Chinese phrasebook

From eTripTips Wiki

Chinese script in Chinatown, Singapore

Mandarin Chinese is the official language of China and Taiwan, and is one of the official languages of Singapore and Hong Kong. In English, it is often just called "Mandarin" or "Chinese". In China, it is called Putonghua (普通話), meaning "common speech", while it Taiwan it is referred to as Guoyu (國語) - "the national language." It has been the only language of education in China (but not Hong Kong) since the 1950s. Standard Mandarin is close to, but not quite identical with, the dialect of the Beijing area. Note that while the spoken mandarin in the above places is the same, the written characters are different. In Taiwan and Hong Kong, traditional characters are used, whereas China and Singapore use a simplified derivative.

[edit] Understand

Map of Chinese dialects

The word "dialect" means something different when applied to Chinese than it does for other languages. Chinese "dialects" are mutually unintelligible, as different as, say, Spanish and French and even English, which we would call "related languages" rather than "dialects".

However, while there are different spoken dialects of Chinese, there is only one form of written Chinese, with one common set of characters - mostly. An exception arises where in some spoken dialects, for example Cantonese as used in Hong Kong, more informal phrasings are used in everyday speech than what would be written. Thus, there are some extra characters that are sometimes used in addition to the common characters to represent the spoken dialect and other colloquial words. One additional complication is that mainland China and Singapore use simplified characters, a long-debated change completed by the mainland Chinese government in 1956 to facilitate the standardization of language across China's broad minority groups and sub-dialects. Hong Kong, Taiwan, and many overseas Chinese use the traditional characters.

About one fifth of the people in the world speak some form of Chinese as their native language. It is a tonal language that is related to Burmese and Tibetan. Although Japanese and Korean use Chinese written characters, the spoken languages are only very distantly related to Chinese. Also, the unrelated Vietnamese language has borrowed many words from Chinese.

Additional languages may have even borrowed so much from Chinese that they have come to be considered Chinese languages. Hokkien/Taiwanese/Ban-lam-gu and Teochew could have "become Chinese" this way.

Note that travellers headed for Hong Kong, Macau or Guangdong will almost certainly find Cantonese more useful than Mandarin.

[edit] Pronunciation guide

The pronunciation guide below uses Hanyu pinyin, the official romanization of the People's Republic of China. Until recently, Taiwan used the Wade-Giles system, which is quite different, but has recently officially switched to Tongyong pinyin, which is only slightly different.

[edit] Vowels

a 

as in father

e 

as in the hen

i 

as in ping or key; after sh, zh, or r, as in shirr; after s or z, hold the z and make a vowel of it

o 

as in saw or sung

u 

as in soon; but as ü in ju, qu, yu and xu

ü 

as in French lune or German grün

[edit] Consonants

Chinese stops distinguish aspirated and unaspirated, not voiceless and voiced as in English. So p, t, and k should be pronounced with a puff of air.

b 

as in ball or spall

c 

as in rats

ch 

as in chore

d 

as in do or stew

f 

as in fun

g 

as in gang

h 

as in her

j 

as in jeer

k 

as in king

l 

as in lease

m 

as in mow

n 

as in none

ng 

as in sing

p 

as in pit

q 

as in cheap

r 

as in genre or fair

s 

as in sag

sh 

as in shoot

t 

as in tongue

w 

as in wing, but silent in wu

x 

as in sheep

y 

as in yet, but silent in yi, yu

z 

as in red zebra

zh 

as in jungle

[edit] Exceptions

There are a fairly large number of niggling exceptions to the basic rules above, based on the position of the sound. Some of the more notable ones include:

-ian 

as -ien, so 天安門 Tian'anmen is pronounced "Tien'anmen"

wu- 

as u-, so 五百 wubai is pronounced "ubai"

yi- 

as i-, so 一个 yige is pronounced "ige"

yü- 

as ü-, so 豫园 Yuyuan is pronounced "ü-üan"

[edit] Tones

There are four tones in Mandarin that must be followed for proper pronunciation. If you are not used to tonal languages then the importance of these tones cannot be emphasized enough. Consider a vowel with a different tone as simply a different vowel altogether, and you will realize why Chinese will not understand you if mess this up — mǎ is to mā as "I want a cake" is to "I want a coke". Be especially wary of questions that have a falling tone, or conversely exclamations that have an "asking" tone (eg jǐngchá, police!). In other words, pronounced like does not imply meaning.

