我 wǒ I, me, my pronoun simple character

你 nǐ you, your pronoun contains "亻"

叫 jiào to call, to (be) called (helping) verb contains "口" verbs in Chinese seldom change even when used with singular or plural nouns
姓 xìng last name, surname noun/(helping) verb contains "女"
好 hǎo good, great, okay adjective contains "女"
什么 shénme (what) pronoun (particle) contains "亻" neither "shén" nor "me" are words by themselves; they must each be combined such words that must be combined with other characters to have meaning and
with other Chinese characters to have meaning mainly serve a grammatical purpose in Chinese are known as "particle" words

是 shì to be (helping) verb contains "日" "shì" doen't change when used in the past or present tense, first or second or "shì" is often used as the equivalent of "am", "is" , "are", "was", "were" in English however, there are some instances where other words are more appropriate to
third person, or in singular or plural from translate "to be" into Chinese
人 rén person, people noun simple character
国 guó country, nation noun contains "囗"
中 zhōng middle, center noun simple character
中国 Zhōngguó China (proper) noun literally "middle country" ("zhōng" + "guó")
中国人 Zhōngguó rén Chinese (people) (proper) noun adding "rén" to the end of the name of a country creates the word for the
nationality of the people from that country (country + "rén")
美国 Měiguó America (proper) noun
美国人 Měiguó rén American (people) (proper) noun
加州人 Jiāzhōu rén Californian (people) (proper) noun

零 líng zero number

一 yī one number simple character
二 èr two number simple character
三 sān three number simple character
四 sì four number simple character
五 wǔ five number simple character
六 liù six number simple character actually "lioù" - but the "o" is dropped in Pinyin
七 qī seven number simple character
八 bā eight number simple character
九 jiǔ nine number simple character actually "jioǔ" - but the "o" is dropped in Pinyin
十 shí ten simple character numbers 11-19 are formed by adding a number character to "十"; "十四" is 14; numbers 20, 30, 40, etc. are formed by adding a number character before "十"; numbers 21-99 are formed by adding a number character to any combination of a
number "十八" is 18; etc. "二十" is 20; "七十" is 70; etc. number character before "十"; "二十八" is 28; "五十六" is 56; "七十九" is 79; etc.
百 bǎi hundred number simple character numbers 100, 200, 300, etc. are formed by adding a number character before numbers such as 101, 102, 301, 524, etc. are formed by simply combining number
"百"; "一百" is 100; "三百" is 300; etc. characters as shown before; "一百一" is 101; "二百二" is 202; "五百二十四" is 524; etc.

岁 suì year(s), age noun "山" + "夕" actually "sueì" - but the "e" is dropped in Pinyin
"多" is usually used as a prefix ("how") plus an adjective ("how" + adjective); for this is somewhat similar to "什么" in that both "多" and "什么" are used to ask when "多" is used as an adjective, it means "many"; when "多" is used as a verb,
多 duō how; many adverb, adjective "夕" + "夕" example, "nǐ duō dà" is "you" + "how" + "big" (how old are you?) questions; "多" is used to ask questions regarding how many or how much it means "how" (as in "how much" or "how may")

几 jǐ how many, a few number simple character usually used only to refer to things that are few in number (e.g. under 10) "几" is a common question word used similar to the way "多" is used "几" would almost be like saying "how few?"
大 dà big, large adjective simple character

他 tā he, him pronoun contains "亻" this character for "tā" is used to refer to males the masculine character "tā" contains the radicle "rén" (standing person) there is no change in pronounciation between the two "tā"s
她 tā she, her pronoun contains "女" this character for "tā" is used to refer to females the feminine character "tā" contains the radicle "nǚ" (female)
"men" is a particle word added to the end of personal pronouns to make the "men" is also used with other nouns that refer to people; it is rarely used to refer to
们 men (plural) adjective (particle) contains "亻" plural of the pronoun; it is pronounced in the neutral tone anything else (although it may sometimes be used to refer to animals to give them
human-like personalities)
他们 tāmen they, them (male) pronoun this "tāmen" is used to refer to a group of men or a group of men and women
她们 tāmen they, they (female) pronoun this "tāmen" is only used to refer to a group women
你们 nǐmen you (plural) pronoun
我们 wǒmen we, us pronoun

