女朋友，这么厉害啊！ 杨勋：哪里，不敢当。我们要去哪里吃饭？ 何铭：都可以。 | 楊勳：你今天好嗎？ 何銘：我很好。 楊勳：你吃飯了嗎？ 何銘：還沒。 楊勳：要不要一起去吃飯？ 何銘：好啊。我昨天看到你跟一個女生去圖書館，她是誰？ 楊勳：她是我的女朋友，她叫陳潔。 何銘：原來你有女朋友，這麼厲害啊！ 楊勳：哪裡，不敢當。我們要去哪裡吃飯？ 何銘：都可以。 |
| Pīnyīn | |
| Yáng Xūn: Nǐ jīntiān hǎo ma? Hé Míng: Wǒ hěn hǎo. Yáng Xūn: Nǐ chīfàn le ma? Hé Míng: Hái méi. Yáng Xūn: Yào bú yào yīqǐ qù chīfàn? Hé Míng: Hǎo ā. Wǒ zuótiān kàndào nǐ gēn yīge nǚshēng qù túshūguǎn, tā shì sheí? Yáng Xūn: Tā shì wǒ de nǚpéngyǒu, tā jiào Chén Jié. Hé Míng: Yuánlái nǐ yǒu nǚpéngyǒu, zhème lìhài a! Yáng Xūn: Nǎli, bùgǎndāng. Wǒmen yào qù nǎli chīfàn? Hé Míng: Dōu kěyǐ. | |

### Dialogue 2

| Simplified Characters | Traditional Characters | Pinyin |
| 王明：我叫王明。你叫什么名字？ 李红：我叫李红。 王明：她的名字是什么？ 李红：她的名字是周朱丽。 王明：周朱丽是一个很好的名字。 李红：是，但是我比较喜欢你的名字。 王明：为什么比较喜欢我的名字？ 李红：因为你的名字听起来很聪明。 王明：哪里，我不敢当。 | 王明：我叫王明。你叫什麼名字？ 李紅：我叫李紅。 王明：她的名字是什麼？ 李紅：她的名字是周朱麗。 王明：周朱麗是一個很好的名字。 李紅：是，但是我比較喜歡你的名字。 王明：為什麼比較喜歡我的名字？ 李紅：因為你的名字聽起來很聰明。 王明：哪裡，我不敢當。 | Wáng míng: Wǒ jiào wáng míng. Nǐ jiào shén me míng zì? Li hóng: Wǒ jiào li hóng. Wáng míng: Tā de míng zì shì shén me? Li hóng: Tā de míng zì shì zhōu zhū lì. Wáng míng: Zhōu zhū lì shì yī gè hěn hǎo de míng zì. Li hóng: Shì, dàn shì wǒ bǐ jiào xǐ huan nǐ de míng zì. Wáng míng: Wèi shé me bǐ jiào xǐ huan wǒ de míng zì? Li hóng: Yīn wèi nǐ de míng zì tīng qǐ lái hěn cōng míng. Wáng míng: Nǎ lǐ, wǒ bù gǎn dāng. |

## Vocabulary

| | Simplified | Traditional (if diff.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | English [‍m.‍] |
| 1. | 周朱丽 | 周朱麗 | Zhōu Zhūlì | (proper noun) | Person's Name |
| 2. | 但是 | | dànshì | (conjunction) | but, however |
| 3. | 比较 | 比較 | bǐjiào | | by comparison |
| 4. | 喜欢 | 喜歡 | xǐhuan | (verb) | to like |
| 5. | 为什么 | 為什麼 | wèishénme | (adverb) | Why (lit. "because of what?"). |
| 6. | 因为 | 因為 | yīnwèi | (conjunction) | because |
| 7. | 听起来 | 聽起來 | tīng qǐlai | (phrase) | Sounds like |
| 8. | 聪明 | 聰明 | cōngmíng | (adjective) | intelligent |
| 9. | 哪里 | 哪裡 | nǎli | (noun) | lit. Nowhere, can be used as a polite response to a complement. |
| 10. | 不敢当 | 不敢當 | bùgǎndāng | (phrase) | I don't accept (not at all) / polite response to a compliment |
| 11. | 还没 | 還沒 | háiméi | (conjunction) | not yet |
| 12. | 图书馆 | 圖書館 | túshūguǎn | (noun) | library |
| 13. | 名字 | | míngzi | (noun) | name |
| 14. | 女朋友 | | nǚpéngyǒu | (noun) | girlfriend |
| 15. | 昨天 | | zuótiān | (noun) | yesterday |

## Translation of the text

| Chinese characters | Sentences breakdown | English translation |
| Text 1 楊勳：你今天好嗎? 何銘：我很好。 楊勳：你吃飯了嗎？ 何銘：還沒。 楊勳：要不要一起去吃飯? 何銘：好啊。我昨天看到你跟一個女生去圖書館,她是誰? 楊勳: 她是我的女朋友,她叫陳潔。 何銘: 原來你有女朋友,這麼厲害啊! 楊勳: 哪裡, 不敢當。我們要去哪裡吃飯? 何銘: 都可以。 | Text 1 | Text 1 Yang Xun: How are you today? He Ming: I'm very good. Yang Xun: Have you eaten yet? He Ming: Not yet. Yang Xun: Would you like to go eat together? He Ming: Sure. Yesterday, I saw you going to the library with a girl, who is she? Yang Xun: She is my girlfriend, her name is Chen Jie. He Ming: All along you have had a girlfriend, it's so good! Yang Xun: Thanks, that's flattering. Where do you want to go to eat? He Ming: Anywhere is fine. |
| Chinese characters | Sentences breakdown | English translation |
| Text 2 王明：我叫王明。你叫什麼名字？ 李紅：我叫李紅。 王明：她的名字是什麼？ 李紅：她的名字是周朱麗。 王明：周朱麗是一個很好的名字。 李紅：是, 但是我比較喜歡你的名字。 王明: 為什麼比較喜歡我的名字? 李紅: 因為你的名字聽起來很聰明。 王明: 哪裡, 我不敢當。 | Text 2 Wang Ming: I called Wang Ming. You called what name? Li Hong: I called Li Hong. Wang Ming: Her name is what? Li Hong: Her name is Zhou Zhuli. Wang Ming: Zhou Zhuli is very good name. Li Hong: Yes, but I relatively (implied: more) like your name. Wang Ming: Why (lit: for what) relatively like my name? Li Hong: Because your name sounds (lit: hear-startup, hear-start-come) intelligent. Wang Ming: Where, I don't dare to be so. | Text 2 Wang Ming: My name is Wang Ming. What is your name? Li Hong: My name is Li Hong. Wang Ming: What is her name? Li Hong: Her name is Zhou Zhuli. Wang Ming: Zhou Zhuli is a very good name. Li Hong: Yes, but I like your name better. Wang Ming: Why do you like my name better? Li Hong: Because your name sounds very intelligent. Wang Ming: Oh no, I wouldn't say that. |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lesson 9: 請問火車站在哪裡？
## Dialogues
### Dialogue 1

* Traditional Chinese
* （濃濃開車中，碰到路人妙妙）
* 濃濃：不好意思，請問火車站在哪裡？
* 妙妙：往前開，遇到紅綠燈右轉，它就在你的左手邊。
* 濃濃：這樣大約要花多久時間呢？
* 妙妙：大概要花十分鐘。
* 濃濃：所以是往前開，紅綠燈右轉，車站在我的左邊，大概十分鐘囉？
* 妙妙：是這樣沒錯。
* 濃濃：非常感謝你。
* Simplified Chinese
* （浓浓开车中，碰到路人妙妙）
* 浓浓：不好意思，请问火车站在哪里？
* 妙妙：往前开，遇到红绿灯右转，它就在你的左手边。
* 浓浓：这样大约要花多久时间呢？
* 妙妙：大概要花十分钟。
* 浓浓：所以是往前开，红绿灯右转，车站在我的左边，大概十分钟​​啰？
* 妙妙：是这样没错。
* 浓浓：非常感谢你。
* Pinyin
* (Nóng Nóng: kāichē zhōng, pèngdào lùrén Miào Miào)
* Nóng Nóng: bùhǎoyìsi, qǐngwèn huǒchēzhàn zài nǎlǐ?
* Miào Miào: wǎngqián kāi yùdào hónglǜdēng yòuzhuǎn tā jiù zài nǐde zuǒshǒu bian.
* Nóng Nóng: zhèyàng dàyuē yào huā duōjiǔ shíjiān ne?
* Miào Miào: dàgài yào huā shífēn zhōng.
* Nóng Nóng: suǒyǐ shì wǎngqián kāi, hónglǜdēng yòuzhuǎn, chēzhàn zài wǒde zuǒbian, dàgài shífēn zhōng luo?
* Miào Miào: shì zhèyàng méicuò.
* Nóng Nóng: fēicháng gǎnxiè nǐ.

### Vocabulary

| Traditional | Simplified | Pinyin | English |
| 不好意思 | 不好意思 | bùhǎo yìsi | phrase - excuse me / sorry / to feel embarrassed |
| 請 | 请 | qǐng | verb - please, may (always an honorifics) |
| 請問 | 请问 | qǐng wèn | phrase - may I ask... |
| 車 | 车 | chē | noun - a vehicle, usually a car. |
| 火車 | 火车 | huǒ chē | noun - train |
| 火車站 | 火车站 | huǒchē zhàn | noun - train station |
| 開車 | 开车 | kāi chē | phrase - to drive a car |
| 碰到/遇見 | 碰到/遇见 | pèngdào/yùjiàn | verb - encounter |
| 路人 | 路人 | lùrén | noun - passerby |
| 往前 | 往前 | wǎng qián | - to move forwards |
| 燈 | 灯 | dēng | noun - light, lamp, a device for giving light |
| 紅綠燈/信號燈 | 红绿灯/信號燈 | hónglǜdēng/xìnhàodēng | noun - traffic light |

### Translation

(Nong Nong ran into a walker, Miao Miao, while driving)
Nong Nong: Excuse me, may I ask you where the train station is?
Miao Miao: Drive forward, turn right at the traffic light and it will be on your left.
Nong Nong: How long will it takes?
Miao Miao: About ten minutes.
Nong Nong: So drive forward, turn right at the traffic light, the station will be on my left, about ten minutes?
Miao Miao: That's right, very correct.
Nong Nong: Thank you very much.

## Grammar
### ……在哪里？ / ……在哪裡？

The sentence means "where is ...?". In Chinese, we can use this phrase to ask something's location.
If we get to characters, the sentence would be like "... is where?", which is just like “……是什么”(literally ... is what) and “……是谁”(literally ... is who).
In spoken Chinese, it's also possible to attach an -r sound to the character "哪", therefore it changes to “……在哪儿？”
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lesson 10: 打電話
### Dialogue 10

| Simplified Characters | Traditional Characters |
| 小美的妈妈：喂？ 阿明：您好。请问小美在家吗？ 小美的妈妈：在。请稍等。 小美：喂？ 阿明：小美，我是阿明。星期日有空吗？ 小美：星期日？我有空。 阿明：那要一起去看电影吗？ 小美：好啊！几点的电影？ 阿明：三点开演。 小美：好，在哪里集合？ 阿明：地铁（捷运）站前见好吗？ 小美：好，到时候见。 | 小美的媽媽：喂？ 阿明：您好。請問小美在家嗎？ 小美的媽媽：在。請稍等。 小美：喂？ 阿明：小美，我是阿明。星期日有空嗎？ 小美：星期日？我有空。 阿明:那要一起去看電影嗎？ 小美：好啊！幾點的電影？ 阿明：三點開演。 小美：好，在哪裡集合？ 阿明：捷運（地鐵）站前見好嗎？ 小美:好，到時候見。 |
| Pīnyīn | English |
| Xiǎo Měi de māma: Wéi? Ā Míng: Nín hǎo. Qǐngwèn Xiǎo Měi zàijiā ma? Xiǎo Měi de māma: Zài. Qǐng shāo děng. Xiǎo Měi: Wéi? Ā Míng:. Xiǎo Měi, wǒ shì Ā Míng. Xīngqírì yǒu kòng ma? Xiǎo Měi: Xīngqírì wǒ yǒu kòng. Ā Míng: Nà yào yīqǐ qù kàn diànyǐng ma? Xiǎo Měi:! Hǎo ya! Jǐ diǎn de diànyǐng? Ā Míng: Sān diǎn kāiyǎn. Xiǎo Měi: Hǎo, zài nǎlǐ jíhé? Ā Míng: Dìtiě zhàn qián jiàn hǎo ma? Xiǎo Měi: Hǎo, dào shíhou jiàn. | Xiǎo Měi's mom: Hello? Ā Míng: Hello! Is Xiǎo Měi at home? Xiǎo Měi's mom: Yes, she is. Wait for a while. Xiǎo Měi: Hello? Ā Míng: Xiǎo Měi. This is Ā Míng. Are you free on Sunday? Xiǎo Měi: Sunday? Yes, I am. Ā Míng: Do you want to go to the movies with me? Xiǎo Měi: Yes. What time is the movie? Ā Míng: It's at three O'clock. Xiǎo Měi: Ok. Where should we get together? Ā Míng: How about in front of the subway station? Xiǎo Měi: Ok. See you then. |

## Vocabulary

| | Simplified | Traditional (if diff.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | English [‍m.‍] |
| 1. | 电话 | 電話 | diànhuà | (n) | telephone |
| 2. | 妈妈 | 媽媽 | māma | (n) | mother |
| 3. | 星期日 | | xīngqīrì | (n) | Sunday |
| 4. | 好 | | hǎo | (interj) | OK |
| 5. | 有空 | | yǒu kòng | (v) | have free time |
| 6. | 到时候见 | 到時候見 | dào shíhou jiàn | (v) | see you then |

## Notes

    1.^ In China (mainland and Honkong) people use 地铁 (dì tiě) for subway, while Taiwanese use 捷運 (jié yùn) instead.
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lesson 11: Taiwan / 第十一課：臺灣

| Traditional Characters | Simplified Characters |
| 臺灣是一個海島。 臺灣的主要語言是中文（繁體中文）。 它有各種文化，有名的特產。 它處於大陸棚上。所以有海鮮。 它有山脈，所以有美麗的風景。 | 台湾是一个海岛。 台湾的主要语言是中文（繁体中文）。 它有各种文化，有名的特产。 它处于大陆架上。所以有海鲜。 它有山脉，所以有美丽的风景。 |
| Pīnyīn | English |
| Táiwān shì yígè hǎidǎo. Táiwān de zhǔyào yǔyán shì zhōngwén (fántǐ zhōngwén). Tā yǒu gèzhǒng wénhuà, yǒumíng de tèchǎn. Tā chǔyú dàlùjià shàng. Suǒyǐ yǒu hǎixiān. Tā yǒu shānmài, suǒyǐ yǒu měilì de fēngjǐng. | Taiwan is an island. Its main language is Chinese (Traditional Chinese). It has a variety kinds of culture, famous local products. It is on the continental shelf. So there is seafood. It has mountains, it has beautiful scenery. |

## Vocabulary

| Trad. Chinese | Simp. Chinese | Pinyin | English |
| 東海 | 东海 | Dōnghǎi | East China Sea |
| 南海 | = | Nánhǎi | South China Sea |
| 山脈 | 山脉 | shānmài | mountain |
| 特產 | 特产 | tèchǎn | local products |
| 海鮮 | 海鲜 | hǎixiān | seafood |
| 大陸*棚 | 大陆*架 | dàlùpéng（dàlùjià） | continental shelf |
| 風景 | 风景 | fēngjǐng | scenery |
| 文化 | = | wénhuà | culture |

### Note

* = means there are no differences in characters.
* * means those are different in using words, rather than in characters.