1. first tone ( ā ) 

flat, high pitch — more sung instead of spoken

2. second tone ( á ) 

low to middle, rising — pronounced like the end of a question phrase (Whát?)

3. third tone ( ǎ ) 

middle to low to high, dipping — at the end of a sentence, before a pause, or before another third tone, the rising part is emphasized

4. fourth tone ( à ) 

high to low, rapidly falling — pronounced like a command (Stop!)

5. a fifth tone 

this is a neutral tone, which is rarely used by itself (mostly for phrase particles), but frequently occurs as the second part of a word

[edit] Phrase list

All phrases shown in here use the simplified characters used in mainland China and Singapore. See Chinese phrasebook - Traditional for a version using the traditional characters still used on Taiwan.

[edit] Basics

Hello. 

你好。 Nǐ hǎo.

How are you? 

你好吗？ Nǐ hǎo ma? 身体好吗? Shēntǐ hǎo ma?

Fine, thank you. 

很好, 谢谢。 Hěn hǎo, xièxie.

What is your (first) name? 

你叫什么名字？ Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

My name is ______ . 

我叫 _____ 。 Wǒ jiào ______ .

Nice to meet you. 

很高兴认识你。 Hěn gāoxìng rènshì nǐ.

Please. 

请。 Qǐng.

Thank you. 

谢谢。 Xièxie.

You're welcome. 

不客气。 Bú kèqi.

Excuse me. (getting attention) 

请问 qǐng wèn

Excuse me. (begging pardon) 

打扰一下。 Dǎrǎo yixià ; 麻烦您了, Máfan nín le.

I'm sorry. 

对不起。 Duìbùqǐ.

Goodbye 

再见。 Zàijiàn

Goodbye (informal) 

拜拜。 Bai-bai (Byebye)

I can't speak Chinese. 

我不会说汉语。 Wǒ bú huì shuō Hànyǔ.

Do you speak English? 

你会说英语吗？ Nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma?

Is there someone here who speaks English? 

这里有人会说英语吗？ Zhèlĭ yǒu rén hùi shuō Yīngyǔ ma?

Help! (in emergencies)

救命！ Jiù mìng!

Good morning. 

早安。 Zǎo'ān.

Good evening. 

晚上好。 Wǎnshàng hǎo.

Good night. 

晚安。 Wǎn'ān.

I don't understand. 

我听不懂。 Wǒ tīng bù dǒng.

Where is the toilet? 

厕所在哪里？ Cèsuǒ zài nǎli?

[edit] Problems

Leave me alone. 

不要打扰我。 (búyào dǎrǎo wǒ)

I don't want it! (useful for people who come up trying to sell you something) 

不要 (búyào!)

Don't touch me! 

不要碰我！ (búyào pèng wǒ!)

I'll call the police. 

我要叫警察了。 (wǒ yào jiào jǐngchá le)

Police! 

警察！ (jǐngchá!)

Stop! Thief! 

住手！小偷！ (zhùshǒu! xiǎotōu!)

I need your help. 

我需要你的帮助。 (wǒ xūyào nǐde bāngzhù)

It's an emergency. 

这是紧急情况。 (zhèshì jǐnjí qíngkuàng)

I'm lost. 

我迷路了。 (wǒ mílù le)

I lost my bag. 

我丟了手提包。 (wǒ diūle shǒutíbāo)

I lost my wallet. 

我丟了钱包。 (wǒ diūle qiánbāo)

I'm sick. 

我生病了。 (wǒ shēngbìng le)

I've been injured. 

我受伤了。 (wǒ shòushāng le)

I need a doctor. 

我需要医生。 (wǒ xūyào yīshēng)

Can I use your phone? 

我可以打个电话吗？ (wǒ kěyǐ dǎ ge diànhuà ma?)

[edit] Numbers

Chinese numbers are very regular. While Arabic (Western) numerals have become more common, the Chinese numerals shown below are still used, particularly in informal contexts like markets.