"de" is a particle word often added to the end of pronouns to make them the A "de" B sentence structure implies that A has B or B belongs to A; it is often
的 de (possession) adjective (particle) contains "白" possessive case pronouns; typically, the word that follows a pronoun + "de" is translated "A's B" or "B of A" in English ("de" can be though of as " 's " in English)
the object being possessed
你的 nǐ de your, yours (possessive) pronoun
我的 wǒ de my, mine (possessive) pronoun
他的 tā de his (possessive) pronoun
她的 tā de her, hers (possessive) pronoun
你们的 nǐmen de your, yours (possessive) pronoun
我们的 wǒmen de our, ours (possessive) pronoun
他们的 tāmen de their, theirs (male) (possessive) pronoun
她们的 tāmen de their, theirs (female) (possessive) pronoun
"de" can be added to many other words besides personal pronouns (such as
中国的 Zhōngguó de China's, Chinese (possessive) noun words that refer to people, animals, or organizations) to make them possessive
case (such as, in this case, the word "China")

名 míng name noun contains "口"

字 zì word, character noun contains "子"
名字 míngzi name noun when "名" and "字" are combined to form "名字", "字" is pronounced in the
neutral tone
谁 shuí/shéi (who) pronoun "谁" is a pronoun often used to ask questions concerning "who?"
朋 péng friend noun "月" + "月"
友 yǒu friend noun simple character
when "朋" and "友" are combined to form "朋友", "友" is pronounced in the there is no difference bewtween the singular and plural of "péngyou" (as with most
朋友 péngyou friend noun neutral tone Chinese nouns) but "men" may be added to form "péngyoumen" when referring to
more than one friend (but this isn't necessary)

the single characters "爸", "妈", "哥", "姐", "弟", "妹" already carry the meaning of
爸爸 bàba father, dad noun the second "爸" is pronounced in the neutral tone each family member; however, since the majority of words in Chinese are two syllable
words, each of those characters are often repeated twice when forming a word (as
shown here);
"妈" is an example of a pictophonetic character; the left half illustrates the
māma mother, mom noun contains "女" the second "妈" is pronounced in the neutral tone the right half of "妈", is the character "马" (mǎ), which means "horse" meaning of the word while the right half indicates the way it is pronounced; "吗" is
妈妈 a pictophonetic character as well
哥哥 gēge older brother noun contains "口" the second "哥" is pronounced in the neutral tone
姐姐 jiějie older sister noun contains "女" the second "姐" is pronounced in the neutral tone
弟弟 dìdi younger brother noun contains "弓" the second "弟" is pronounced in the neutral tone
妹妹 mèimei younger sister noun contains "女" the second "妹" is pronounced in the neutral tone
儿 ér child, son noun simple character
子 zǐ son noun simple character
儿子 érzi son noun individually, both "儿" and "子" mean "son, child"; but when put together to form
"儿子", they refer only to "son"
女 nǚ daughter, female noun simple character
女儿 nǚ'ér daughter noun contains "女" "女儿" literally means "female child"

"吗" is a particle that is added to the end of a declarative sentence to make it a "吗" doesn't have a tone, but is often pronounced most similarly to the first tone in Chinese, there can only be one word referring to a question in a single
吗 ma (?) (particle) contains "口" yes/no question; the sentence structure remains unchanged save for the sentence; for instance, if "谁" is used in a sentence, "吗" cannot be used in the
addition of the "吗" at the end same sentence, and vice versa