### Chinese Characters

| Traditional | Simplified | Note |
| 臺 | 台 | "台" is also widely used in Traditional Chinese. Always feel free to use it. |
| 灣 | 湾 | |
| 海 | - | |
| 島 | 岛 | |
| 東 | 东 | |
| 南 | - | |
| 產 | 产 | |
| 鮮 | 鲜 | |
| 麗 | 丽 | |
| 風 | 风 | |
| 景 | - | |

## Grammar

美麗（的）風景 = beautiful scenery Sometimes Chinese people drop the ‘的’ for adjectives to keep it from appearing too many times. They will say ‘美麗風景’ and ‘免費圖書（Free book）’ without the adverb '的'.

# Lesson 12: Mandarin is so interesting/ 第十二课：汉语真有趣！
### 繁体字/Traditional Characters

（仲文在走廊遇到了他的好友思源）
思源：嗨！仲文！你吃早飯了嗎？
仲文：早上好，思源！我吃過早飯了。
思源：根據天氣預報，這一天都會有雨。我沒辦法到操場踢毽子了，真無聊啊。
仲文：確實很無聊，不如咱們來玩斷句遊戲吧！
思源：好啊，你先來！
仲文：這幾天天天天氣不好，請根據語意斷開它吧！
思源：我看看。嗯，答案應該是“這幾天/天天/天氣不好“對吧！ 【1】
仲文：答案正確，換你來考我吧。
思源：這句怎麼樣？小明明明明白白的卻裝作不明白。
仲文：答案是“小明/明明/明明白白/的/卻裝作不明白“對吧？ 【2】
思源：答案正確，你真厲害！
仲文：過獎了，你也很厲害！
思源：漢語真有趣啊！我們兩個的句中都有反復出現的同一個字，可它們卻有不同的意思，還成功構成了一個完整的句子。
仲文：確實。漢語真有趣！
（上課鈴響起）
思源：上課了，我先走了。回見！
仲文：回見！

### 简体字/Simplified Characters

（仲文在走廊遇到了他的好友思源）
思源：嗨！仲文！你吃早饭了吗？
仲文：早上好，思源！我吃过早饭了。
思源：根据天气预报，这一天都会有雨。我没办法到操场踢毽子了，真无聊啊。
仲文：确实很无聊，不如咱们来玩断句游戏吧！
思源：好啊，你先来！
仲文：这几天天天天气不好，请语意断开它吧！
思源：我看看。嗯，答案应该是“这几天/天天/天气不好”对吧！【1】
仲文：答案正确，换你来考我吧。
思源：这句怎么样？小明明明明明白白的却装作不明白。
仲文：答案是“小明/明明/明明白白/的/却装作不明白”对吧？【2】
思源：答案正确，你真厉害！
仲文：过奖了，你也很厉害！
思源：汉语真有趣啊！我们两个的句中都有反复出现的同一个字，可它们却有不同的意思，还成功构成了一个完整的句子。
仲文：确实。汉语真有趣！
（上课铃响起）
思源：上课了，我先走了。回见！
仲文：回见！

### 汉语拼音 / Chinese Pinyin

(Zhòng wén zài zǒuláng yù dàole tā de hǎoyǒu sīyuán)
sīyuán: Hāi! Zhòng wén! Nǐ chī zǎofànle ma?
Zhòng wén: Zǎoshang hǎo, sīyuán! Wǒ chīguò zǎofànle.
Sīyuán: Gēnjù tiānqì yùbào, zhè yītiān dūhuì yǒu yǔ. Wǒ méi bànfǎ dào cāochǎng tī jiànzile, zhēn wúliáo a.
Zhòng wén: Quèshí hěn wúliáo, bùrú zánmen lái wán duànjù yóuxì ba!
Sīyuán: Hǎo ya, nǐ xiān lái!
Zhòng wén: Zhè jǐ tiāntiāntiān tiānqì bù hǎo, qǐng yǔyì duàn kāi tā ba!
Sīyuán: Wǒ kàn kàn.ng , dá'àn yīnggāi shì “zhè jǐ tiān/tiān tiān/tiānqì bù hǎo” duì ba![1]
Zhòng wén: Dá'àn zhèngquè, huàn nǐ lái kǎo wǒ ba.
Sīyuán: Zhè jù zěnme yàng? Xiǎomíngmíngmíngmíngmíngbáibái de què zhuāng zuò bù míngbái.
Zhòng wén: Dá'àn shì “xiǎo míng/míng míng/míng míngbái bái/de/què zhuāng zuò bù míng bái” duì ba?[2]
Sīyuán: Dá'àn zhèngquè, nǐ zhēn lìhài!
Zhòng wén: Guòjiǎngle, nǐ yě hěn lìhài!
Sīyuán: Hànyǔ zhēn yǒuqù a! Wǒmen liǎng gè de jù zhōng dōu yǒu fǎnfù chūxiàn de tóng yīgè zì, kě tāmen què yǒu bùtóng de yìsi, hái chénggōng gòuchéngle yīgè wánzhěng de jùzi.
Zhòng wén: Quèshí. Hànyǔ zhēn yǒuqù!
(Shàngkè líng xiǎngqǐ)
sīyuán: Shàngkèle, wǒ xiān zǒule. Zàijiàn!
Zhòng wén: Zàijiàn!

### 作业/homework

Chinese (Mandarin)/Lesson 13 Chinese (Mandarin)/Lesson 14
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

# Lesson 15

| Simplified characters | Pīnyīn |
| 中国，全称中华人民共和国， 是一个由五十六个民族组成的国家， 位于东亚。 她(1)风景秀丽，历史悠久，文化多元， 这里的人热情好客，他们优美的语言， 等着你来探索。 | Zhōngguó, quánchēng Zhōnghuá rénmín gònghéguó, shì yīgè yóu wǔshíliù gè mínzú zǔchéng de guójiā, wèiyú dōngyà. Tā fēngjǐng xiùlì, lìshǐ yōujiǔ, wénhuà duōyuán, zhèlǐ de rén rèqíng hàokè, tāmen yōuměi de yǔyán, děngzhe nǐ lái tànsuǒ. |

## English

China, officially called the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in which 56 different peoples inhabit, located in East Asia. It has beautiful views, a long history, and diverse culture. The people living there welcome you and their wonderful language is waiting for your exploration.

## Vocabulary

* 共和国 /gòng hé guó/ republic
* 东亚 /dōng yà/ East Asia
* 秀丽 /xiù lì/ beautiful, pretty
* 悠久/ yōu jiǔ/ so long
* 多元 /duō yuán/ diverse
* 好客/hào kè/ welcome to
* 探索/ tàn suǒ/ n. exploration verb. explore

## Note

1 "她" is the feminine third person singular pronoun ("she/her") and is used to represent a female person. Here, it is used as to represent a nation. This “她” could be used to represent nation, natural elements, the planet etc.
Chinese (Mandarin)/Lesson 16

## Chinese languages
### Chinese, Cantonese (Sinitic)

Note: Cantonese is a tonal language. Pronunciations provided below include numbers indicating tone. Tone 1 is high and level/falling; 2 is medium and rising; 3 is medium and level; 4 is low and falling; 5 is low and rising, 6 is low and level. For more info, see Standard Cantonese. The characters shown are Traditional Chinese characters. Pronunciation is given using Jyutping and IPA. However, non-use of the tones will not hinder comprehension for such simple phrases.
| Translation | Phrase | Jyutping | IPA |
| Cantonese: | 廣東話 | gwong2 dung1 waa2 | /kwɔːŋ2 tʊŋ1 wɑː2/ |
| hello | 你好 | nei5 hou2 | /nei5 hou2/ |
| good-bye | 再見 | zoi3 gin3 | /tsɔːi3 kiːn3/ |
| bye-bye | 拜拜 | baai1 baai3 | /pɑːi1 pɑːi3/ |
| please | 唔該 | m4 goi1 | /m̩4 kɔːi1/ |
| thank you (for gifts) | 多謝 | do1 ze3 | /tɔː1 tsɛː3/ |
| thank you (for services rendered) | 唔該 | m4 goi1 | /m̩4 kɔːi1/ |
| sorry | 對唔住 | deoi3 m4 zyu6 | /dɵy3 m̩4 tsyː6/ |
| this one | 呢個 | ni1 go3 or nei1 go3 | /niː1 kɔː3/ or /nei1 kɔː3/ |
| that one | 嗰個 | go2 go3 | /kɔː2 kɔː3/ |
| how much/many? (ask for quantity) | 有幾多個呀 | yau5 gei2 do1 go3 aa3 | /jɐu5 kei2 tɔː1 kɔː3 ɑː3/ |
| how much? (ask for amount of money) | 幾多錢呀 | gei2 do1 cin2 aa3 | /kei2 tɔː1 ts̚in2 ɑː3/ |
| yes | 係 | hai6 | /hɐi6/ |
| no | 唔係 | m4 hai6 | /m̩4 hɐi6/ |
| correct/right | 啱 | am1 | /a:m1/ |
| incorrect/wrong | 唔啱 | m4 am1 | /m̩4 a:m1/ |
| I don’t understand | 我唔明 | ngo5 m4 ming4 | /ŋɔː5 m̩4 mɪŋ4/ |
| Where's the washroom (toilet, lavatory)? | 洗手間喺邊度呀？ | sai2 sau2 gaan1 hai2 bin1 dou6 aa3 | /sɐi2 sɐu2 kɑːn1 hɐi2 piːn1 tou6 ɑː3/ |
| Do you speak English? | 你識唔識講英文呀？ | nei5 sik1 m4 sik1 gong2 jing1 man2 aa3 | /nei5 sɪk1 m̩4 sɪk1 kɔːŋ2 jɪŋ1 mɐn2 ɑː3/ |
Note: Cantonese, like most of the other Chinese languages, does not actually have words for
“yes” and “no”. Translations for “yes” and “no” given above actually mean “it is” and “it
is not” and can be used for questions asking for confirmation. However, for certain yes/no
questions, one would normally respond with the verb or the negation of the verb. For
instance, to respond to a question such as “do you want to go?” one would respond with
“want” or “not want”.

### Chinese, Mandarin (Sinitic)

Note || Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language. Tone 1 (e.g. mā) is high and level; 2 (e.g., má) is rising; 3 (e.g., mǎ) is low dipping; 4 (e.g., mà) is falling. Also note that the first set of characters preceding the slashes are in simplified Chinese characters and the ones following the slashes are in traditional characters. If the simplified- and traditional-character versions of a phrase are identical, only one phrase is shown.
| Translation | Phrase | Pinyin | IPA | Pronunciation | Remarks | Literal meaning |
| Mandarin Chinese | 国语 / 國語or 普通话 / 普通話 | (Guóyǔ) (Pǔtōnghuà) | [kwɔ̌ jỳ] [pʰù tʰʊ̋ŋ xwɑ̂] | (gwo yu) (poo-toong-hwa) | National language Common speech |
| hello | 你好 | (ní hǎo) | [nǐ xàw] | (knee-how) | You're good |
| good-bye | 再见 / 再見 | (zàijiàn) | [tsâj ʨjɛ̂n] | (dzai-jyen) | Meet again, lit “to the next sighting” |
| please | 请 / 請 | (qǐng) | [ʨʰìŋ] | (cheeng) |
| thank you | 谢谢 / 謝謝 | (xièxie) | [ɕjɛ̂-ɕjɛ̂] | (shyeh-shyeh) |
| good morning | 早安 | (zǎo'ān) | | |
| good night | 晚安 | (wǎn'ān) | | |
| good luck | （祝你）好运 / （祝你)好運 | ((zhù nǐ) hǎoyùn) | | |
| that one | 那个 / 那個 | (nèige) | [nêj kə] | (nay guh) | See Usage Note 1 |
| sorry | 对不起 / 對不起 | (duìbuqǐ) | | (dway boo chee) |
| no problem | 没关系 / 沒關係 | (méiguānxì) | | (may gwan shee) |
| how much? | 多少 | (duōshǎo) | [twɔ̋ ʂàw] | (dwo shahw) | Many few |
| English | 英文 | (Yīngwén) | [jɪ̋ŋ wə̌n] | (ing wen) |
| Can you speak English? | 你会说英文吗 / 你會說英文嗎 | Nǐ huì shuō Yīngwén ma? | | | |
| yes | 是 | ('shì) | /ʂɻ̂/ | (sher as in sherpa) | See Usage Note 2 | [It] is |
| no | 不 | (bù) | [pû] | (boo) |
| where's the toilet? | 厕所在哪里 / 廁所在哪裏 | (cèsuǒ zài nǎli?) | [tsʰɤ̂ swɔ̀ tsâj nɑ̌ lì] | (tsuh swo dzai nah lee?) | Not the politest, but you'll get your point across! | Bathroom at/in where |
| generic toast | 干杯 / 乾杯 | (gānbēi) | [ka̋n pe̋j] | (gahn bay) | | Dry glass/cup |
* The second syllable of “nèige” is actually a generic measure word; it is replaced by the appropriate measure word for the noun it refers to. You may therefore hear a number of different syllables after the initial nèi. In many parts of southern China, nèi is also pronounced nà.
* This actually means “it is” and can only be used in an answer to a question with the verb “to be” (in casual speech, this can be neglected). Languages like Chinese, Irish, Toki Pona, and Welsh do not have words for “yes” or “no”. Instead you repeat the main verb of the question in your answer. Shaking your head in affirmation or negation works as expected, though speakers should ensure they are answering negative questions as literally asked – answering in the negative to “You don’t like him?” would indicate that you do like him.