0 〇, 零 

líng

1 一 

yī

2 二 

èr

3 三 

sān

4 四 

sì

5 五 

wǔ

6 六 

liù

7 七 

qī

8 八 

bā

9 九 

jiǔ

10 十 

shí

11 十一 

shí-yī

12 十二 

shí-èr

13 十三 

shí-sān

14 十四 

shí-sì

15 十五 

shí-wǔ

16 十六 

shí-liù

17 十七 

shí-qī

18 十八 

shí-bā

19 十九 

shí-jiǔ

20 二十 

èr-shí

21 二十一 

èr-shí-yī

22 二十二 

èr-shí-èr

23 二十三 

èr-shí-sān

30 三十 

sān-shí

40 四十 

sì-shí

50 五十 

wǔ-shí

60 六十 

liù-shí

70 七十 

qī-shí

80 八十 

bā-shí

90 九十 

jiǔ-shí

For numbers above 100, any "gaps" must be filled in with 〇 líng, as eg. 一百一 yībǎiyī would otherwise be taken as shorthand for "110". A single unit of tens may be written and pronounced either 一十 yīshí or just 十 shí.

100 一百 

yī-bǎi

101 一百〇一 

yī-bǎi-líng-yī

110 一百一十 

yī-bǎi-yī-shí

111 一百一十一 

yī-bǎi-yī-shí-yī

200 二百 

èr-bǎi

300 三百 

sān-bǎi

500 五百 

wǔ-bǎi

1000 一千 

yī-qiān

2000 二千 

èr-qiān

Numbers above 10,000 are grouped by in units of four digits, starting with 万 wàn (ten thousand). "One million" in Chinese is thus "hundred tenthousands" (一百万).

10,000 一万 

yī-wàn

10,001 一万〇一 

yī-wàn-líng-yī

10,002 一万〇二 

yī-wàn-líng-èr

20,000 二万 

èr-wàn

50,000 五万 

wǔ-wàn

100,000 十万 

shí-wàn

200,0000 二十万 

èr-shí-wàn

1,000,000 一百万 

yī-bǎi-wàn

10,000,000 一千万 

yī-qiān-wàn

100,000,000 一亿 

yī-yì

number _____ (train, bus, etc.) 

number measure word (路 lù, 号 hào, ...) _____ (huǒ chē, gōng gòng qì chē, etc.)
Measure words are used in combination with a number to indicate an amount of mass nouns, similar to how English requires "two pieces of paper" rather than just "two paper". Read this for full details.

half 

半 bàn

less than 

少於 shǎoyú

more than 

多於 duōyú

more 

更 gèng

[edit] Time

now 

现在 xiànzài

later 

以后， yǐhòu or shāohòu

before 

以前, yǐqián

morning 

早上, zǎoshàng

afternoon 

下午, xiàwǔ

night 

晚上, wǎnshàng

[edit] Clock time

What time is it? 

现在几点？ Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?

It is nine in the morning. 

早上9点钟。 Zǎoshàng jǐu diǎn zhōng.

Three-thirty PM. 

下午3点半. Xiàwǔ sān diǎn bàn.

[edit] Duration

_____ minute(s) 

_____ 分钟 fēnzhōng

_____ hour(s) 

_____ 小时 xiǎoshí

_____ day(s) 

_____ 天 tiān

_____ week(s) 

_____ 星期 xīngqī

_____ month(s) 

_____ 月 yùe

_____ year(s) 

_____ 年 nián

[edit] Days

today 

今天 jīntiān

yesterday 

昨天 zuótiān

tomorrow 

明天 míngtiān

this week 

这个星期 zhège xīngqī

last week 

上个星期 shàngge xīngqī

next week 

下个星期 xiàge xīngqī

Weekdays in Chinese are easy: starting with 1 for Monday, just add the number after 星期 xīngqī. In Taiwan, 星期 is pronounced xīngqí (second tone on the second syllable).

Sunday 

星期天 xīngqītiān or xīngqīrì (星期日）or xīngqīqī

Monday 

星期一 xīngqīyī

Tuesday 

星期二 xīngqīèr

Wednesday 

星期三 xīngqīsān

Thursday 

星期四 xīngqīsì

Friday 

星期五 xīngqīwǔ

Saturday 

星期六 xīngqīlìu

[edit] Months

Months in Chinese are also easy: starting with 1 for January, just add the number after 月 yuè.