"不" is and adverb used to form the negative form of a verb; it is usually placed "不" is pronounced in the fourth tone ("bú") whenever it appears before a first, the tone change in "不" is rather important because "不" is used so often
不 bú/bù no, not adverb simple character immediately before the verb it negates (in most SVO structured sentences, this second, or third tone (or simply by itself); however, it is pronounced in the second
will be after the subject but before the verb) tone ("bù") whenever it appears before the fourth tone
认 rèn "(to) know; (to) recognize" verb "讠" + "人"
识 shí "(to) know; (to) recognize" verb contains "讠"
the "识" in "认识" is pronounced in neutral tone; both "认" and "识" in "认识" "认识" is usually used when you personally know the person to whom you are "认识" is also used to refer to objects you recognize
认识 rènshi (to) know; (to) recognize verb mean "(to) know; to recognize," or, "to be aquainted with" referring to; it would be incorrect to refer to someone you are familiar with but do not
personally know using "认识" (such as a famous person)
老 lǎo old, experienced adjective contains "耂"
师 shī teacher noun contains "巾"
in Chinese, it may be common to combine two one-syllable words with similar (if when the title "老师" is attached to a name, it appears after the name, not before it
老师 lǎoshī teacher noun not identical) meanings to form one two-syllable word that is often used in their (as in English); i.e. "teacher Li" in English is "李老师" in Chinese ("李" being "Lǐ")
stead (as with "老师")

您 nín you, your pronoun contains "心" "您" is the polite way of saying "你"; it is usually used when one wants to show the character "您" can only be used to refer to one person; anything else such as
politeness or respect to the person to whom they are speaking to "您们" would be grammatically incorrect
再 zài twice, again adverb contains "冂"
见 jiàn see verb simple character
while "上" can be used as an adjective to describe things that are high up, it is when used after a noun to indicate time, place, or position, "上" is pronounced in the
上 shàng up, upper adjective simple character also commonly used as an addition to nouns to make them two-character words neutral tone
and indicate time or place or position (as seen in the next two examples)
早上 zǎoshang morning noun the character "早" already means "morning," but the addition of the character "早" can also be an adjective meaning "early" "早上" is typically used to refer to hours in the morning between 6 AM and 9 AM
"上" creates a two-character word that refers to a time of the day
晚上 wǎnshang evening, night noun the character "晚" already means "evening, night" but the addition of the "晚" can also be an adjective meaning "late" "晚上" it typically used to refer to hours in the evening between 7 PM and 12 AM
character "上" creates a two-character word that refers to a time of the day
安 ān safe, comfortable adjective contains "宀"

谢谢 xièxie thank you verb contains "氵" "谢“ means "decline" or "thank"; the second "谢“ is pronounced in the neutral "谢谢" once again shows how single Chinese characters are often repeated to
tone form two-character words
用 yòng use verb simple character
不用 búyòng need not adverb
客 kè visitor noun contains "宀" and "口"
客气 kèqi (be) polite verb/adjective
对 duì (to) treat verb
没 méi not (have) verb contains "氵"
关系 guānxi relationship, importance noun "系" is pronounced in the neutral tone on its own "关" means "(to) close"