### Chinese, Shanghainese (Sinitic)

Note: Chinese characters for Shanghainese are not standardized and are provided for reference only. IPA transcription is for the Middle period of modern Shanghainese (中派上海话), pronunciation of those between 20 and 60 years old.
| translation | Northern Wu | Lumazi | IPA | Simplified Chinese |
| Shanghainese (language): | Zanheghaewo | Zanheireiwo | [zɑ̃.'he.ɦɛ.ɦʊ] | 上海咸话 |
| Shanghainese (people): | Zanhegnin | Zanheinin | [zɑ̃.'he.ɲɪɲ] | 上海人 |
| I | ghoo, gnou | wo, ngu | [ɦʊ], [ŋu] | 我 |
| we or I | álá | aelae | [ɐˑ.lɐʔ] | 阿拉 |
| he/she | ji | yi | [ɦi] | 伊 |
| they | jila | yila | [ɦi.la] | 伊拉 |
| you (sing.) | non | non | [noŋ] | 侬 |
| you (plural) | na | na | [na] | 人那 |
| hello: | non ho | non ho | [noŋ hɔ] | 侬好 |
| good-bye: | tsewe | tzeiwei | [ˈtse.ɦue] | 再会 |
| thank you: | ziaja non | zhaya non | [ʑ̻ia.ja noŋ] | 谢谢侬 |
| sorry: | tevéchi | teivechi | [te.vəˑ.ʨʰi] | 对勿起 |
| but, however: | daezu, daezu ne | deizi, deizi nei | [dɛ.zɿ], [dɛ.zɿ.ne] | 但是, 但是呢 |
| please: | tshin | chin | [ʨʰɪɲ] | 请 |
| that one: | etsá, itsá | eitzae, itzae | [ˈe.tsɐʔ], [i.tsɐʔ] | 哎只, 伊只 |
| there: | etá, itá | eitae, itae | [ˈe.tɐʔ], [i.tɐʔ] | 哎耷, 伊耷 |
| over there: | emitá, imitá | eimitae, imitae | [ˈe.mi.tɐʔ], [i.mi.tɐʔ] | 哎米耷, 伊米耷 |
| here: | gétá | getae | [gəˑ.tɐʔ] | 搿耷 |
| to have | jeuté | youte | [ɦiɤɯ.təʔ] | 有得 |
| to exist, here, present: | láhe | laehei | [lɐˑ.he] | 辣海 |
| now, current: | jieze | yizei | [ɦi.ze] | 现在 |
| what time is it?: | jieze citie tson? | yizei citi tzon? | [ɦi.ze ʨi.ti 'tsoŋ] | 现在几点钟？ |
| where: | ghalitá, sadifan | ralitae, sadifan | [ɦa.ɺi.tɐʔ], [sa.di.fɑ̃] | 何里耷, 啥地方 |
| what: | sa | sa | [sa] | 啥 |
| who: | sagnin | sanin | [sa.ɲɪɲ] | 啥人 |
| why: | wesa | weisa | [ɦue.sa] | 为啥 |
| when: | sazencuan | sazenkuan | [sa.zəɲ.kuɑ̃] | 啥辰光 |
| how: | nanen, nana, nanenca | nanen, nana, nanenka | [na.nəɲ], [na.na], [na.nəɲ.ka] | 哪能, 哪哪, 哪能家 |
| how much?: | cidie a? | cidi a? | [ʨi.di 'a] | 几钿啊? |
| yes: | eh | ei | [ˈe] | 哎 |
| no: | m, vézu, mmé, vio | m, vezi, mme, vio | [m̩], [vəˑ.zɿ], [m̩məʔ], [viɔ] | 呒、勿是、呒没 |
| telephone number: | diewo ghodeu | diwo rodou | [di.ɦʊ ɦɔ.dɤɯ] | 电话号头 |
| home: | ólihian | oelishan | [oˑ.ɺi.ɕiã] | 屋里向 |
| Come to our house and play. | to álá ólihian le bésian. | to aelae oelishan lei beshan. | [tɔ ɐˑ.lɐʔ oˑ.ɺi.ɕiɑ̃ le bəˑ.ɕiã] | 到阿拉屋里向来孛相（白相）！ |
| Where's the restroom?: | daseucae lélá ghalitá? | dasoukei lelae ralitae? | [da.sɤɯ.kɛ ɺəˑ.ɺɐʔ ɦa.ɺi.tɐʔ] | 汏手间勒勒何里耷? |
| Have you eaten dinner?: | javae chícoulé va? | yavei chiekule va? | [ɦia.vɛ ʨʰɪˑ.ku.ləʔ va] | 夜饭吃过了伐? |
| I don’t know: | ghoo véhioté. | wo veshote. | [ɦʊ vəˑ.ɕiɔ.təʔ] | 我勿晓得 |
| Do you speak English?: | non Inven weté can va? | non Inven weite kan va? | [noŋ ˈɪn.vəɲ ɦue.təʔ kã va] | 侬英文会得讲伐? |
| I love you: | ghoo e non! | wo ei non. | [ɦʊ e noŋ] | 我爱侬！ |
| I adore you: | ghoo emó non. | wo eimoe non. | [ɦʊ e.moʔ noŋ] | 我爱慕侬 |
| I like you a lot: | ghoo lo huoehi non ghé! | wo lo hueushi non re. | [ɦʊ ɺɔ ˈhuø.ɕi noŋ ɦəʔ] | 我老欢喜侬个！ |
| news | sinven | shinven | [ɕɪɲ.vəɲ] | 新闻 |
| dead | sithélé | shithele | [ɕi.tʰəˑ.ləʔ] | 死脱了 |
| alive | wéláhe | welaehei | [ɦuəˑ.lɐˑ.he] | 活辣海 |
Unlike Mandarin, Shanghainese actually has the direct “yes” (eh/ei) similar to English.

### Chinese, Min Nan / Taiwanese (Sinitic)

The Han characters provided below are for reference only. They are not necessarily standard.
| Translation | Characters | Romanization | Remarks |
| Min Nan | 閩南語 | Bân-lâm-gú |
| Taiwanese | 臺灣話 | Tâi-oân-oē |
| Hokkien | 福建話 | Hok-kiàn-oē |
| Hello. | 食飽未? | Chia̍h pá boeh? | (literally, Eaten full yet? Note: This greeting came about at a time when most of Taiwan was in poverty, so to say that one has had enough to eat would be to imply that the person is “doing well”.) |
| Goodbye. | 平安 | Pêng-an. | (literally, Peace, can also be used as a greeting; primarily Christian usage.) |
| Please | 拜託 | Pài-thok |
| Thank you | 勞力 | Ló·-la̍t | 感謝 (Kám-siā) (literally, "be grateful for, praise") or 感恩 (Kám-ún) is more common in Taiwan. |
| That one | 彼個 | Hit-ê |
| how much? | 若濟? | goā choē? |
| is | 是 | Sī |
| not | 唔是 | m̄-sī | (literally, "not is") |
| Sorry | 失禮 | Sit-le | |
| Embarrassed! | 歹勢! | Pháiⁿ-sè! | (often used in response when offered/given something by a host) |
| I don't understand. | 我聽無. | Goá thiaⁿ bô. | (literally, "I hear not") |
| Where's the bathroom? | 便所佇叨? | Piān-só· tī toh? | (literally "bathroom is where?") |
| Cheers! | 呼乾啦! | Hō· ta lah! | (literally, Let it [the cup/glass] be dry [empty]!) |
| Do you speak English? | 你咁講英語? | Lí kám kóng Eng-gú? |
Chinese/Everyday Phrases
* Pinyin-Hanzi-English Chinese-English dictionary
* WrittenChinese.Com Free Online Chinese-English Dictionary Search results are ranked by frequency of occurrence in everyday Chinese text.
* Yahoo!奇摩字典
* Multilingual Chinese Dictionary 9 languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian...)
* Chinese <-> English Online Dictionary with Pinyin and Zhuyin.
* English - Chinese Dictionary
* Chinese <-> Dictionary search in Chinese, pinyin or English
* zhongwen A Chinese Dictionary
* Ting Audio Dictionary Chinese English dictionary with Illustration sentences
* Chinese <-> English Online Dictionary with English pronunciation and Pinyin (Simplified Chinese简体)
* Chinese <-> English Online Dictionary with traditional characters and flashcards
* Chinese <-> French Online Dictionary with flashcards
* Chinese Tutor's Chinese-English Dictionary - Searchable by English, Pinyin, and Hanzi. Simplified & Traditional characters. Most words have audio.
Please add all vocabulary that is used in this book, and any more that should be included in the first year's worth of Chinese lessons. This is not meant to be a full dictionary with thousands of entries (see Wiktionary for that), but a reference for users of this textbook.

## A

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| actor | 演员 | yǎnyuán | noun | |

## B

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| bad | 坏 (壞) | huài | adj. | |
| bus | 公共汽车 (公共汽車) | gōnggòngqìchē | noun | |
| busy | 忙 | máng | adj. | 2 |

## C

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech |
| car | 轿车 (轎車) | jiàochē | noun |
| city | 城市 | chéngshì | noun |
| computer | 电脑 / 计算机 (電腦) | dìannǎo / jìsuànjī (diànnǎo) | noun |
| countryside | 乡下 (鄉下) | xiāngxià | noun |

## D

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| dangerous | 危险 (危險) | wēixǐan | adj. | |
| dog | 狗 | gǒu | noun | |

## E

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| ear | 耳朵 | ěrduo | noun | |

## F

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech |
| France | 法国 (法國) | Fǎguó | noun |
| fish | 鱼 (魚) | yú | noun |
| frog | 青蛙 | qīngwā | noun |

## G

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| good | 好 | hǎo | adj. | |

## H

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| ham | 火腿 | huǒtuǐ | noun | |

## I

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| iceberg | 冰山 | bīngshān | noun | |

## J

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| jaguar | 美洲豹 | měizhōubào | noun | |

## K

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| knife | 刀 | dāo | noun | |

## L

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech |
| land | 地 | dì | noun |
| look | 看 | kàn | verb |
| love | 爱 (愛) | ài | verb |

## M

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech |
| metre (metric unit) | 米 | mǐ | noun |
| money | 钱 | qián | noun |
| mountain | 山 | shān | noun |

## N

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| nation | 国家 (國家) | guójīa | noun | |
| now | 现在 (現在) | xìanzaì | adverb, noun | |

## O

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| owner | 主人 | zhǔrén | noun | |

## P

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| please | 请 (請) | qǐng | interjection | |
| person | 人 | rén | noun | |

## Q

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| quilt | 被子 | bèizi | noun | |

## R

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| rain | 雨 | yǔ | noun | |
| rice | 米 | mǐ | noun | |

## S

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| sand | 沙子 | shāzi | noun | |

## T

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| sunny day | 晴天 | qíngtiān | noun | |

## U

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| up | 上 | shàng | adverb, preposition | |

## V

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| volcano | 火山 | huǒshān | noun | |

## W

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| water | 水 | shuǐ | noun | |
| we, us | 我们 (我們) | wǒmen | pronoun | 1 |
| week | 星期, 周 | xīngqī, zhōu | noun | |
| what | 什么 (什麼) | shénme | pronoun | 1 |
| which, what | 哪个 | nǎgè | pronoun | 1 |
| who, whom | 谁 (誰) | shéi | pronoun | 1 |
| winter | 冬天 | dōngtiān | noun | |

## X

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| xylophone | 木琴 | mùqín | noun | |

## Y

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| yoga | 瑜伽 | yújiā | noun | |

## Z

| English | Simp. (Trad.) | Pīnyīn | Part of speech | Lesson Introduced |
| zebra | 斑马 (斑馬) | bānmǎ | noun | |

## Lesson1
### Matching Sentences

1c,2g,3d,4b,5f,6a,7h,8e
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
Chinese, like all languages, has its own set of unique greetings which may be seemingly strange to learners of the language (this is particularly true if the two cultures are vastly different). Below, you will find commonly-used Mandarin greetings and farewells, along with corresponding pinyin pronunciations.

## Hello

* 你好。 nǐ hǎo; The standard "hello" greeting. Literally means "you good."
* 您好。 nín hǎo; The same "hello" greeting as above, except that 您 (nín), like in many European languages, is the polite form of "you", used when addressing elders, or teachers etc.
* 你好吗？　你好嗎？ nǐ hǎo ma?; More often used following a greeting than not, however, this can be used as a "How are you?.
* 您好吗？　您好嗎？ nín hǎo ma?; The same as the "nǐ hǎo ma?" above, again, except that this is used as a more polite form.
* 你怎么样？你怎麼樣？ nǐ zěnmeyàng?; "What's up?", "How are you doing?"
* 幸会　幸會 xìnghuì! "Nice to meet you!" Used for the first meeting.
* 久仰 jiǔyǎng; An extremely polite greeting that is not commonly used between friends, but rather between professionals meeting for the first time.
* 久闻大名　久聞大名 jiǔwéndàmíng; This greeting should be reserved for use towards those whom you have extreme respect for, and is used for the first meeting. Literal translation: "Your name is famous" / "I have heard much about you".
* 久仰大名 jiǔyǎngdàmíng; The same as above one.

## Good morning

* 早 zǎo; Also good morning.
* 早安 zǎo'ān; Seldom used in the Mainland.
* 早上好 zǎoshàng hǎo.

## Good afternoon

* 午安 wǔ'ān; note: seldom used in the Mainland. Mostly used in the Republic of China and the rest of the Chinese speaking world.
* 下午好 xìawǔ hǎo! Seldom used in the Republic of China and in the Chinese speaking world.

## Good evening / Good night

* 晚安 wǎn'an; Literally "Peace at night", Good night.
* 晚上好 wǎnshang hǎo; Good evening!

## Good-bye

* 再见　再見 zàijian; Literally "See you again".
* 明天见　明天見 míngtian jiàn; Literally "See you tomorrow".
* 拜拜 bāibāi/báibái; From English "Bye-Bye". Widely used in Hong Kong, Taiwan and most urbanised parts of mainland China. 掰掰 (báibái) is the variant character form that is gaining popularity in ROC.
* 回头见　回頭見 huítóujiàn: roughly equivalent to "see you soon", used in northern China.
* 再会 再會 zàihuì: Literally "[we'll] hello again". Usually used in Shanghai or other parts of China, and sometimes used at the end of TV programs.

## Chinese New Year Greetings

* Xīnnián kuàilè 新年快乐　新年快樂 Happy New Year
* gōngxǐ fācái 恭喜发财　恭喜發財 gongxi facai
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
^ Chinese ^ | <<Pronunciation of Finals | Possible Initial-Final Combinations | Using Tones>>
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

## Table of Possible Combinations of Chinese Initials and Finals

The table below shows all possible combinations of initials and finals in Pinyin (not including -r modified syllables). It also does not reflect the use of tones. Some combinations may only be valid with the use of one tone, while others may be valid with multiple tones.
| Pinyin table | Pinyin table | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Initials | Pinyin table | Pinyin table |
| Pinyin table | Pinyin table | (no initial) | b | p | m | f | d | t | n | l | g | k | h | j | q | x | zh | ch | sh | r | z | c | s | Pinyin table | Pinyin table |
| Group a Finals | (no final) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | zhi | chi | shi | ri | zi | ci | si | (no final) | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | a | a | ba | pa | ma | fa | da | ta | na | la | ga | ka | ha | | | | zha | cha | sha | | za | ca | sa | a | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | o | o | bo | po | mo | fo | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | o | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | e | e | | | me | | de | te | ne | le | ge | ke | he | | | | zhe | che | she | re | ze | ce | se | e | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | ê | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ê | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | ai | ai | bai | pai | mai | | dai | tai | nai | lai | gai | kai | hai | | | | zhai | chai | shai | | zai | cai | sai | ai | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | ei | ei | bei | pei | mei | fei | dei | | nei | lei | gei | kei | hei | | | | zhei | | shei | | zei | | | ei | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | ao | ao | bao | pao | mao | | dao | tao | nao | lao | gao | kao | hao | | | | zhao | chao | shao | rao | zao | cao | sao | ao | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | ou | ou | | pou | mou | fou | dou | tou | nou | lou | gou | kou | hou | | | | zhou | chou | shou | rou | zou | cou | sou | ou | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | an | an | ban | pan | man | fan | dan | tan | nan | lan | gan | kan | han | | | | zhan | chan | shan | ran | zan | can | san | an | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | en | en | ben | pen | men | fen | den | | nen | | gen | ken | hen | | | | zhen | chen | shen | ren | zen | cen | sen | en | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | ang | ang | bang | pang | mang | fang | dang | tang | nang | lang | gang | kang | hang | | | | zhang | chang | shang | rang | zang | cang | sang | ang | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | eng | eng | beng | peng | meng | feng | deng | teng | neng | leng | geng | keng | heng | | | | zheng | cheng | sheng | reng | zeng | ceng | seng | eng | Group a Finals |
| Group a Finals | er | er | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | er | Group a Finals |
| Group i Finals | i | yi | bi | pi | mi | | di | ti | ni | li | | | | ji | qi | xi | | | | | | | | i | Group i Finals |
| Group i Finals | ia | ya | | | | | | | | lia | | | | jia | qia | xia | | | | | | | | ia | Group i Finals |
| Group i Finals | io | yo | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | io | Group i Finals |
| Group i Finals | ie | ye | bie | pie | mie | | die | tie | nie | lie | | | | jie | qie | xie | | | | | | | | ie | Group i Finals |
| Group i Finals | iai | yai | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | iai | Group i Finals |
| Group i Finals | iao | yao | biao | piao | miao | | diao | tiao | niao | liao | | | | jiao | qiao | xiao | | | | | | | | iao | Group i Finals |
| Group i Finals | iu | you | | | miu | | diu | | niu | liu | | | | jiu | qiu | xiu | | | | | | | | iu | Group i Finals |
| Group i Finals | ian | yan | bian | pian | mian | | dian | tian | nian | lian | | | | jian | qian | xian | | | | | | | | ian | Group i Finals |
| Group i Finals | in | yin | bin | pin | min | | | | nin | lin | | | | jin | qin | xin | | | | | | | | in | Group i Finals |
| Group i Finals | iang | yang | | | | | | | niang | liang | | | | jiang | qiang | xiang | | | | | | | | iang | Group i Finals |
| Group i Finals | ing | ying | bing | ping | ming | | ding | ting | ning | ling | | | | jing | qing | xing | | | | | | | | ing | Group i Finals |
| Group u Finals | u | wu | bu | pu | mu | fu | du | tu | nu | lu | gu | ku | hu | | | | zhu | chu | shu | ru | zu | cu | su | u | Group u Finals |
| Group u Finals | ua | wa | | | | | | | | | gua | kua | hua | | | | zhua | chua | shua | | | | | ua | Group u Finals |
| Group u Finals | uo | wo | | | | | duo | tuo | nuo | luo | guo | kuo | huo | | | | zhuo | chuo | shuo | ruo | zuo | cuo | suo | uo | Group u Finals |
| Group u Finals | uai | wai | | | | | | | | | guai | kuai | huai | | | | zhuai | chuai | shuai | | | | | uai | Group u Finals |
| Group u Finals | ui | wei | | | | | dui | tui | | | gui | kui | hui | | | | zhui | chui | shui | rui | zui | cui | sui | ui | Group u Finals |
| Group u Finals | uan | wan | | | | | duan | tuan | nuan | luan | guan | kuan | huan | | | | zhuan | chuan | shuan | ruan | zuan | cuan | suan | uan | Group u Finals |
| Group u Finals | un | wen | | | | | dun | tun | | lun | gun | kun | hun | | | | zhun | chun | shun | run | zun | cun | sun | un | Group u Finals |
| Group u Finals | uang | wang | | | | | | | | | guang | kuang | huang | | | | zhuang | chuang | shuang | | | | | uang | Group u Finals |
| Group u Finals | ong | weng | | | | | dong | tong | nong | long | gong | kong | hong | | | | zhong | chong | | rong | zong | cong | song | ong | Group u Finals |
| Group ü Finals | ü | yu | | | | | | | nü | lü | | | | ju | qu | xu | | | | | | | | ü | Group ü Finals |
| Group ü Finals | üe | yue | | | | | | | nüe | lüe | | | | jue | que | xue | | | | | | | | üe | Group ü Finals |
| Group ü Finals | üan | yuan | | | | | | | | lüan | | | | juan | quan | xuan | | | | | | | | üan | Group ü Finals |
| Group ü Finals | ün | yun | | | | | | | | lün | | | | jun | qun | xun | | | | | | | | ün | Group ü Finals |
| Group ü Finals | iong | yong | | | | | | | | | | | | jiong | qiong | xiong | | | | | | | | iong | Group ü Finals |
| Pinyin table | Pinyin table | (no initial) | b | p | m | f | d | t | n | l | g | k | h | j | q | x | zh | ch | sh | r | z | c | s | Pinyin table | Pinyin table |
| Pinyin table ||||||||||||||||||||||
       Colour Legend:
       "regular" initial or final Final is in Group a or is a direct combination of: i+Group a final u+Group a final ü+Group a final Final of i, u, ü groups is a modified combination of: i+Group a final u+Group a final ü+Group a final syllable is direct combination of initial and final (or follows rules for standalone initials and finals, explained in pronunciation basics) syllable is modified combination of initial and final
       Modified i, u, and ü group finals:
       The following finals in the i, u, and ü groups are a modified combination of i, u or ü with a group a final:
         * ie=i+ê
         * iu=i+ou
         * in=i+en
         * ing=i+eng
         * ui=u+ei
         * un=u+en
         * ong=u+eng
         * üe=ü+ê
         * ün=ü+en
         * iong=i+u+eng
^ Chinese ^ | <<Pronunciation of Finals | Possible Initial-Final Combinations | Using Tones>>
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |

## Number System (數字系統)
### 基本用字

Listen to audio (help·info)
* 0: 〇 (零)： líng
* 1: 一 (壹) yī
* 2: 二 (Traditional:貳; simplified:贰) èr
* 3: 三 (Traditional:參; simplified:参) sān
* 4: 四 (肆) sì
* 5: 五 (伍) wǔ
* 6: 六 (Traditional:陸; simplified:陆) liù
* 7: 七 (柒) qī
* 8: 八 (捌) bā
* 9: 九 (玖) jiǔ
* 10: 十 (拾) shí
* 100: 百 (佰) bǎi
* 1,000: 千 (仟) qiān
* 10,000: 万 (萬) wàn (1'0000)
* 100,000: 十万 (拾萬) shíwàn (10'0000)
* 1,000,000: 一百万 (壹佰萬) yībǎi wàn (100'0000)
* 100,000,000: 一亿 (壹億) yīyì (1'0000'0000)
* 1,000,000,000,000: 一兆 yīzhào (1'0000'0000'0000)
The parenthesized entries are the complex and formal forms, which are used mainly in notarized, official documents, and when writing checks. An exception is zero; the complex form is much more widely used than a casual circle. The complex forms are known in English as banker's anti-fraud numerals, in Chinese as 大寫 (simplified Chinese: 大写; Hanyu Pinyin: dàxiě; which is the same term for "capital letter"). They are necessary because, since normal Chinese characters are so simple, a forger could easily change 三十 to 五千 with just three strokes. See Standard numbers for more information.
Some Chinese characters used as complex and formal numerals have other uses as well, possible as heteronyms. For example:
* 貳èr can also mean "to betray".
* 肆sì can also mean "to be impudent".
* 伍wǔ can also mean "military" figuratively and be a surname. It can also mean line when said as "队伍"
* 陸 means six formally when pronounced liù, but "land" or a surname when pronounced lù.
* 拾shí can also mean "to pick up".

### 個十百千萬 Larger Numbers

* 十一 shíyī (eleven)
* 十二 shí'èr (twelve)
等(děng) etc.
* 二十一 èrshíyī (twenty-one)
* 二十二 èrshí'èr (twenty-two)
等 etc.
* 一百 yībǎi (one hundred)
* 一百零一 yībǎi líng yī (one hundred one)
* 一百五十八 yībǎi wǔshíbā (one hundred fifty eight)
* 二百三十 èrbǎi sānshí (two hundred thirty)
等 etc.
* 一千 yīqiān (one thousand)
* 七千二百五十三 qīqiān èrbǎi wǔshísān (seven thousand two hundred fifty-three)
等 etc.
* 一萬 yīwàn (one myriad or ten thousand)
* 四萬三千 sìwàn sānqiān (forty-three thousand)
等 etc.

## 更大的數字（億兆） Even Larger Numbers

* 一億五千萬 yīyì wǔqiān wàn (1'5000'0000) 150,000,000 (one hundred fifty million)
* 兩億零八十萬 liǎngyì líng bāshí wàn (2'0080'0000) 200,800,000 (two hundred million eight hundred thousand)
等 etc.

## 中文中零的用法 The Use of Zero in Chinese

If a number ends in zero, there is no need to include the Chinese character for zero. For example,
* 350: 三百五十
* 1350: 一千三百五十
* 1600: 一千六百
However, if the zero character does not end the number (i.e., it is followed by a non-zero character), it is necessary to include the zero character, while the "tens-place" characters are dropped. For example,
* 305: 三百零五 (not 三百零十五)
* 1035: 一千零三十五 (not 一千零百三十五)
Note that the "十" in the first example and the "百" in the second example are dropped.
If a zero digit is followed by one or more zero digits, only one zero character is need. For example,
* 1006: 一千零六 (not 一千零零六)
* 300,250: 三十萬零二百五十 (30'0250)
* 8,000,300: 八百萬零三百 (800'0300)

## 數字手勢 Chinese Gestures for Numbers

* 1 一 yī
* 2 二 èr
* 3 三 sān
* 4 四 sì
* 5 五 wǔ
Note:hand signs are the same as Western hand signs. Except for six, hold out your thumb and pinky. For seven, make a "peacock head" by putting all of your fingers on your thumb. For eight, hold your thumb and second finger facing up. For nine, make your second finger look like a hook and then hold it out facing up. Source: commons:數字手勢
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
Here's a list of some nations and regions, with their names in Chinese. Note that the country's name can also be used as an adjective. For example, 日本货 (rìběn huò) means "Japanese goods," and is derived from 日本 (rìběn; Japan) and 货 (huò; goods). As an aside, China imports a good number of products from Japan. Between 2001 and 2007, it was the greatest exporter to China, beating the European Union, South Korea, and Taiwan. You could also say 日本椅子 (rìběn yǐzi; Japanese chair), 日本食品 (rìběn shípǐn; Japanese food products), and 日本动画片 (rìběn dònghuà piàn; Japanese cartoons). Terms like these can be shortened, for example, 日货 means the same thing. You can see 日 is an adjective which means "pertaining to Japan," i.e., "Japanese." Another way to describe its function is that it acts like a "root," much like in English. Headlines are often abbreviated this way. For example, 中俄合作 (zhōng é hézuò) can mean "China and Russia cooperate" or "Sino-Russian cooperation." In common conversation, however, excessive abbreviation is undesirable, because it often leads to ambiguity.

### References

* ↑ Starmass International. "China Imports by Main Countries". Retrieved 22 June 2012.

## Asia 亚洲 / 亞洲 Yàzhōu

East Asia 东亚 / 東亞 Dōngyà :
| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| China | 中国 | 中國 | Zhōngguó |
| Hong Kong | 香港 | 香港 | Xiānggăng |
| Japan | 日本 | 日本 | Rìbĕn |
| Macao | 澳门 | 澳門 | Àomén |
| North Korea | 朝鲜/北朝鲜/北韩 | 朝鮮/北朝鮮/北韓 | Cháoxǐan/Běicháoxǐan/BěiHán |
| South Korea | 韩国/南韓 | 韓國/南韓 | Hánguó/Nánhán |
| Taiwan | 台湾 | 臺灣/台灣 | Táiwan |
Southeast Asia 东南亚 / 東南亞 Dōngnányà :
| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| Brunei | 文莱 | 汶萊 | Wénlái |
| Cambodia | 柬埔寨 | 柬埔寨 | Jiănpŭzhài |
| East Timor | 东帝汶 | 東帝汶 | Dōngdìwèn |
| Indonesia | 印度尼西亚（印尼） | 印度尼西亞（印尼） | Yìndùníxīyă（Yìnní） |
| Laos | 老挝（寮国） | 老撾（寮國） | Lǎowō （Liáoguó） |
| Malaysia | 马来西亚（大马） | 馬來西亞（大馬） | Măláixīyă（Dàmǎ） |
| Myanmar | 缅甸 | 緬甸 | Miăndiàn |
| Philippines | 菲律宾 | 菲律賓 | Fēilǜbīn |
| Singapore | 新加坡 | 新加坡 | Xīnjiāpō |
| Thailand | 泰国 | 泰國 | Tàiguó |
| Vietnam | 越南 | 越南 | Yuènán |
South Asia 南亚 / 南亞 Nányà :
| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| Bangladesh | 孟加拉国 | 孟加拉國 | Mèngjiālāguó |
| Bhutan | 不丹 | 不丹 | Bùdān |
| India | 印度 | 印度 | Yìndù |
| Maldives | 马尔代夫 | 馬爾地夫 | Mă'ěrdàifū(Simplified) Mă'ěrdìfū(Traditional) |
| Nepal | 尼泊尔 | 尼泊爾 | Níbó'ěr |
| Pakistan | 巴基斯坦 | 巴基斯坦 | Bājīsītăn |
| Sri Lanka | 斯里兰卡 | 斯里蘭卡 | Sīlĭlánkă |
Central Asia 中亚 / 中亞 Zhōngyà :
| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| Afghanistan | 阿富汗 | 阿富汗 | Āfùhàn |
| Kazakhstan | 哈萨克斯坦 | 哈薩克（哈薩克斯坦） | Hāsàkèsītǎn |
| Kyrgyzstan | 吉尔吉斯坦 | 吉爾吉斯（吉爾吉斯坦） | Jíěrjísīsītǎn |
| Mongolia | 蒙古 | 蒙古 | Ménggŭ |
| Tajikistan | 塔吉克斯坦 | 塔吉克 | Tăjíkèsītǎn |
| Turkmenistan | 土库曼斯坦 | 土庫曼（土庫曼斯坦） | Tŭkùmànsītǎn |
| Uzbekistan | 乌兹别克斯坦 | 烏茲別克（烏茲別克斯坦） | Wūzībiékèsītǎn |
Southwest Asia (Middle East) 西南亚（中东）/ 西南亞（中東）Xīnányà (Zhōngdōng) :
| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| Armenia | 亚美尼亚 | 亞美尼亞 | Yàmĕiníyà |
| Azerbaijan | 阿塞拜疆 | 亞塞拜然 | Āsàibàijiāng(Simplified) Yàsàibàirán(Traditional) |
| Bahrain | 巴林 | 巴林 | Bālín |
| Cyprus | 塞浦路斯 | 塞浦勒斯 | Sàipǔlùsī |
| Georgia | 格鲁吉亚 | 喬治亞 | Gélǔjíyà(Simplified) Qiáozhìyà(Traditional) |
| Iran | 伊朗 | 伊朗 | Yīlăng |
| Iraq | 伊拉克 | 伊拉克 | Yīlākè |
| Israel | 以色列 | 以色列 | Yǐsèliè |
| Jordan | 约旦 | 約旦 | Yuēdàn |
| Kuwait | 科威特 | 科威特 | Kēwēitè |
| Lebanon | 黎巴嫩 | 黎巴嫩 | Líbānèn |
| Oman | 阿曼 | 阿曼 | Āmàn |
| Qatar | 卡塔尔 | 卡達 | Kǎtǎ'ĕr(Simplified) Kǎdá(Traditional) |
| Saudi Arabia | 沙特阿拉伯 | 沙烏地阿拉伯 | Shātè'ālābó(Simplified) Shāwūdìālābó(Traditional) |
| Syria | 叙利亚 | 敘利亞 | Xùlìyà |
| Turkey | 土耳其 | 土耳其 | Tǔ'ĕrqí |
| United Arab Emirates | 阿拉伯联合酋长国 | 阿拉伯聯合大公國 | Ālābó Liánhé Qiúzhǎngguó(Simplified) Ālābó liánhé dàgōngguó(Traditional) |
| Yemen | 也门 | 葉門 | Yĕmén(Simplified) Yèmén(Traditional) |

## Oceania 大洋洲 Dàyángzhōu

| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| Australia | 澳大利亚（澳洲） | 澳大利亞（澳洲） | Àodàlìyà (Aòzhōu) |
| Kiribati | 基里巴斯 | 吉里巴斯 | Jīlǐbāsī |
| Fiji | 斐济 | 斐濟 | Fěijì |
| Marshall Islands | 马绍尔群岛 | 馬紹爾群島 | Mǎshào'ěr Qúndǎo |
| Micronesia | 密克罗尼西亚 | 密克羅尼西亞 | Mìkèluóníxīyà |
| Nauru | 瑙鲁 | 諾魯 | Nǎolǔ |
| New Zealand | 纽西兰（新西兰） | 紐西蘭 | Niŭxīlán (Xīnxīlán) |
| Palau | 帕劳 | 帛琉 | Bóliú(Traditional) Pàláo(Simplified) |
| Papua New Guinea | 巴布亚新几内亚 | 巴布亞新幾內亞 | Bābùyà Xīnjǐnèiyà |
| Samoa | 萨摩亚 | 薩摩亞 | Sàmóyà |
| Solomon Islands | 所罗门群岛 | 所羅門群島 | Suǒluómén Qúndǎo |
| Tonga | 汤加 | 東加（湯加） | Tāngjiā |
| Tuvalu | 图瓦卢 | 吐瓦魯 | Tùwǎlú (Túwǎlǔ) |
| Vanuatu | 瓦努阿图 | 萬那杜 | Wǎnǔ'ātú(Simplified) Wànnàdù(Traditional) ) |

