# Standard Chinese

| Standard Chinese |
| --- |
| Modern Standard Mandarin |
| 普通话 / 普通話, *Pǔtōnghuà* 国语 / 國語, *Guóyǔ* 华语 / 華語, *Huáyǔ* |
| Native to |  China  Hong Kong  Macau  Taiwan  Singapore |
| Native speakers | (Has begun acquiring native speakers cited 1988, 2014) L2 speakers: 7% of China (2014) |
| Language family | Sino-Tibetan
* Chinese
	+ Mandarin
		- Beijing dialect
			* **Standard Chinese**
 |
| Early form | Middle Mandarin
 |
| Writing system | Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese Mainland Chinese Braille Taiwanese Braille Two-Cell Chinese Braille |
| Signed forms | Wenfa Shouyu |
| Official status |
| Official language in | * China (as Putonghua)
* Taiwan (*de facto*; as Guoyu)
* Singapore (as Huayu)
* United Nations
* Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
* Myanmar (Wa State)
 |
| Regulated by | National Language Regulating Committee (China) National Languages Committee (Taiwan) Promote Mandarin Council (Singapore) Chinese Language Standardisation Council (Malaysia) |
| Language codes |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| ISO 639-6 | `goyu (Guoyu) huyu (Huayu) cosc (Putonghua)` |
| *Glottolog* | *None* |
|

|  |
| --- |
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**Standard Chinese**, or **Standard Mandarin**, is the official modern Chinese spoken language used in Mainland China and Taiwan and is one of the four official languages of Singapore. It is based on Mandarin Chinese and should not be confused with other varieties of Chinese.

## Common phrases

| English | Chinese (Traditional) | Chinese (Simplified) | Pinyin |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Hello | 你好 | 你好 | Nǐhǎo |
| What's your name? | 你叫什麼名字？ | 你叫什么名字？ | Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi? |
| My name is... | 我叫... | 我叫... | Wǒ jiào... |
| How are you? | 你好嗎？/ 你怎麼樣？ | 你好吗？/ 你怎么样？ | Nǐ hǎo ma? / Nǐ zěnmeyàng? |
| I am fine, and you? | 我很好，你呢？ | 我很好，你呢？ | Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne? |
| Yes | 是的 | 是的 | Shì de |
| No | 不 | 不 | Bù |
| I don't want it. | 不要。 | 不要。 | Bú yào. |
| Thank you | 謝謝 | 谢谢 | Xièxiè |
| Welcome! / You're welcome! | 歡迎您！/ 不用謝！ | 欢迎您！/ 不用谢！ | Huānyíng nín! / bú yòng xiè! |
| When? | 什麼時候？ | 什么时候？ | Shénme shíhou? |
| How much (money)? | 多少錢？ | 多少钱？ | Duōshǎo qián? |
| How long (distance)? | 多長？ | 多长？ | Duō cháng? |
| Can you speak a little more slowly? | 您能講得再慢些嗎？ | 您能讲得再慢些吗？ | Nín néng jiǎng de zài màn xiē ma? |
| Good morning! | 早上好！ (早安！ in Taiwan) | 早上好！ | Zǎoshang hǎo! (Zǎo an in Taiwan) |
| Goodbye! | 再見！ | 再见！ | Zàijiàn! |
| How do you get to the airport? | 去機場怎麼走？ | 去机场怎么走？ | Qù jīchǎng zěnme zǒu? |
| I want to fly to London on the eighteenth | 我想18日坐飛機到倫敦 | 我想18日坐飞机到伦敦 | Wǒ xiǎng shíbā rì zuò fēijī dào Lúndūn |
| My Chinese isn't so good. | 我的中文講得不太好. | 我的中文讲得不太好. | Wǒ de Zhōngwén jiǎng de bú tài hǎo. |
| How much will it cost to get to Munich? | 到慕尼黑需要多少錢？ | 到慕尼黑需要多少钱？ | Dào Mùníhēi xūyào duōshǎo qián? |

## Related pages

* Mandarin Chinese

* Norman, J., *Chinese*, Cambridge University Press, (Cambridge), 1988.
* Ramsey, R.S.(1987). The Languages of China. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01468-X
* San Duanmu (2000) *The Phonology of Standard Chinese* ISBN 0-19-824120-8

## Other websites

* General Introduction of Chinese Language Archived 2008-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
* Stroke order for Chinese character Archived 2009-03-17 at the Wayback Machine Official website of the Ministry of Education
* Introductory Course for Mandarin Chinese Archived 2022-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
* New Asia--Yale-in-China Chinese Language Center of the Chinese University of Hong Kong