in Chinese, years are referred to by individually saying each of the digits they oftentimes, however, the names of years can shortened to their last two digits (as in
年 nián year noun simple character are made up of followed by "年" (e.g. the year 2019 is "二零一九年", the year 2019 would be "一九年", 2002 would be "零二年", 1969 would be "六九年", etc.)
2002 is "二零零二年", the year "1969" is "一九六九年", etc.)
in Chinese, the twelve months of the year are referred to by the number of their
月 yuè moon, month noun simple character order of appearance followed by "月" (e.g. January is "一月", February is "二月",
March is "三月", July is "六月", November is "十二月", etc.)
in Chinese, the days of the month are referred to by the number of their order of
日 rì sun, day noun simple character appearance (the date) followed by "日" (e.g. the 1st is "一日", the 2nd is "二日",
the 12th is "十二日", the 24 is "二十四日", the 31 is "三十一日", etc.）
号 hào number, day noun ? "号" is occasionally used in place of "日" (as in "一号" or "二十四号" and so forth)
生 shēng (be) born verb simple character
生日 shēngrì birthday noun
点 diǎn hour, o'clock measure word contains "灬" "点" is used when telling the time; when referring to an amount of time as a to say an hour of the day in Chinese, simply say the number of the hour followed by
quantity, other characters are used ("小时") "点" (e.g. 10:00 is "十点", 3:00 is "三点", 8:00 is "八点", 11:00 is "十一点", etc.)
"分" is used when telling the time; when referring to an amount of time as a together, "" and "" can be used to tell the time in Chinese (as in 10:20 is if are you are telling the time where the minute is made up of two characters, the
分 fēn minute measure word contains "刀" quantity, other characters are used ("分钟"); to say the minute of an hour in "十点二十分", 7:40 is "七点四十分", 3:05 is "三点零五分", 8:02 is "八点零二分", character "分" may be dropped (e.g. instead of saying "三点十五分" you can just
Chinese, simply say the number of the minute followed by "分" 12:46 is "十二点四十六分", etc.) say "三点十五" since "十五" is two characters); the only exception to this rule is
that the minute "10" must still be spoken with the character "分" (e.g. "二点十分")
"两" is another character which means "2" is Chinese; at times, both "二" and when referring to mathematics, "二" is generally used; when referring to time, "两"
两 liǎng two number simple character "两" may be used in to express the same thing; at other times, only one or the is used instead of "二"; however, if the time is ever exactly two minutes past an a
other is appropriate hour (e.g. 3:02) it is fine to use either "二" or "两"
现 xiàn present, current adjective contains "王"
在 zài (to) exist verb contains "土"
现在 xiànzài present time, right now noun "现" is an adjective meaning "present", and "在" is a verb meaning "(to) exist"
午 wǔ midday noun simple character
上午 shàngwǔ (late) morning noun "上午" typically refers to hours in the morning between 9 AM and 11 AM
中午 zhōngwǔ midday, noon noun
下 xià lower adjective simple character
下午 xiàwǔ afternoon noun "下午" typically refers to hours in the evening between 1 PM and 6-7 PM

天 tiān sky, day noun simple character

昨 zuó yesterday, the past noun contains "日"
今 jīn now noun contains "人"
明 míng next adjective "日" + "月"
昨天 zuótiān yesterday noun
今天 jīntiān today noun
明天 míngtiān tomorrow noun
星 xīng star noun "日" + "生"
期 qī date, scheduled time noun contains "月"
to say the days of the week in Chinese, simply add the number of the order of when saying "Sunday," however, there is no such thing as "星期七"; instead,
星期 xīngqī week noun appearance of the day of the week to "星期" (e.g. Monday is "星期一", Tuesday "Sunday" is called "星期日" or "星期天"
is "星期二", Friday is "星期五", etc.)
"周" is another word for week; the days of the week can be referred to using "周"
周 zhōu week noun contains "口" in place of "星期" (e.g. Monday is "周一", Wednesday is "周三", Sunday is "周日",
(but not "周天") etc.)

"个" is an example of a measure word; in Chinese, it is common to use measure there are many different measure words in Chinese which are used to refer to measure words do appear in English, although they are not as common as in
个 ge (measure word) measure word contains "人" words when referring to a number or quantity of things; by itself, "个" is different things; "个" is the most common measure word--it is often used when there Chinese; for example, in the phrases "one piece of paper," "a few drops of water,"
pronounced in the fourth tone; otherwise it is pronounced in the neutral tone is no other specific measure word appropriate for the thing(s) being referred to and "a loaf of bread," "piece," "drops," and "loaf" are the measure words
苹 píng apple noun contains "艹"
果 guǒ fruit noun contains "木"
苹果 píngguǒ apple noun
有 yǒu exist, have verb contains "月"
没有 méiyǒu (not) have verb

这 zhè this pronoun contains "辶"

那 nà that pronoun contains "阝"
位 wèi (measure word) measure word contains "亻" "位" is a polite measure word that is used to refer to people however, "位" is not used when referring to members of one's own family ("个" is
used instead)
先 xiān first, earlier adjective contains "儿"
in Chinese, titles appear after the name of person rather than before (as in "生" is pronounced in the neutral tone
先生 xiānsheng teacher, mister noun English); for example, "Mr. 李" would be "李先生", "Miss 王" would be "王小姐",
"teacher 二" would be "二老师", etc.
小 xiǎo small adjective simple character
小姐 xiǎojiě miss, young lady noun