## America 美洲 Měizhōu

North America 北美洲 Běi Měizhōu :
| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| Canada | 加拿大 | 加拿大 | Jiānádà |
| Cuba | 古巴 | 古巴 | Gŭbā |
| Mexico | 墨西哥 | 墨西哥 | Mòxīgē |
| United States | 美国 | 美國 | Měiguó |
Central America 中美洲 Zhōngměizhōu :
| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| Belize | 伯利兹 | 貝里斯 | Bólìzī/Bèilǐsī |
| Costa Rica | 哥斯达黎加 | 哥斯大黎加 | Gēsīdálíjīa |
| El Salvador | 萨尔瓦多 | 薩爾瓦多 | Sà'ěrwǎduō |
| Guatemala | 危地马拉 | 瓜地馬拉 | Wēidìmālā/Guādìmǎlā |
| Honduras | 洪都拉斯 | 宏都拉斯 | Hóngdūlāsī |
| Nicaragua | 尼加拉瓜 | 尼加拉瓜 | Níjiālāguā |
| Panama | 巴拿马 | 巴拿馬 | Bānámǎ |
Caribbean Islands 加勒比 Jiālèbǐ Qǔndǎo :
| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| Antigua and Barbuda | 安提瓜和巴不达 | 安提瓜和巴布達 | Āntíguā hé Bābùdá |
| Bahamas | 巴哈马 | 巴哈馬 | Bāhāmǎ |
| Barbados | 巴巴多斯 | 巴巴多斯 | Bābāduōsī |
| Dominica | 多米尼加 | 多明尼加 | Duōmǐníjiā |
| Dominican Republic | 多米尼加共和国 | 多明尼加共和國 | Duōmǐníjiā Gònghéguó |
| Grenada | 格林纳达 | 格瑞那達 | Gélínnàdá/Géruìnàdá |
| Haiti | 海地 | 海地 | Hǎidì |
| Jamaica | 牙买加 | 牙買加 | Yámǎijiā |
| Puerto Rico | 波多黎各 | 波多黎各 | Bōduōlígè |
| St. Kitts and Nevis | 圣基茨和尼维斯 | 聖基茨和尼維斯 | Shèngjīcí hé Níwéisī |
| St. Lucia | 圣卢西亚 | 聖露西亞 | Shèng Lúxīyà /Shèng Lùxīyà |
| St. Vincent and the Grenadines | 圣文森特和格林纳丁斯 | 聖文森和格林納丁斯 | Shèng Wénsēntè hé Gélínnàdīngsī |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 特里尼达和多巴哥 | 千里達 | Tèlǐnídá hé Duōbāgē/Qiānlǐdá |
South America 南美洲 Nán Měizhōu :
| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| Argentina | 阿根廷 | 阿根廷 | Āgēntíng |
| Bolivia | 玻利维亚 | 玻利維亞 | Bōlìwéiyà |
| Brazil | 巴西 | 巴西 | Bāxī |
| Chile | 智利 | 智利 | Zhìlì |
| Colombia | 哥伦比亚 | 哥倫比亞 | GēLúnBǐYà |
| Ecuador | 厄瓜多尔 | 厄瓜多爾 | Èguāduō'ěr |
| Falkland Islands (UK) | 马尔维纳斯群岛 | 福克蘭群島 | Mǎ'ěrwéinàsī Qúndǎo/Fúkèlán Qúndǎo |
| French Guiana (France) | 法属圭亚那 | 法屬蓋亞那 | Fáshǔ Guīyànà/Fàshǔ Guīyǎnà |
| Guyana | 圭亚那 | 蓋亞那（圭亞那） | Guīyànà/Guīyǎnà |
| Paraguay | 巴拉圭 | 巴拉圭 | Bālāguī |
| Peru | 秘鲁 | 秘魯 | BìLŭ (not MìLŭ) |
| Suriname | 苏里南 | 蘇里南 | Sŭlĭnán |
| Uruguay | 乌拉圭 | 烏拉圭 | Wūlāguī |
| Venezuela | 委内瑞拉 | 委内瑞拉 | Wěinèiruìlā |

## Europe 欧洲 / 歐洲 Ōuzhōu

| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| Albania | 阿尔巴尼亚 | 阿爾巴尼亞 | Ā'ěrbāníyà (mainland) Ā'ěrbāníya (Taiwan) |
| Andorra | 安道尔 | 安道爾 | Āndào'ěr |
| Austria | 奥地利 | 奧地利 | Àodìlì |
| Armenia | 亚美尼亚 | 亞美尼亞 | Yàměiníyà(mainland)̀ Yǎměiníyǎ (Taiwan) |
| Azerbaijan | 阿塞拜疆 | 阿塞拜疆 | Āsàibàijiāng |
| Belarus | 白俄罗斯 | 白俄羅斯 | Bái'éluósī |
| Belgium | 比利时 | 比利時 | Bǐlìshí |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那 | 波士尼亞赫塞哥維納 | Bōsīníyǎ hé hēisāigēwéinà(mainland) Bōshìníyǎhèsāigēwéinà (Taiwan) |
| Bulgaria | 保加利亚 | 保加利亞 | Bǎojiālìyà (mainland) Bǎojiālìyǎ (Taiwan) |
| Croatia | 克罗地亚 | 克羅埃西亞 | Kèluódìyà (mainland) Kèluódìyǎ (Taiwan) |
| Czech Republic | 捷克 | 捷克 | Jiékè |
| Denmark | 丹麦 | 丹麥 | Dānmài |
| Estonia | 爱沙尼亚 | 愛沙尼亞 | Àishāníyà (mainland) Àishāníyǎ (Taiwan) |
| France | 法国 | 法國 | Fǎguó (mainland) Fàguó (Taiwan) |
| Finland | 芬兰 | 芬蘭 | Fēnlán |
| Georgia | 格鲁吉亚 | 佐治亞 | Gélǔjíyà (mainland) Zuǒzhìyǎ (Taiwan) |
| Germany | 德国 | 德國 | Déguó |
| Greece | 希腊 | 希臘 | Xīlà |
| Hungary | 匈牙利 | 匈牙利 | Xiōngyálì |
| Iceland | 冰岛 | 冰島 | Bīngdǎo |
| Ireland | 爱尔兰 | 愛爾蘭 | Ài'ěrlán |
| Italy | 意大利 | 意大利 | Yìdàlì |
| Latvia | 拉脱维亚 | 拉脫維亞 | Lātuōwéiyà (mainland) Lātuōwéiyǎ (Taiwan) |
| Liechtenstein | 列支敦士登 | 列支敦士登 | Lièzhīdūnshìdēng |
| Lithuania | 立陶宛 | 立陶宛 | Lìtáowăn |
| Luxembourg | 卢森堡 | 盧森堡 | Lúsēnbǎo |
| Macedonia | 马其顿 | 馬其頓 | Mǎqídùn |
| Malta | 马耳他 | 馬耳他 | Mǎ'ěrtā |
| Moldova | 摩尔多瓦 | 摩爾多瓦 | Mó'ěrduōwā |
| Monaco | 摩纳哥 | 摩納哥 | Mónàgē |
| Netherlands | 荷兰 | 荷蘭 | Hélán |
| Norway | 挪威 | 挪威 | Nuówēi |
| Poland | 波兰 | 波蘭 | Bōlán |
| Portugal | 葡萄牙 | 葡萄牙 | Pútáoyá |
| Romania | 罗马尼亚 | 羅馬尼亞 | Luómǎnǐyà |
| Russia | 俄罗斯 | 俄羅斯 | Éluósī |
| San Marino | 圣马力诺 | 聖馬力諾 | Shèng Mǎlìnuò |
| Serbia and Montenegro | 塞尔维亚和黑山 | 塞爾維亞和蒙特內哥羅 | Sài'érwéiyà hé HēIshān |
| Slovakia | 斯洛伐克 | 斯洛伐克 | Sīluòfákè |
| Slovenia | 斯洛文尼亚 | 斯洛維尼亞 | Sīluòwénníyà |
| Spain | 西班牙 | 西班牙 | Xībānyá |
| Switzerland | 瑞士 | 瑞士 | Ruìshì |
| Sweden | 瑞典 | 瑞典 | Ruìdiǎn |
| Turkey | 土耳其 | 土耳其 | Tǔ'ěrqí |
| Ukraine | 乌克兰 | 烏克蘭 | Wūkèlán |
| United Kingdom | 英国 | 英國 | Yīngguó |

## Africa 非洲 Fēizhōu

| English 英文 | Simplified 简体字 | Traditional 繁體字 | Pinyin 拼音 |
| Algeria | 阿尔及利亚 | 阿爾及利亞 | Ā'ěrjílìyà |
| Angola | 安哥拉 | 安哥拉 | Āngēlā |
| Benin | 贝宁 | 貝寧 | Bèiníng |
| Botswana | 博斯瓦纳 | 波札那 | Bósīwǎnà |
| Burkina Faso | 布基纳法索 | 布吉納法索 | Bùjīnàfǎsuǒ |
| Burundi | 布隆迪 | 蒲隆地 | Búlóngdí |
| Cameroon | 喀麦隆 | 喀麥隆 | Kāmàilóng |
| Cape Verde | 佛得角 | 維德角 | Fódéjiǎo/Wéidéjiǎo |
| Central African Republic | 中非共和国 | 中非共和國 | Zhōngfēi Gònghéguó |
| Chad | 乍得 | 查德 | Zhādé/Chádé |
| Comoros | 科摩罗 | 科摩罗 | Kēmóluó |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 刚果民主共和国 | 剛果民主共和國 | Gāngguǒ Mínzhǔ Gònghéguó |
| Republic of the Congo | 刚果共和国 | 剛果共和國 | Gāngguǒ Gònghéguó |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 象牙海岸/科特迪瓦 | 象牙海岸 | Xiàngyá Hǎi'àn/ Kētèdíwǎ |
| Djibouti | 吉布提 | 吉布地 | Jíbùtí |
| Egypt | 埃及 | 埃及 | Āijí |
| Equatorial Guinea | 赤道几内亚 | 赤道幾內亞 | Chìdào Jĭnèiyà |
| Eritrea | 厄立特里亚 | 厄立特里亚 | Èlìtèlǐyà |
| Ethiopia | 埃塞俄比亚 | 衣索比亞 | Āisài'ébǐyà |
| Gabon | 加蓬 | 加彭 | Jiāpéng |
| The Gambia | 冈比亚 | 甘比亞 | Gāngbǐyà/Gānbǐyà |
| Ghana | 加纳 | 迦魶 | Jiānà |
| Guinea | 几内亚 | 幾內亞 | Jǐnèiyà |
| Guinea-Bissau | 几内亚比绍 | 幾內亞比索 | Jǐnèiyà-bǐshào |
| Kenya | 肯尼亚 | 肯亞 | Kěnníyà/Kěnyǎ |
| Lesotho | 莱索托 | 賴索托 | Láisuǒtuō |
| Liberia | 利比里亚 | 賴比瑞亞 | Lìbǐlǐyà |
| Libya | 利比亚 | 利比亞 | Lìbǐyà |
| Madagascar | 马达加斯加 | 馬達加斯加 | Mǎdájiāsījiā |
| Malawi | 马拉维 | 馬拉威 | Mǎlāwéi |
| Mali | 马里 | 馬利 | Mǎlǐ |
| Mauritania | 毛里塔尼亚 | 茅利塔尼亞 | Máolǐtǎníyà |
| Mauritius | 毛里求斯 | 毛里求斯 | Máolǐqiúsī |
| Morocco | 摩洛哥 | 摩洛哥 | Móluògē |
| Mozambique | 莫桑比克 | 莫三比克 | Mòsāngbǐkè |
| Namibia | 纳米比亚 | 納米比亞 | Nàmǐbǐyà |
| Niger | 尼日尔 | 尼日尔 | Nírì'ěr |
| Nigeria | 尼日利亚 | 奈及利亞 | Nírìlìyà |
| Rwanda | 卢旺达 | 盧安達 | Lúwàngdá |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | 圣多美与普林西比 | 聖多美及普林西比 | Shèng Duōměi yǔ Pǔlínxībǐ |
| Senegal | 塞内加尔 | 塞內加爾 | Sàinèijiā'ěr |
| Seychelles | 塞舌尔 | 塞席爾 | Sàishé'ér |
| Sierra Leone | 塞拉利昂 | 獅子山 | Sàilālì'áng |
| Somalia | 索马里 | 索馬利亞 | Suǒmǎlǐ |
| South Africa | 南非 | 南非 | Nánfēi |
| Sudan | 苏丹 | 蘇丹 | Sūdān |
| Swaziland | 斯威士兰 | 史瓦濟蘭 | Sīwēishìlán |
| Tanzania | 坦桑尼亚 | 坦尚尼亞 | Tǎnsāngníyà |
| Togo | 多哥 | 多哥 | Duōgē |
| Tunisia | 突尼斯 | 突尼西亞 | Tūníxīyà |
| Uganda | 乌干达 | 烏干達 | Wūgāndá |
| Zambia | 赞比亚 | 尚比亞 | Zànbǐyà |
| Zimbabwe | 津巴布韦 | 辛巴威 | Jīnbābùwéi |
| Lessons: | Pron. - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 | Search inside this book using Google |
| Subpages: | Examples - Exercises - Stroke Order | Search inside this book using Google |
The word for radical in Chinese is 部首. This term is often conflated with 偏旁 (piānpáng), or simply 旁 (páng). A radical, or component of a character, usually indicates its meaning. 水 (shuǐ; water) with a 冫 becomes 冰 (bīng, ice). The 冫 hints that the character pertains to ice, like the "glaci-" in glacier. Radicals may also be used to differentiate characters that sound alike. 东 (dōng; east, owner) with a 冫 becomes 冻 (dòng; to freeze, jelly). Radicals, like characters, sometimes suggest their meaning by their appearance, for example, the 亻 in 他 (tā; him) is a compressed 人, and the 氵 in 江 (jiāng; river) looks like three water droplets. Radicals reduce the amount of memorization needed, be it for the language's ancient inventors or for you. In Chinese, the large number of homophones and rhyming words make this scheme possible. A character can have multiple radicals, for example, 捌 (bā; eight, see Numbers). Traditionally, the left part of composite characters was referred to as “piān” and the right side referred to as “páng.” Now, all parts of compound characters are generally referred to as “piānpáng.” For example, the left part of a compound character is referred to as 左偏旁 (zuǒ piānpáng), and the right side as 右偏旁 (yòu piānpáng).

# Names of Radicals 中文偏旁的名称

The radicals, strokes, and Chinese character components found in Chinese characters often have different names in the different dialects of Chinese. For Standard Mandarin Chinese in Mainland China, one of the most authoritative listings of the names of Chinese character components is found in Specification of Common Modern Chinese Character Components and Component Names (现代汉语常用字部件及部件名称规范). In addition, the appendices of Xiandai Hanyu Cidian (现代汉语词典) and Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian (现代汉语规范词典) include lists of some of the frequently occurring radicals and other components.