January 

一月, yī yuè

February 

二月, èr yuè

March 

三月, sān yuè

April 

四月, sì yuè

May 

五月, wŭ yuè

June 

六月, liù yuè

July 

七月, qī yuè

August 

八月, bā yuè

September 

九月, jiŭ yuè

October 

十月, shí yuè

November 

十一月, shí yī yuè

December 

十二月, shí èr yuè

Tips: From January to December, you just need to use this pattern: number (1-12) + yuè

[edit] Writing Time and Date

[edit] Colors

black 

黑色 hēi sè

white 

白色 bái sè

gray 

灰色 huī sè

red 

红色 hóng sè

blue 

蓝色 lán sè

yellow 

黄色 huáng sè

green 

绿色 lǜ sè

orange 

橙色 chéng sè

purple 

紫色 zǐ sè

brown 

褐色 he sè, 棕色 zōng sè,

Do you have it in another color?  

你们有没有另外颜色? nǐmen yǒu méiyǒu lìngwài yánsè ?

Tips: sè means 'color', therefore, 'hóng sè' is 'red color'(literally). More common for brown and easier to remmember is 'coffee color': 咖啡色 kā fēi sè

[edit] Transportation

[edit] Bus and Train

How much is a ticket to _____? 

去______的票多少钱 qù _____ de piào duō shǎo qián?

Do you go to... (the central station)? 

去不去... (火车站) qù bù qù... (huǒ chē zhàn)

[edit] Directions

How do I get to _____ ? 

怎么去_____ zěnme qù _____?

...the train station? 

...火车站? ...huǒchē zhàn?

...the bus station? 

...汽车总站? ...qìchē zǒngzhàn?

...the airport? 

...飞机场? ...fēijī chǎng?

street 

街 jiē; 路 lù

Turn left. 

左边转弯 zuǒbiān zhuǎnwān

Turn right. 

右边转弯 yòubiān zhuǎnwān

left 

左边 zuǒbiān

right 

右边 yòubiān

straight ahead 

往前走 wǎngqián zǒu

north 

北 bĕi

south 

南 nán

east 

东 dōng

west 

西 xī

[edit] Taxi

Taxi 出租车 chū zū chē

Take me to _____, please. 

请开到_____。 qǐng kāidào _____。

[edit] Lodging

Do you have any rooms available? 

你们有房间吗？ Nǐmen yǒu fángjiān ma?

Does the room come with... 

有没有... Yǒu méiyǒu...

...bedsheets? 

...床单？ ...chuángdān?

...a bathroom? 

...浴室？ ...yùshì?

...a telephone? 

...电话？ ...diànhuà?

...a TV? 

...电视？ ...diànshì ?

I will stay for _____ night(s). 

我打算住_____夜。 Wǒ dǎsuàn zhù _____ yè.

Do you have a safe? 

你们有没有保险箱？ Nǐmen yǒu méiyǒu bǎoxiǎn xiāng?

Can you wake me at _____? 

请明天早上_____叫醒我。 Qǐng míngtiān zǎoshang _____ jiàoxǐng wǒ.

I want to check out. 

我现在要走。 Wǒ xiànzài yào zǒu.

[edit] Money

pay

付 fù

cash

现钱 xiàn qián

credit card

信用卡 xìn yòng kǎ

[edit] Eating

Can I look at the menu, please? 

请给我看看菜单？ qĭng gĕi wŏ kànkan càidān?

Do you have an English menu? 

你有没有英文菜单？ nĭ yŏu méi yŏu yīngwen càidān?

(Listen for... Yes, we have one. : 有 yŏu - No, we don't. : 没有 méi yŏu)

I'm a vegetarian 

我吃素的 wŏ chī sù de

breakfast 

早饭 zǎofàn

lunch 

午饭 wǔfàn or zhōngfàn

supper 

晚饭 wǎnfàn

beef 

牛肉 niúròu

pork

猪肉 zhūròu

mutton

羊肉 yángròu

chicken

鸡 jī

fish

鱼 yú

cheese 

奶酪 nǎilào

eggs 

鸡蛋 jīdàn

bread 

面包 miànbāo

noodles 

面条 miàntiáo

fried rice

炒饭 chǎofàn

dumpling

饺子 jiǎozi

rice 

米饭 mĭfàn

coffee 

咖啡 kāfēi

black coffee: 黑咖啡 hēi kāfēi

milk

牛奶 niúnǎi

sugar

糖 táng

tea (drink) 

