Library · Chinese for Beginners
1 Hello
What you'll learn How to greet people, say who you are, and ask who they are.
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1.1 Saying who you are
是 is the am, is and are of sentences like I am a student. It joins two things that are the same.
我是学生。我是學生。
I'm a student.
她是老师。她是老師。
She's a teacher.
It is the same 是 for I, you, he and she.
To say not, put 不 in front of 是.
他不是老师。他不是老師。
He isn't a teacher.
To ask a question, add 吗嗎 at the end. The rest of the sentence stays as it is.
你是学生吗？你是學生嗎？
Are you a student?
Chinese has no one word for yes. To answer, say 是 again for yes, or 不是 for no.
你是老师吗？不是，我是学生。你是老師嗎？不是，我是學生。
Are you a teacher? No, I'm a student.
他 and 她 are both tā. Only the written word tells he from she.
1.2 Asking someone's name
To ask someone's name, say 你叫什么名字？你叫什麼名字？ 叫 is to be called, and 什么什麼 is what.
你叫什么名字？你叫什麼名字？
What's your name?
我叫大卫。我叫大衛。
My name's David.
什么什麼 stands where the answer goes, as the name does in the answer. It makes the question by itself, so it needs no 吗嗎.
呢 after a word asks the same question back.
我叫王明，你呢？
I'm Wang Ming. And you?
也 is also, or too. It goes before the verb, never at the end.
我也是学生。我也是學生。
I'm a student too.
To say you're glad to meet someone, say 认识你很高兴認識你很高興, literally "knowing you, very glad". The 很 is light here: words like 高兴高興 and 好 usually take 很 before them, and it makes them a plain "glad" or "good".
认识你很高兴。認識你很高興。
Nice to meet you.
谢谢謝謝 is thank you, and 再见再見 is goodbye.
谢谢老师！老师再见！謝謝老師！老師再見！
Thank you, Teacher! Goodbye, Teacher!
1.3 Asking who someone is
谁誰 is who. Like 什么什麼, it stands where the answer goes.
他是谁？他是誰？
Who is he?
他是高山。
He's Gao Shan.
的 marks whose: 我的 is my, or mine.
她是我的朋友。
She's my friend.
他是张老师的学生。他是張老師的學生。
He's Teacher Zhang's student.
们們 after a word for people makes more than one: 我们我們 we, 你们你們 you, 他们他們 they. A teacher greets a class with 同学们好同學們好.
他们他們 and 她们她們 are both tāmen. 她们她們 is for women only; a group with any man in it is 他们他們.
都 is all, or both. It goes after the people it means, before the verb.
我们都是朋友。我們都是朋友。
We're all friends.
With 也 as well, 也 comes first.
他们也都是我的朋友。他們也都是我的朋友。
They're all my friends too.
1.4 Where you're from
To ask where someone is from, ask which country's person they are. 哪 is which, and 国國 is country.
你是哪国人？你是哪國人？
Where are you from?
Answer with the country and 人, person.
我是中国人。我是中國人。
I'm Chinese.
大卫是英国人。大衛是英國人。
David is British.
A city works the same way: 北京人 is someone from Beijing.
李月是上海人。
Li Yue is from Shanghai.
会會 is can, for something you have learnt to do. It goes before the verb. To answer yes, say 会會 again; to answer no, 不会不會.
你会说汉语吗？你會說漢語嗎？
Can you speak Chinese?
我会说一点儿。我會說一點兒。
I can speak a little.
汉语漢語 and 中文 both mean Chinese. 汉语漢語 is the name of the language you study; 中文 is the everyday word, and the one for Chinese in writing.
对不起對不起 is sorry, and the answer to it is 没关系沒關係, it doesn't matter. When someone praises you, the answer is 谢谢謝謝, not 没关系沒關係.
对不起！——没关系！對不起！——沒關係！
Sorry! — That's all right!
你的汉语很好！——谢谢！你的漢語很好！——謝謝！
Your Chinese is very good! — Thank you!
1.5 This and that
这這 is this, and 那 is that.
这是什么？這是什麼？
What's this?
那是我的书。那是我的書。
That's my book.
Between a number, or 这這 or 那, and the thing it counts goes a measure word. 个個 is the most common one, for most things and people.
这个字是什么？這個字是什麼？
What's this character?
Some things take a measure word of their own. Books take 本.
我有一本书。我有一本書。
I've got a book.
两兩 is two of something, before a measure word. Counting one, two, three uses another word for two.
我有两本汉语书。我有兩本漢語書。
I've got two Chinese books.
有 is to have. Its no is 没有沒有, never 不有.
你有书吗？——没有。你有書嗎？——沒有。
Have you got a book? — No.
东西東西 is a thing, or things, of any kind.
这是谁的东西？這是誰的東西？
Whose is this?