### 一笔画 One Stroke

| 偏旁 Part | 名称 Name | 拼音 Pinyin | 例子 Ex. |
| 一 | 横 | Héng | 丁、丝、上 |
| 丨 | 竖 | Shù | 中、丰、串 |
| 亅 | 竖钩 | Shù gōu | 事、予 |
| 丿 | 撇 | Piě | 九、乍、乃 |
| 乛 | 折 | Zhé | 买、予、乜 |
| 乚 | 竖弯钩 | Shù​ wān​ gōu | 乜、也、乱 |
| . | 点 | Diǎn | 以、义、主 |

### 二笔画 Two Strokes

| 偏旁 Part | 名称 Name | 拼音 Pinyin | 例子 Ex. |
| 勹 | 包字头 | bāozìtóu | 勺、勾、匀 |
| 冫 | 两点水 | liǎngdiǎnshuǐ | 冰、习、净 |
| 卜 | 卜字旁 | Bǔ zì páng | 卡、卤、卧 |
| 厂 | 偏厦 | Piān shà | 厕、原、厚 |
| 刂 | 立刀旁 | lìdāopáng | 刬、刘、判 |
| 匚 | 三框栏 | Sān kuàng lán | 匠、匹、区 |
| 阝 | 双耳旁 双耳刀 左耳刀 右耳刀 | Shuāng ěr páng Shuāng ěr dāo Zuǒ ěr dāo Yòu ěr dāo | 阞、队、阡 邓、邗、邘 |
| 卩 | 单耳旁 | dān'ěrpáng | 卫、卬、卮 |
| 冂 | 同字框 | tóngzìkuàng | 冃、内、冈 |
| 冖 | 秃宝盖 | tūbǎogài | 冗、冘、写 |
| 凵 | 凶字框 | xiōngzìkuàng | 凶、凹、凸 |
| 亻 | 单人旁 | dānrénpáng | 亿、什、仁 |
| 厶 | 私字 | Sī zì | 厾、去、厹 |
| 亠 | 京字頭/京字头、 文字头 | jīngzìtóu Wénzì tóu | 亡、交、亢 |
| 言/讠 | 言字旁 | yánzìpáng | 计、订、讣 |
| 廴 | 建之旁 | jiànzhīpáng | 延、廷、廸 |

### 三笔画 Three Strokes

| 偏旁 Part | 名称 Name | 拼音 Pinyin | 例子 Ex. |
| 艹 | 草字頭/草字头 | cǎozìtóu | 艺、艻、艾 |
| 屮 | 出字头 | Chū zì tóu | 屯、屰 |
| 彳 | 雙人旁/双人旁 | shuāngrénpáng | 彴、彷、彸 |
| 巛 | 三拐 | sānguǎi | 巠、巢、巤 |
| 辶 | 走之儿 走之底 | zǒuzhī er Zǒu zhī dǐ | 边，辽、巡 |
| 廾 | 弄字底 | nòngzìdǐ | 开、弁、异 |
| 广 | 廣字旁/广字旁 广字头 | guǎngzìpáng Guǎng zì tóu | 庀、庄、庆 |
| 宀 | 寶蓋/宝盖 宝盖头 | bǎogài Bǎo gài tóu | 宁、它、宄 |
| 犭 | 反犬旁、 犬犹 | fǎnquǎnpáng quǎnyóu | 犯、犰、犴 |
| 彡 | 三撇 | sānpiě | 形、彤、彦 |
| 飠/饣 | 食字旁 | shízìpáng | 饥、饧、饨 |
| 扌 | 提手旁、 剔手旁 | tíshǒupáng Tī shǒu páng | 扎、扐、扑 |
| 氵 | 三点水 | Sān diǎn shuǐ | 氿、汀、汁 |
| 糹/纟 | 絞絲旁/绞丝旁、 亂絞絲/乱绞丝 | jiǎosīpáng luànjiǎosī | 纠、纡、红 |
| 土 | 提土旁、 剔土旁 | títǔpáng Tī tǔ páng | 圢、圣、圥 |
| 忄 | 豎心旁/竖心旁、 豎心/竖心 | shùxīnpáng shùxīn | 忆、忉、忋 |
| 尢 | 尤字旁 | yóuzìpáng | 尤、尥、尨 |
| 夂 | 折文 | zhéwén | 处、夆、备 |
| 子 | 子字旁 | zǐzìpáng | 孔、孕、孖 |
| 爿/丬 | 將字旁/将字旁 | jiāngzìpáng | 壮、状、将 |
| 囗 | 國字框/国字框、 方框、 方匡 | guózìkuàng fāngkuàng Fāng kuāng | 囚、四、囝 |
| 门 | 门字旁 | Mén zì páng | 闩、闪、闫 |
| 彐 | 横山 | héngshān | 雪、灵、彗 |

### 四笔画 Four Strokes

| 偏旁 Part | 名称 Name | 拼音 Pinyin | 例子 Ex. |
| 灬 | 四点底、 四点 | sìdiǎndǐ Sì diǎn | 炁、炰、点 |
| 火 | 火字旁 | huǒzìpáng | 灭、灯、灰 |
| 礻 | 示字旁、 示補/示补 | shìzìpáng shìbǔ | 礼、礽、社 |
| 王 | 王字旁、 斜玉旁 | wángzìpáng xiéyùpáng | 玉、玊、玍 |
| 木 | 木字旁 | mùzìpáng | 未、末、本 |
| 牛 | 牛字旁、 剔牛 | niúzìpáng Tī niú | 牝、牠、牡 |
| 月 | 月字旁 | Yuè zì páng | 明，期 |

### 五笔画 Five Strokes

| 偏旁 Part | 名称 Name | 拼音 Pinyin | 例子 Ex. |
| 疒 | 病字旁、 病旁、 病字頭/病字头 | bìngzìpáng bìngpáng bìngzìtóu | 疓、疔、疕 |
| 衤 | 衣字旁、 衣補/衣补 | yīzìpáng yībǔ | 初、补、衦 |
| 𡗗 | 春字頭/春字头 | chūnzìtóu | 奉、奏、秦 |
| 罒 | 四字頭/四字头、 扁四頭/扁四头 | sìzìtóu biǎnsìtóu | 罗、罘、罚 |
| 皿 | 皿字底、 皿墩 | mǐnzìdǐ, mǐndūn | 盂、盃、盅 |
| 目 | 目字旁 | mùzìpáng | 盶，盷，相 |
| 釒/钅 | 金字旁 | jīnzìpáng | 钆、钇、针 |
| 禾 | 禾木旁 | hémùpáng | 禿、秀、私 |
| 癶 | 登字頭/登字头 | dēngzìtóu | 癸、発、登 |

### 六笔画 Six Strokes

| 偏旁 Part | 名称 Name | 拼音 Pinyin | 例子 Ex. |
| 米 | 米字旁 | mǐzìpáng | 籴、娄、籸 |
| 虍 | 虎字頭/虎字头 | hǔzìtóu | 虎、虏、虐 |
| ⺮ | 竹字頭/竹字头 | zhúzìtóu | 竺、笃、竼 |

### 七笔画 Seven Strokes

| 偏旁 Part | 名称 Name | 拼音 Pinyin | 例子 Ex. |
| ⻊ | 足字旁 | zúzìpáng | 趴、趵、趷 |
Mandarin, like any language, has its own slang words and informal meanings for some common words. For example, 同志 (tóngzhì - comrade, a commonly used under Communism) now has a second meaning of "gay person" (because it literally means "same aspirations"—in this case sexual proclivities rather than political interests), and the female equivalent 小姐 (xiǎojiě, often used with service personnel such as waitresses) can also refer to a prostitute. Below is a partial list of common slang terms. The letters "xx" stand for someone or something, lit. gives a literal translation, and equiv. refers to an equivalent English expression.