茶 cha

green tea

绿茶 lǜ chá

scented tea

花茶 huāchá

black tea

红茶 hóngchá

juice 

水果 shuǐguǒ fruit; 汁 zhī juice

water 

水 shuĭ

natural mineral water

矿泉水 kuàngquán shuǐ

beer 

啤酒 píjiŭ

red/white wine 

红/白 葡萄 酒 hóng/bái pŭtáo jiŭ

It was delicious. 

好吃極了。 (hǎochī jí le)

The check, please. 

请结帐。 (qǐng jiézhàng)

[edit] Bars

Do you serve alcohol? 

有没有卖酒？ (yǒu méiyǒu mài jiǔ?)

Is there table service? 

有没有餐桌服务？ (yǒu méiyǒu cānzhuō fúwù?)

A beer/two beers, please. 

请给我一杯/两杯啤酒。 (qǐng gěi wǒ yìbēi/liǎngbēi píjiǔ)

A glass of red/white wine, please. 

请给我一杯红/白葡萄酒。 (qǐng gěi wǒ yìbēi hóng/bái pútáojiǔ)

A pint, please. 

请给我一品脱。 (qǐng gěi wǒ yìpǐntuō)

A bottle, please. 

请給我一瓶。 (qǐng gěi wǒ yìpíng)

_____ (hard liquor) and _____ (mixer), please. 

请給我_____和_____。 (qǐng gěi wǒ _____ hé _____)

whiskey 

威士忌 (wēishìjì)

vodka 

伏特加 (fútèjiā)

rum 

兰姆酒 (lánmǔjiǔ)

water 

水 (shuǐ)

club soda 

苏打水 (sūdǎshuǐ)

tonic water 

通宁水 (tōngníngshuǐ)

orange juice 

柳橙汁 (liǔchéngzhī)

Coke (soda) 

可乐 (kělè)

Do you have any bar snacks? 

有没有吧臺点心？ (yǒu méiyǒu bātái diǎnxīn?)

One more, please. 

请再给我一个。 (qǐng zài gěi wǒ yígè)

Another round, please. 

请再来一轮。 (qǐng zàilái yìlún)

When is closing time? 

几点打烊？ (jǐdiǎn dǎyáng?)

Where is the toilet? 

厕所在哪里 (cèsuǒ zài nǎli?)

[edit] Shopping

Do you have this in my size? 

有没有我的尺寸？ (yǒu méiyǒu wǒde chǐcùn?)

How much is this? 

这个多少钱？ (zhège duōshǎo qián?)

That's too expensive. 

太贵了。 (tài guì le)

Would you take _____? 

_____元可以吗？ (_____ yuán kěyǐ ma?)

expensive 

贵 (guì)

cheap 

便宜 (piányi)

I can't afford it. 

我带的钱不够。 (wǒ dài de qián búgòu)

I don't want it. 

我不想要。 (wǒ bù xiǎngyào)

You're cheating me. 

你欺骗我。 (nǐ qīpiàn wǒ) Use with caution!

I'm not interested. 

我没有兴趣。 (wǒ méiyǒu xìngqù)

OK, I'll take it. 

我要买这个。 (wǒ yào mǎi zhège)

Can I have a bag? 

请给我袋子。 (qǐng gěi wǒ dàizi)

Do you ship (overseas)? 

可以邮寄到海外吗？ (kěyǐ yóujì dào hǎiwài ma?)

I need... 

我要_____ (wǒ yào _____)

...toothpaste. 

牙膏 (yágāo)

...a toothbrush. 

牙刷 (yáshuā)

...tampons. 

卫生棉条 (wèishēng miántiáo)

...soap. 

香皂 (xiāngzào)

...shampoo. 

洗髮精/洗发精 (xǐfǎjīng)

...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen) 

镇痛剂 (zhèntòngjì)

...cold medicine. 

感冒藥/感冒药 (gǎnmào yào)

...stomach medicine. 

胃腸藥/胃肠药 (wèicháng yào)

...a razor. 