## Slang List

| 简体 | 繁體 | Pinyin | Meaning(s), Literal and Figurative |
| 酷 | 酷 | kù | cool (好酷喔 hǎo kù ō; that's cool!); lit., equiv. cool |
| 帅 | 帥 | shuài | good looking, handsome (of a guy) |
| 帅呆（了） | 帥呆(了) | shuàidāi(le) | very good looking, a hunk (of a guy); very good, awesome (of a situation) |
| 爽 | 爽 | shuǎng | satisfying, enjoyable, (as in 我昨天去按摩超爽(的)。 "The massage yesterday was very satisfying." |
| 过瘾 | 過癮 | guòyǐn | entertaining; very pleasing; addictive |
| 不行了 | 不行了 | bùxíngle | dying, at the point of death; lit. not OK anymore |
| 超 | 超 | chāo | very, extremely, super, ultra- (as in 超冷 "very cold", 超酷 "very cool") |
| 惹 | 惹 | rě | to annoy, provoke, offend, or get on someone's nerves(as in 你幹嘛老是惹我？ "Why do you always get on my nerves?") |
| 碍眼 | 礙眼 | àiyǎn | annoying, get-in-the-way (as in 你在這裡很礙眼, 趕快去做一些有用的事情吧! "You are being a nuisance, go see whether you can make yourself useful somewhere else!); lit. 'hinder the eye' |
| 胡闹 | 胡鬧 | húnào | make trouble, be a nuisance (as in 你現在馬上給我安靜睡覺,不要再胡鬧! "you are going to sleep right now, no more nonsense!"); lit ‘nonsense quarrel’ |
| 感冒 | 感冒 | gǎnmào | (catch) a cold; to develop an aversion against someone (as in 我說了那句話之後,她就對我感冒了 "after I said that she got upset with me") |
| 机车 | 機車 | jīchē | (noun) motorcycle; adj: used to describe someone displaying annoying behavior (as in 她很機車 "she's annoying") |
| 离谱 | 離譜 | lípǔ | preposterous, outrageous; lit. leaving the manual or musical score (as in 你這樣作實在是太離譜。 "You are really out of line doing things like that.") |
| 扯 | 扯 | chě | farfetched, unimaginable, defying all logic (as in 很扯! "Unbelievable!", 太扯了吧! "That is ridiculous!", 你扯到哪裡去? "What are you talking about?"); lit. drag, pull; chat |
| 扯xx（的）后腿 | 扯xx（的）後腿 | chě xx (de) hòutuǐ | to be a drag on xx, be a hindrance; lit. to pull xx's hind legs |
| 正 | 正 | zhèng | classy, good quality, high class (as in 正妹 "a classy chick", 他的女朋友很正。 "He has a knock out girlfriend.") |
| 耍 | 耍 | shuǎ | cheat, deceive (as in 你想耍我嗎? "You must be kidding.") |
| 耍嘴皮 | 耍嘴皮 | shuǎzuǐpí | to talk slickly, to pay lip service |
| 耍赖 | 耍賴 | shuǎlài | to act shamelessly; to act indifferent |
| 赖皮 | 賴皮 | làipí | to act shameless, brazen, like a rascal; rascal, villain |
| 混 | 混 | hùn | to muddle along, to partake in a given activity in a lazy and unserious manner(as in 我這裡已經快混不下去了。 "I'm about to get kicked out of here." (school or company etc), 你還想混多久? "How much longer are you planning to go on like this?") |
| 摸鱼 | 摸魚 | móyú | to be lazy on the job; lit. to rub fish |
| 鱿鱼 | 魷魚 | yóuyú | marching orders; lit. squid |
| 炒鱿鱼 | 炒魷魚 | chǎoyóuyú | to be fired, sacked; lit. to fry squid, equiv. "getting a pink slip" |
| 烂 | 爛 | làn | rotten, crappy |
| 烂掉 | 爛掉 | làndiào | to rot, to go bad |
| 烂摊子 | 爛攤子 | làntānzi | bad situation, mess (as in 我可以收他的爛攤子。 "I can take care of the mess he created.") |
| 烂醉 | 爛醉 | lànzuì | piss drunk, blind drunk, dead drunk |
| 烂好人 | 爛好人 | lànhǎorén | spineless, weak person; lit. rotten good person |
| 透 | 透 | tòu | extremely, completely, used as a suffix (as in 爛透了 'extremely crappy'); lit. through |
| 吓死 | 嚇死 | xiàsǐ | terrified; lit., equiv. scared to death |
| 难搞 | 難搞 | nángǎo | hard to deal with, downright |
| 休想 | 休想 | xiūxiǎng | never (interjection), lit., equiv. in your dreams |
| 吹牛 | 吹牛 | chuīniú | to brag, boast |
| 吹 | 吹 | chuī | to brag, boast |
| 自大 | 自大 | zìdà | arrogant, overbearing |
| 臭屁 | 臭屁 | chòupì | arrogant, overbearing; equiv. cocky, lit. stinking fart |
| 摆架子 | 擺架子 | bǎijiàzi | to put on an airs, to act like the master of, to be arrogant; lit. to swing a rack, shelf |
| 假君子 | 假君子 | jiǎjūnzǐ | equiv. a wolf in sheep's clothes, lit. a fake gentleman |
| 上流社会 | 上流社會 | shàngliú shèhuì | lit. high society, the rich and famous; equiv. upper crust |
| 黑社会 | 黑社會 | hēishèhuì | triad, triad society; lit. the underworld, equiv. gangland |
| 流氓 | 流氓 | liúmáng | rogue, gangster, hoodlum; lit. flowing vagrant |
| 老大 | 老大 | lǎodà | the big boss, older, elder |
| 小弟 | 小弟 | xiǎodì | younger members of a gang; lit. little brother |
| 吵架 | 吵架 | chǎojià | to quarrel, to argue |
| 斗嘴 | 鬥嘴 | dòuzuǐ | bicker, squabble (lit. to fight with the mouth) |
| 打架 | 打架 | dǎjià | to fight, scuffle (physically) |
| 把风 | 把風 | bǎfēng | to keep watch, be on the look out (esp. during a heist) |
| 坏胚子 | 壞胚子 | huài pēizi | a bad personal characteristic |
| 好兄弟 | 好兄弟 | hǎo xiōngdì | a ghost; a good friend; lit. good brother |
| 不干净 | 不乾淨 | bù gānjìng | not clean; haunted (by ghosts) |
| 夜总会 | 夜總會 | yèzǒnghuì | nightclub; graveyard |
| 菜鸟 | 菜鳥 | càiniǎo | rookie, beginner, novice, inexperienced person; lit. 'vegetable bird' |
| 天真 | 天真 | tiānzhēn | naive (said mostly of young girls); lit 'heaven real' |
| 猪头 | 豬頭 | zhūtóu | idiot; lit. pig's head |
| 笨蛋 | 笨蛋 | bèndàn | idiot; lit. stupid egg |
| 坏蛋 | 壞蛋 | huàidàn | crook, scoundrel; lit. rotten egg |
| 王八蛋 | 王八蛋 | wángbādàn | son of a bitch; lit. turtle egg |
| 货 | 货 | huò | goods, merchandise, stuff; drugs |
| 白痴 | 白痴 | báichī | idiot; stupidity; lit. white fool |
| 蠢货 | 蠢貨 | chǔnhuò | idiot, blockhead, dunce, moron (used infrequently) |
| 傻瓜 | 傻瓜 | shǎguā | fool, simpleton (sometimes used lovingly); lit. stupid melon |
| 小子 | 小子 | xiǎozi | guy, kid; prick, brat |
| 疯子 | 瘋子 | fēngzi | madman, lunatic |
| 发疯 | 發瘋 | fāfēng | to become insane, to go mad |
| 娘娘腔 | 娘娘腔 | niángniangqiāng | sissy, girly, effeminate (esp. of a male) |
| 傢伙 | 傢伙 | jiāhuo | guy, chap (negative); weapon, gun |
| 毒蟲 | 毒蟲 | dúchóng | junky, someone on drugs; lit. poisonous insect |
| 吸毒 | 吸毒 | xīdú | to drug, to take drugs (esp. narcotics); lit. to absorb poison |
| 上瘾 | 上癮 | shàngyǐn | to become addicted; addictive; Used colloquially: 'get hooked to something' (as in 這種啤酒太好喝了,我快要上癮了 "This kind of beer is too tasty, I'm about to get hooked" |
| 崩溃 | 崩潰 | bēngkuì | debacle; to fall apart, to collapse, esp. mental collapse |
| 欠xx | 欠xx | qiàn-xx | to owe xx (as in, 欠錢 "owe money", 欠情 "owe a favor"); to ask/beg for xx (as in, 欠念 "asking for a verbal dress down", 欠揍 "asking for a beating") |
| 放xx(的)鸽子 | 放xx(的)鴿子 | fàng xx gēzi | to (intentionally) not not come for xx; to miss xx's appointment, equiv. to stand xx up, to be a no-show (as in, 不要放我鴿子喔！ "Don't stand me up!"); lit. release xx pigeons |
| 吃xx(的)豆腐 | 吃xx(的)豆腐 | chī xx (de) dòufu | to commit borderline sexual harassment with a woman (as in, 不要吃我的豆腐。 "Don't touch me.", 你想吃我的豆腐嗎? "Would you like to touch me?"); lit. to eat xx's tofu |
| 没水准 | 沒水準 | méi shuǐzhǔn | equiv. to have no class; lit. to have no standards |
| 没家教 | 沒家教 | méi jiājiào | unmannered, not well behaved, impolite; lit. without home teaching, without a good upbringing |
| 下流 | 下流 | xiàliú | nasty; obscene; indecent; a low life; lit. downstream |
| 土 | 土 | tǔ | with no class, like a buffoon (as in, 你的衣服好土喔! 'your clothes are so low class!'); lit. earth, soil |
| 飙车 | 飆車 | biāochē | drag racing; motorcycle racing; to drive in speedily, a crazed fashion; lit. whirlwind car |
| xx族 | xx族 | xx-zú | people that do xx (as in, 上班族 "people that work", 飆車族 "people that drive too fast"); lit. xx tribe/clan/family |
| 种草莓 | 種草莓 | zhǒngcǎoméi | to kiss someone passionately, leaving a reddish mark (equiv. to give someone a hickey); lit. to plant strawberries |
| 丢脸 | 丟臉 | diūliǎn | to embarrass, to disgrace, to humiliate (as in 你在朋友的面前這樣說我真丟臉。 "The way you spoke about me in front of our friends really made me lose face."); equiv., lit. to lose face |
| 没面子 | 沒面子 | méi miànzi | to lose face (as in 你害我沒面子。 "You made me lose face.") |
| 厚脸皮 | 厚臉皮 | hòu liǎnpí | cheeky, brazen; thick skinned; willing to make daring demands (negative) |
| 嚣张 | 囂張 | xiāozhāng | brazen, shameless, arrogant |
| 酒吧 | 酒吧 | jiǔbā | a bar |
| 酒店 | 酒店 | jiǔdiàn | a hotel; restaurant; hostess bar (Taiwan only); wine shop |
| 夜店 | 夜店 | yèdiàn | a nightclub |
| 夜猫子 | 夜貓子 | yèmāozi | someone who sleeps late (equiv. a night owl); someone with a rich nightlife |
| 黄包车 | 黃包車 | huángbāochē | rickshaw / denigrating slang: a Chinese woman abroad (being promiscuous as opposed to conservative at home) |
| 恐龙妹 | 恐龍妹 | kǒnglóngmèi | ugly girl (lit. 'dinosaur girl') |
| 辣妹 | 辣妹 | làmèi | a hot girl (lit. 'spicy girl'); the Spice Girls |
| 正妹 | 正妹 | zhèngmēi | a beautiful girl, pretty girl |
| 帅哥 | 帥哥 | shuàigē | good looking dude, a hunk |
| 放电 | 放電 | fàngdiàn | to create an atmosphere of feminine attraction (of a woman); lit. 'to discharge electricity' |
| 欲火焚身 | 慾火焚身 | yùhuǒfénshēn | to be very horny; lit. 'lust fire incinerate body' |
| 泡妞 | 泡妞 | pàoniū | (try to) hook up with girls, on the prowl for women; lit ‘steep/soak girls’ |
| 把妹 | 把妹 | bǎmèi | to hunt for girls |
| 把马子 | 把馬子 | bǎmǎzi | to hunt for girls |
| 把凯子 | 把凱子 | bǎkǎizi | to hunt for rich hunks (of a woman) |
| 搭讪 | 搭訕 | dāshan | (trying to hook up by) starting a conversation (with a stranger) |
| 乱讲 | 亂講 | luànjiǎng | to speak nonsense |
| 胡烂 | 胡爛 | húlàn | give someone a load of nonsense; (as in 男生最利害的就是胡爛 "(said by a woman) Selling crap is what men do best"); lit ‘nonsense crap‘ |
| 放屁 | 放屁 | fàngpì | to speak nonsense; lit. 'to fart' |
| 废话 | 廢話 | fèihuà | to speak nonsense, to trashtalk; lit. 'to waste words' |
| 啰嗦 | 囉嗦 | luōsuo | to talk too much (as in 你很囉嗦。 "You talk too much.", 不要囉嗦了！ "Stop rambling!") |
| 哈啦 | 哈啦 | hāla | to argue, to incessantly try to convince someone (as in 你不用哈啦這麼多, 就直接認錯吧! "Stop arguing and just admit you're wrong!", 哇,你很會哈啦喔! "Wow, you really know how to argue!") |
| 闭嘴 | 閉嘴 | bìzuǐ | shut up (interjection, often said by parents) |
| 插嘴 | 插嘴 | chāzuǐ | to interrupt someone talking (as in 你不要老是插嘴。 "Stop interrupting me."); lit. to insert a mouth |
| 顶嘴 | 頂嘴 | dǐngzuǐ | to talk back, to be a wiseguy; to answer defiantly (as in 如果你再頂嘴我就修理你! "I am going to take care of you if you talk back to me again.") |
| xx个屁 / xx个头 | xx個屁 / xx個頭 | xx-gèpì / xx-gètóu | xx my ass (interjection, as in A: 這電影好浪漫喔。 B: 浪漫個屁阿! A: This movie is so romantic. B: Romantic my ass!) |
| 小弟弟 | 小弟弟 | xiǎodìdì | penis; lit. little brother |
| （小）鸡鸡 | （小）雞雞 | (xiǎo)jījī | penis; lit. chicken |
| 小鸟 | 小鳥 | xiǎoniǎo | penis; lit. small bird |
| 那话儿 | 那話兒 | nàhuàr | penis; lit. "that talk" |
| 蛋 | 蛋 | dàn | testicles, equiv. balls (as in 打架的時候要好好保護你的蛋(蛋)。 "When fighting you have protect your balls."); lit. egg |
| 奶子 | 奶子 | nǎizi | breast(s) |
| 巨乳 | 巨乳 | jùrǔ | huge breast(s) |
| 波霸 | 波霸 | bōbà | (woman with) huge breast(s) |
| 高潮 | 高潮 | gāocháo | orgasm; lit. high tide, climax |
| 做爱 | 做愛 | zuò'ài | to have sex; lit., equiv. to make love |
| 炒饭 | 炒飯 | chǎofàn | to make love; lit. to fry rice |
| 上床 | 上床 | shàngchuáng | to go to bed; to make love |
| 色狼 | 色狼 | sèláng | a man with strong sexual desires, a satyr, a sex addict; lit. appearance wolf |
| 变态 | 變態 | biàntài | a sexual pervert; lit. metamorphosis, abnormal |
| （有）外遇 | （有）外遇 | (yǒu) wàiyù | to have an affair |
| 劈腿 | 劈腿 | pītuǐ | to have an affair, to cheat on someone; lit. to split the legs |
| 一夜情 | 一夜情 | yīyèqíng | a one-night stand; lit. love for one night |
| 分手 | 分手 | fēnshǒu | to break up in a relationship; to bid farewell; lit. divide hands |
| 兵变 | 兵變 | bīngbiàn | a mutiny; a relationship that breaks up during military service; lit. military change |
| 追 | 追 | zhuī | to try to get a relationship with someone (as in 他還在追那個美妹嗎? "Is he still after that pretty girl?"); to pursue |
| 狐狸精 | 狐狸精 | húlíjīng | a woman that steals another woman's man; lit. a fox spirit |
| 母老虎 | 母老虎 | mǔlǎohǔ | a dominant wife; lit. mother tiger |
| 哇靠 | 哇靠 | wākào | exclamation: WOW! (also the title of a song by 周杰倫 Jay Zhou, a famous Taiwanese singer) |
| 干 | 幹 | gàn | to make love [vulgar]; used as a vulgar exclamation, equiv. "F**k!"; to do something, as in 幹活 "work" |
| 干掉 | 幹掉 | gàndiào | to get rid of; to kill someone; lit. to do away |
| 干你娘 | 幹你娘 | gàn nǐ niáng | to have sex with your mother, very vulgar (never used in public unless speaker wants to appear boorish) |
| 干嘛 | 幹嘛 | gànmá | exclamation, "What is it now?" or "What do you want now?", indicating irritation; why (impolite) (as in '你幹嘛花這麼多錢買這麼爛的東西? "Why would you spend so much money buying something as crappy as that?") |
| （他）妈的 | （他）媽的 | (tā)made | exclamation, "Fuck!", "Shit!", "To hell with it!", "Damn it!"; used to increase vulgarity (as in 你也他媽的夠了吧! "You are really out of line!"); lit. his mom's |
| 操 | 操 | cào | to fuck [vulgar] (from 肏 which has the same pronunciation); to exercise, drill (when pronounced cāo) |
| 操你妈的屄 | 操你媽的屄 | cāo nǐ mā de bī | to fuck your mother's cunt [very vulgar] (never use in public, or for that matter, at home) |
| 屌 | 屌 | diǎo | male reproductive organ; expression (mostly among guys) showing admiration or approval (as in 你很屌! "you're awesome!" or 超屌的! "far out!") |
| 老外 | 老外 | lǎowài | foreigner (neutral connotation) |
| 洋妞 | 洋妞 | yángniū | foreign babe, foreign chick |
| 阿都仔 | 阿都仔 | ādōuzǐ | foreigner (Taiwan only) |
| 同志 | 同志 | tóngzhì | gay or lesbian (normally "comrade" in a Communist context) |
| 小姐 | 小姐 | xiǎojiě | girl working in a hostess bar; exclamation, used alone, "Waitress!"; prostitute; young woman |
| 槟榔西施 | 檳榔西施 | bīnláng Xīshī | a young, attractive girl, usually scantily clad, hired to sell betelnuts in street stalls (西施 is a classic beauty from Chinese history/myth); lit. betelnut beauty |
| 杀价 | 殺價 | shājià | to haggle, to bargain (foreigners will always be forced to pay more, though) |
| 动手 | 動手 | dòngshǒu | to begin doing something (e.g. 他开始动手了吗？); to touch, to handle; to hit someone with hands |
| 动手脚 | 動手腳 | dòngshǒujiǎo | to sabotage something; to cheat by modifying something; to tinker with; lit. to move hands and feet |
| 灌醉 | 灌醉 | guànzuì | to fuddle, to confuse with alcohol; to get someone drunk |
| 海量 | 海量 | hǎiliàng | to be capable of holding liquor (a highly valued asset in competitive drinking, a Chinese sport) |
| 灌水 | 灌水 | guànshuǐ | to sell inferior goods that have been tampered with (business), for example, adding water to milk; to lose a game on purpose (sports) |
| 黑货 | 黑貨 | hēihuò | goods that have been tampered with, potentially hazardous to health; smuggled goods; lit. black stuff, majorly used in China but Taiwan |
| 拍马屁 | 拍馬屁 | páimǎpì | to flatter; lit. to align horse farts |
| 拍拍屁股走 | 拍拍屁股走 | pāipāi pìgu zǒu | to run away, to take off without caring for the consequences (while engaged in a relationship or project); lit. to line up the ass and go |
| 条子 | 條子 | tiáozi | a police officer; a strip (esp. of paper), a note |
| 内鬼 | 內鬼 | nèiguǐ | to steal; lit. within ghosts |
| 饭桶 | 飯桶 | fàntǒng | a scallywag, a do-nothing; a guy who lives off his girlfriend; lit. a rice container |
| 吃软饭 | 吃軟飯 | chīruǎnfàn | to live off one's girlfriend; lit. to eat soft rice |
| 毛毛的 | 毛毛的 | máomáode | creepy, suspicious, causing goosebumps (as in 他那樣瞪我, 我都覺得毛毛的。 "The way he stared at me made me feel spooked.") |
| 人情味 | 人情味 | rénqíngwèi | affection, humane, used to describe a friendly, caring atmosphere (as in 中國很有人情味。); lit. the smell of human feelings |
| 累死了 | 累死了 | lèisǐle | exhausted, worn out; lit. tired to the death |
| （老）油条 | （老）油條 | (lǎo)yóutiáo | a deceitful, "slick" person (油條, fried wheat cruller, is a long stick of deep fried batter, a staple in China) |
| 狗仔（队） | 狗仔（隊） | gǒuzǎi(duì) | paparazzi; lit. dog puppy team |
| 小强 | 小強 | xiǎoqiáng | cockroach; lit. little strong one |
| 过头 | 過頭 | guòtóu | in excess (as in 睡过头, to oversleep) |
| 赖床 | 賴床 | làichuáng | to stay in bed (esp. too long), to not get up |
| 昏昏欲睡 | 昏昏欲睡 | hūnhūnyùshuì | drowsy, sleepy |
| 拖拖拉拉 | 拖拖拉拉 | tuōtuōlālā | to be slow (esp. from reluctance); to procrastinate |
| 湿达达（的） | 溼答答（的） | shīdádá(de) | soaking wet |
| A | A | A | to steal (as in A錢, to steal money) |
| K書 | K書 | K-shū | study (as in pounding something into one's head) |
| SPP | SPP | SPP | having no class (Taiwan only, based on Hoklo dialect) |
| A片 | A片 | A-piàn | a porn movie |
| 咱们 | 咱們 | zánmen | we, us (sometimes just 咱). |

## External links

* Chinese Chat Codes - This page contains numeric codes used in chatting or pager messages similar to English acronyms like LOL (Laughing Out Loud) or BRB (Be Right Back).
* Chinese Slang Dictionary - A dictionary of Chinese slang, colloquialisms, curses, vulgarities, dialects, and street talk that Chinese characters, pinyin romanization, and an English version.
This history of the Chinese Wikibook highlights milestones along the book's development.

## 2006

* March 17 A PDF Version is created and the first audio samples are added to vocabulary
* March 13 Print version created

## 2005

* October Chinese is elected October's Book of the Month, the first language text to do so
* June 12 First stroke order images linked from vocabulary
* March First nomination for Book of the Month. One vote (or 37 minutes) shy of High school extensions' 5 votes. Chinese would also be the runner-up in August and September.
* Translated versions of the Chinese Wikibook appear in Spanish (March 13), Italian (July 19) and Polish (August 20).

## 2004

* December 29 First Table of Contents
* December 22 Planning page added
* December 19 Major rewrite of Lesson 1

## 2003

* December 13 by Yacht

# Contributors

The Chinese Wikibook was started 2003 December 13. Below is a list of users who have contributed greatly to the authoring of this Wikibook. Please add your username if you have made substantial additions and/or revisions to this textbook. Use *{{user|username}} to add a name.
* everlong (discuss · email · contribs · logs · count)
* Taoster (discuss · email · contribs · logs · count)
* Ran (discuss · email · contribs · logs · count)
M4RC0, Yug and Wikic all made substantial contributions to the Chinese stroke order project on Wikicommons, which are used in our lessons. Peter Isotalo, also of Wikicommons, contributed the first audio samples used in this Wikibook.
In addition, the authors would like to thank the development team in relation with the Wikimedia Foundation and its affiliates, without whom our text could not be so accessible.

# Ways to Contribute
## Internationalization
### Keep the Simplified/Traditional Versions in Sync

The Chinese Wikibook has two identical versions; Simplified and Traditional. This is done to unclutter the textbook and to meet the needs of people either interested in the characters used in China or used in Taiwan. However, whenever a change is made in one version, it is not automatically carried over, so periodic checks must be made to ensure that the two remain in sync. This sometimes involves translating from one script to the other, but often only involves copying formatting changes.

### Translate Pages

Currently, the English version is the most developed of the Chinese Wikibooks. If you know another language, please check if a Chinese book is started in that language and compare it to this one. You can make changes to their content based on ideas gained here, or do a wholesale translation of this textbook into the target language. Since the Chinese can stay the same across languages, a lot of work can be saved in this way. Translation efforts have been started in the following languages:
* Italiano
* Polski
* Español
Even if a translation has been done at one time, it may have been incomplete or not been updated to reflect recent changes on the English site. Please work to keep them current. If you can only do a partial translation, leave a note to later contributors linking back to your source (a good candidate for using Templates).

### Add InterWiki Links

If you can't translate pages, but know enough of a language to locate the corresponding Chinese Wikibook, you can make Interwiki links. You can see them on the Wikibooks Sidebar listed under "in other languages" when available. They are typically placed at the very end of a page using a simple format. Here is the list used for the Chinese TOC page:
The ones listed above the divider are translations of this book. The ones below are of their own design. In addition to the main page, Lesson pages, Stroke Order pages and anything else can be interwikied as long as the content is the same.

## Stroke Order Images

There is a project on Wikicommons to upload images and animations of the stroke order for characters. There are directions on how to contribute. It's easy with the use of some free programs and can be done even with only a basic understanding of Chinese. Please contribute so that we'll have a standardized reference for our Wikibook users.
Have a look at the stroke order pages for each lesson to see what our immediate needs are:

## Sound Samples

With a microphone and a read through the recording guidelines for the Spoken Wikipedia you can contribute audio examples. Sound samples are particularly important for beginners, especially ones who are studying alone with no teacher or native speaker on hand.
You can see what has been uploaded so far at Category:Chinese pronunciation. Peter Isotalo started, but a native speaker would be best.
Welcome to the main Planning page for the Chinese Wikibook. Unless your comment only pertains to a particular lesson, discuss your ideas here so that the overall planning discussion is not spread across many lesson pages. Initial planning and continued coordination of effort is extremely important to help reduce the need for reworking later. New issues are entered here, with the most recent at the bottom of the page. Please review the Table of Contents to see if your issue has already been raised; also check the archives (see below) in case it was discussed some time ago.
Please observe the following guidelines:
* Place your question at the bottom of the list;
* Title the question (by placing the title between equals signs like this: == title ==);
* Sign your name and date (by adding four tildes: ~~~~).

## Chinese Wikibook Purpose and Audience

This book is intended to be a complete learning resource center for students of Mandarin Chinese. Dialects, such as Cantonese, will be covered by their own Wikibooks and be linked to in the See Also section of the Table of Contents (TOC). It should teach listening comprehension and speaking as well as reading and writing using whatever technologies are most appropriate (includes audio for text and animations for stroke orders).
The audience is the serious studier of Chinese, either at the high school or college level. Casual learners looking for a few choice phrases or unwilling to spend the time learning characters can be served adequately by the Chinese Phrasebook on Wikivoyage. Younger audiences can have age-appropriate material created for them in WikiJunior. Intermediate- or Advanced-Level modules may be added, but because of the cumulative nature of a language text (explained below), it would probably be best to focus efforts on the Introductory Level first and make continuations of the series later.

## The Need for Planning

Language Wikibooks faces some unique challenges from a planning perspective. It's harder to produce a quality, integrated work in language instruction than in other subjects, like Biology or Physics. Those you can break into discrete units and still read about it—topics within the subject can be rearranged or meaningfully read even in isolation from the rest of the text.
Not so with an elementary language text. All the grammar and vocabulary that you learn is cumulative, so everything can only stack one way. Flipping ahead (or falling behind) more than a few chapters and you're lost. Order matters, so we use the a sequential naming scheme (Lesson 1, Lesson 2,...), not a topic-based one (Asking Questions, Giving Directions,...).
To avoid late-stage reorganizations that would necessarily be painful with lots of work going to waste, we should agree on a 'Lesson Roadmap' beforehand and then flesh it out. I think a Wiki can really work for this, but that the project still needs a common format and approach. A standard outline for lessons would help a lot with that, so, may I suggest that the lessons of this text each include the components outlined below.

## Lesson Roadmap

* Lesson 1: Hello! (你好！) - Basic Sentences and Questions
** Simple Sentences
*** SVO sentence structure
**** The equational verb shi [是] and its negation with bu [不]
**** Verb 叫
** Intro to Questions
*** Ma [吗] and ne [呢] particles
*** Question words (for now, only shei [谁] and na/nei [哪])
* Lesson 2: Are you busy today? (今天你忙不忙?) - Measure Words, Possession and Affirmative-Negative Questions
** Measure Words (the most commonly used, like 个、本、张)
** The possessive verb you [有] and its negation with mei [没]
** More Questions! Affirmative-Negative
*** 是不是 Questions
*** 有没有 Questions
* Unit 3: 今天星期三 - Numbers, Days, Aux. Verbs, de [的]
** Numbers (to 100)
** year, month, day, week etc.
** Auxiliary Verbs, the de [的] particle
* Lesson TBA: Unordered List of Grammar Explanations - Even w/o example sentences grammar can be explained nonetheless
** Comparisons Using bǐ [比]
** The le [了] particle
*** indicating a completed action
*** indicating a past event
*** expressing change of state or situation
*** adding emphasis
** Time
*** when - time of day, hour and minutes, morning/night
*** how long - duration of time
** Directions/Placement Words (NESW, L/R, li3, li2, zai4, bian1)
** Pronunciation of yi1 (b/c of tone changes)
** Complement of degree de
** ordinal numbers di
** Complement of direction qu/lai
** Compliment of result
** ba
*** the suggestion particle
*** as preposition
** guo denoting experience of something
** (some) members of family
** reduplication
** emphasis using shi...de
** How to use a Radical Index (for C-E Glossary)
** Basic rules for writing Chinese characters

## Subjects Areas to Cover

Greetings
Getting around (a city)
* Where is the post office?
* How far is it to the school?
* Public transport
* Conversation in a taxi
Chapter Three: Buying Things
* How much is that shirt?
* Haggling
Eating
* Eating Out
* At the supermarket
* The grocer
* A meal at home
* Traditional Chinese cooking
Sports
* What do you play?
* Talking about a match
* Skiing
* Mountaineering
* Yachting
* Surfing
Your House
* Description of house
* Traditional Chinese furniture
* Living in a community
Immediate family and relatives
Education
* This is my school
* Afterschool activities
* School subjects
Going to the Zoo / Wo men qu dong wu yuan

## Decided Conventions

* The Title Page leads to the main TOC, not the Cover Page. The Cover Page can be linked from the TOC and used in Print versions.
* Hanyu Pinyin is used as the only Romanization format, though equivalency charts to other systems provided . Tone marks are used instead of tone numbers.
* Traditional or Simplified characters appear only in the Lesson Text and in parentheses in the Vocabulary sections—not in titles, example sentences, or exercises.
* Traditional pages are linked as parallel subpages of every Simplified page. On every Traditional page, a parentdirectory link links back to the Simplified version, always providing a toggle button between versions.

## Unresolved Issues
# License
## GNU Free Documentation License

Version 1.3, 3 November 2008 Copyright (C) 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc. <http://fsf.org/>
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

## 0. PREAMBLE

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This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense. It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft license designed for free software.
We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for free software, because free software needs free documentation: a free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms that the software does. But this License is not limited to software manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book. We recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is instruction or reference.

## 1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS

This License applies to any manual or other work, in any medium, that contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the terms of this License. Such a notice grants a world-wide, royalty-free license, unlimited in duration, to use that work under the conditions stated herein. The "Document", below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member of the public is a licensee, and is addressed as "you". You accept the license if you copy, modify or distribute the work in a way requiring permission under copyright law.
A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with modifications and/or translated into another language.
A "Secondary Section" is a named appendix or a front-matter section of the Document that deals exclusively with the relationship of the publishers or authors of the Document to the Document's overall subject (or to related matters) and contains nothing that could fall directly within that overall subject. (Thus, if the Document is in part a textbook of mathematics, a Secondary Section may not explain any mathematics.) The relationship could be a matter of historical connection with the subject or with related matters, or of legal, commercial, philosophical, ethical or political position regarding them.
The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary Sections whose titles are designated, as being those of Invariant Sections, in the notice that says that the Document is released under this License. If a section does not fit the above definition of Secondary then it is not allowed to be designated as Invariant. The Document may contain zero Invariant Sections. If the Document does not identify any Invariant Sections then there are none.
The "Cover Texts" are certain short passages of text that are listed, as Front-Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts, in the notice that says that the Document is released under this License. A Front-Cover Text may be at most 5 words, and a Back-Cover Text may be at most 25 words.
A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy, represented in a format whose specification is available to the general public, that is suitable for revising the document straightforwardly with generic text editors or (for images composed of pixels) generic paint programs or (for drawings) some widely available drawing editor, and that is suitable for input to text formatters or for automatic translation to a variety of formats suitable for input to text formatters. A copy made in an otherwise Transparent file format whose markup, or absence of markup, has been arranged to thwart or discourage subsequent modification by readers is not Transparent. An image format is not Transparent if used for any substantial amount of text. A copy that is not "Transparent" is called "Opaque".
Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain ASCII without markup, Texinfo input format, LaTeX input format, SGML or XML using a publicly available DTD, and standard-conforming simple HTML, PostScript or PDF designed for human modification. Examples of transparent image formats include PNG, XCF and JPG. Opaque formats include proprietary formats that can be read and edited only by proprietary word processors, SGML or XML for which the DTD and/or processing tools are not generally available, and the machine-generated HTML, PostScript or PDF produced by some word processors for output purposes only.
The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself, plus such following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the material this License requires to appear in the title page. For works in formats which do not have any title page as such, "Title Page" means the text near the most prominent appearance of the work's title, preceding the beginning of the body of the text.
The "publisher" means any person or entity that distributes copies of the Document to the public.
A section "Entitled XYZ" means a named subunit of the Document whose title either is precisely XYZ or contains XYZ in parentheses following text that translates XYZ in another language. (Here XYZ stands for a specific section name mentioned below, such as "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", "Endorsements", or "History".) To "Preserve the Title" of such a section when you modify the Document means that it remains a section "Entitled XYZ" according to this definition.
The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice which states that this License applies to the Document. These Warranty Disclaimers are considered to be included by reference in this License, but only as regards disclaiming warranties: any other implication that these Warranty Disclaimers may have is void and has no effect on the meaning of this License.

## 2. VERBATIM COPYING

You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License. You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute. However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies. If you distribute a large enough number of copies you must also follow the conditions in section 3.
You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above, and you may publicly display copies.

## 3. COPYING IN QUANTITY

If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly have printed covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you must enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly, all these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and Back-Cover Texts on the back cover. Both covers must also clearly and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies. The front cover must present the full title with all words of the title equally prominent and visible. You may add other material on the covers in addition. Copying with changes limited to the covers, as long as they preserve the title of the Document and satisfy these conditions, can be treated as verbatim copying in other respects.
If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit legibly, you should put the first ones listed (as many as fit reasonably) on the actual cover, and continue the rest onto adjacent pages.
If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document numbering more than 100, you must either include a machine-readable Transparent copy along with each Opaque copy, or state in or with each Opaque copy a computer-network location from which the general network-using public has access to download using public-standard network protocols a complete Transparent copy of the Document, free of added material. If you use the latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps, when you begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure that this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at the stated location until at least one year after the last time you distribute an Opaque copy (directly or through your agents or retailers) of that edition to the public.
It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of the Document well before redistributing any large number of copies, to give them a chance to provide you with an updated version of the Document.

## 4. MODIFICATIONS

You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with the Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do these things in the Modified Version:
* Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title distinct from that of the Document, and from those of previous versions (which should, if there were any, be listed in the History section of the Document). You may use the same title as a previous version if the original publisher of that version gives permission.
* List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or entities responsible for authorship of the modifications in the Modified Version, together with at least five of the principal authors of the Document (all of its principal authors, if it has fewer than five), unless they release you from this requirement.
* State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the Modified Version, as the publisher.
* Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.
* Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications adjacent to the other copyright notices.
* Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license notice giving the public permission to use the Modified Version under the terms of this License, in the form shown in the Addendum below.
* Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant Sections and required Cover Texts given in the Document's license notice.
* Include an unaltered copy of this License.
* Preserve the section Entitled "History", Preserve its Title, and add to it an item stating at least the title, year, new authors, and publisher of the Modified Version as given on the Title Page. If there is no section Entitled "History" in the Document, create one stating the title, year, authors, and publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page, then add an item describing the Modified Version as stated in the previous sentence.
* Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document for public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and likewise the network locations given in the Document for previous versions it was based on. These may be placed in the "History" section. You may omit a network location for a work that was published at least four years before the Document itself, or if the original publisher of the version it refers to gives permission.
* For any section Entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications", Preserve the Title of the section, and preserve in the section all the substance and tone of each of the contributor acknowledgements and/or dedications given therein.
* Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document, unaltered in their text and in their titles. Section numbers or the equivalent are not considered part of the section titles.
* Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements". Such a section may not be included in the Modified version.
* Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled "Endorsements" or to conflict in title with any Invariant Section.
* Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.
If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no material copied from the Document, you may at your option designate some or all of these sections as invariant. To do this, add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified Version's license notice. These titles must be distinct from any other section titles.
You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various parties—for example, statements of peer review or that the text has been approved by an organization as the authoritative definition of a standard.
You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text, and a passage of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end of the list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version. Only one passage of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-Cover Text may be added by (or through arrangements made by) any one entity. If the Document already includes a cover text for the same cover, previously added by you or by arrangement made by the same entity you are acting on behalf of, you may not add another; but you may replace the old one, on explicit permission from the previous publisher that added the old one.
The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version.

## 5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS

You may combine the Document with other documents released under this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for modified versions, provided that you include in the combination all of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents, unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all their Warranty Disclaimers.
The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single copy. If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name but different contents, make the title of each such section unique by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a unique number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in the list of Invariant Sections in the license notice of the combined work.
In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled "History" in the various original documents, forming one section Entitled "History"; likewise combine any sections Entitled "Acknowledgements", and any sections Entitled "Dedications". You must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements".

## 6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS

You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other documents released under this License, and replace the individual copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the documents in all other respects.
You may extract a single document from such a collection, and distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow this License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of that document.

## 7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS

A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the copyright resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit. When the Document is included in an aggregate, this License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate which are not themselves derivative works of the Document.
If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one half of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be placed on covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate, or the electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in electronic form. Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket the whole aggregate.

## 8. TRANSLATION

Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section 4. Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special permission from their copyright holders, but you may include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a translation of this License, and all the license notices in the Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also include the original English version of this License and the original versions of those notices and disclaimers. In case of a disagreement between the translation and the original version of this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will prevail.
If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", or "History", the requirement (section 4) to Preserve its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the actual title.

## 9. TERMINATION

You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute it is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License.
However, if you cease all violation of this License, then your license from a particular copyright holder is reinstated (a) provisionally, unless and until the copyright holder explicitly and finally terminates your license, and (b) permanently, if the copyright holder fails to notify you of the violation by some reasonable means prior to 60 days after the cessation.
Moreover, your license from a particular copyright holder is reinstated permanently if the copyright holder notifies you of the violation by some reasonable means, this is the first time you have received notice of violation of this License (for any work) from that copyright holder, and you cure the violation prior to 30 days after your receipt of the notice.
Termination of your rights under this section does not terminate the licenses of parties who have received copies or rights from you under this License. If your rights have been terminated and not permanently reinstated, receipt of a copy of some or all of the same material does not give you any rights to use it.

## 10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE

The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.
Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version number. If the Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that specified version or of any later version that has been published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If the Document does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If the Document specifies that a proxy can decide which future versions of this License can be used, that proxy's public statement of acceptance of a version permanently authorizes you to choose that version for the Document.

## 11. RELICENSING

"Massive Multiauthor Collaboration Site" (or "MMC Site") means any World Wide Web server that publishes copyrightable works and also provides prominent facilities for anybody to edit those works. A public wiki that anybody can edit is an example of such a server. A "Massive Multiauthor Collaboration" (or "MMC") contained in the site means any set of copyrightable works thus published on the MMC site.
"CC-BY-SA" means the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license published by Creative Commons Corporation, a not-for-profit corporation with a principal place of business in San Francisco, California, as well as future copyleft versions of that license published by that same organization.
"Incorporate" means to publish or republish a Document, in whole or in part, as part of another Document.
An MMC is "eligible for relicensing" if it is licensed under this License, and if all works that were first published under this License somewhere other than this MMC, and subsequently incorporated in whole or in part into the MMC, (1) had no cover texts or invariant sections, and (2) were thus incorporated prior to November 1, 2008.
The operator of an MMC Site may republish an MMC contained in the site under CC-BY-SA on the same site at any time before August 1, 2009, provided the MMC is eligible for relicensing.

# How to use this License for your documents

To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of the License in the document and put the following copyright and license notices just after the title page:
    Copyright (c) YEAR YOUR NAME.
    Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
    under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
    or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
    with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
    A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
    Free Documentation License".
If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover Texts, replace the "with...Texts." line with this:
    with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with the
    Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts being LIST.
If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other combination of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the situation.
If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to permit their use in free software.