剃刀 (tìdāo)

...an umbrella. 

雨伞 (yǔsǎn)

...sunblock lotion. 

防曬油/防晒油 (fángshàiyóu)

...a postcard. 

明信片 (míngxìnpiàn)

...postage stamps. 

郵票/邮票 (yóupiào)

...batteries. 

电池 (diànchí)

...writing paper. 

紙/纸 (zhǐ)

...a pen. 

笔 (bǐ)

...English-language books. 

英文书 (Yīngwén shū)

...English-language magazines. 

英文杂志 (Yīngwén zázhì)

...an English-language newspaper. 

英文报纸 (Yīngwén bàozhǐ)

...a Chinese-English dictionary. 

汉英词典 (Hàn-Yīng cídiǎn)

...an English-Chinese dictionary. 

英汉词典 (Yīng-Hàn cídiǎn)

[edit] Driving

I want to rent a car. 

我想要租车。 (wǒ xiǎngyào zūchē)

Can I get insurance? 

我可以买保险吗？ (wǒ kěyǐ mǎi bǎoxiǎn ma?)

stop (on a street sign) 

停 (tíng)

one way 

单行道 (dānxíngdào)

yield 

让路 (rànglù)

no parking 

禁止停车 (jìnzhǐ tíngchē)

speed limit 

速度限制 (sùdù xiànzhì)

gas (petrol) station 

加油站 (jiāyóuzhàn)

petrol 

汽油 (qìyóu)

diesel 

柴油 (cháiyóu)

[edit] Authority

I haven't done anything wrong. 

我没有做错事。 (wǒ méiyǒu zuòcuò shì)

It was a misunderstanding. 

这是误会。 (zhè shì wùhuì)

Where are you taking me? 

你带我去哪里？ (nǐ dài wǒ qù nǎlǐ?)

Am I under arrest? 

我被捕了吗？ (wǒ bèibǔle ma?)

I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen. 

我是 美国/澳洲/英国/加拿大 公民。 (wǒ shì měiguó/àozhōu/yīngguó/jiānádà gōngmín)

I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate. 

我希望跟 美国/澳洲/英国/加拿大 的 大使馆/领事馆 联繫。 (wǒ xīwàng gēn měiguó/àozhōu/yīngguó/jiānádà de dàshǐguǎn/lǐngshìguǎn liánxì)

I want to talk to a lawyer. 

我希望跟律师联繫。 (wǒ xīwàng gēn lǜshī liánxì)

Can I just pay a fine now? 

我可以只付罚款吗？ (wǒ kěyǐ zhǐ fù fákuǎn ma?)

[edit] Telephone & Internet

Can I make international calls here? 

可以打国际电话吗? (kěyǐ dǎ guójì diànhuà ma?)

How much is it to America/Australia/Britain/Canada? 

到 美国/澳洲/英国/加拿大 是多少钱? (dào měiguó/àozhōu/yīngguó/jiānádà shì duōshǎo qián?)

Where can I find an Internet cafe? 

那里有网吧? (nǎlǐ yǒu wǎng ba?)

How much is it per hour? 

一小时是多少钱? (yī xiǎoshí shì duōshǎo qián?)

[edit] Learning more

Chinese is the most spoken language of the world, in the sense that it has the most native speakers of any language, more than the next two, English and Spanish, combined. However, there are still few learners of Chinese in the Western world and you might get weird looks if you say you want to start learning it. So here is a nice quote from the Hindi Phrasebook (the 4th most spoken, yet seldom learnt language): "Instead of anger of frustration, the student should instead feel a smug superiority of being ahead of everyone else...!"

Advice: The first step is to learn to properly read the romanization with tones! There are still many sites with small Chinese phrase chapters which do not indicate the Mandarin tones needed. For simple sentences, one may be able to get away without tones, but this can cause confusion in more complex situations, so tones are very important. A classic example is the difference between the Chinese characters for "four" (四, sì) and "death" (死, sǐ), different only by tones. A good idea for practicing is to make Chinese friends online since millions of young people in China also look for somebody to practice English with.

• Chinese (Wikibooks.org): Free lessons providing detailed grammar explanations, audio samples and stroke order animations.WikiPedia:Chinese language