哪 nǎ which, who, what pronoun "口" + "那"

东 dōng east noun contains "一"
西 xī west noun contains "覀"
东西 dōngxi thing, stuff noun "西" is pronounced in the neutral tone
学 xué (to) study verb contains "子"
学生 xuésheng student noun "生" is pronounced in the neutral tone
同 tóng together adverb contains "口"
同学 tóngxué classmate noun "同学" literally means "to study together"

in most cases, when a character contains a radical, the entire radical is part of
少 shǎo little adjective contains "小" the character; however, in some rare cases, only part of the radical may be
used (in this case, the radical "小" is missing its hook in "少")
多少 duōshao how much/many pronoun since "多" means "many" and "少" means "little," "多少" is similar to saying "how "多少" is often used to ask the quantity or price of things "少" is pronounced in the neutral tone
much or how little" or "is it a lot or not"
块 kuài piece, (measure word) measure word "块" may mean "piece" (as in a "piece of cake") or (informally) be used as the
measure word for RMB or yuan
钱 qián coin, money noun contains "钅"
书 shū book noun
本 běn (measure word) measure word "本" is the measure word used for books, plays, and films
手 shǒu hand noun simple character
手表 shǒubiǎo watch noun "表" already means "watch" on its own and contains the radical "衣" the radical "衣" is missing one one dot in "表"
手机 shǒujī mobile phone noun "机" means "machine" on its own and contains the radical "木"
部 bù (measure word) meaure word contains "阝" "部" is the measure word used for books, films, machines, vehicles, etc.

吃 chī eat verb contains "口"

喝 hē drink verb contains "口"
喜欢 xǐhuan like verb both "喜" and "欢" are adjectives that mean "happy" "欢" is pronounced in the neutral tone (although it is originally pronounced "huān") "欢" contains the radical "欠"; "喜" contains the radical "口"
水 shuǐ water noun consists of "水"
茶 chá tea noun contains "艹"
可乐 kělè Coke noun "可" is a verb that means "can"; "乐" is an adjective that means "happy"; "乐" contains the radical "丿"; "可" contains the radical "口"
together, these words capture the idea the Coke "can make (you) happy"
米饭 mǐfàn (cooked) rice noun "米" is a noun that means "seed, rice"; "饭" is a noun that means "cooked cereal, the character "米" consists of the radical "米"; "饭" contains the radical "饣"
cooked rice"
你好 nǐ hǎo hello you, good when two characters that are both third tones appear successively, this change is not reflected in writing
the first third tone character is pronounced as the second tone
我叫____ wǒ jiào ____ my name is ____ I, to be called, ____ "wǒ jiào ____" may only be used to introduce a full name or a first
name that has at least two characters
我姓____ wǒ xìng ____ my last name is ____ I, last name is, ____
this exemplifies the "subject-verb-object" sentence structure
你叫什么？ nǐ jiào shénme what is your name? you, to be called, (what) common to many Chinese sentences
the "subject-verb-object" structure doesn't not change even in
你姓什么？ nǐ xìng shénme what is your last name? you, last name, (what) sentences that are questions

我是中国人 wǒ shì Zhōngguó rén I am Chinese I, to be, China, people this exemplifies the "是" sentence structure; the "是" sentence you can think of "是" sentence stucture as "A 是 B" ; "A" is usually "B" usually then gives some sort of additional information about
stucture is very common in Chinese related to "B" in some way "A"
我是美国人 wǒ shì Měiguó rén I am American I, to be, America, people

我十六岁 wǒ shíliù suì I am sixteen (years old) I, sixteen, years (old) to state your age, simply add the number of your age and the word
"岁" to "我"; ("我" + number + "岁")
你二十九 岁 nǐ èrshíjiǔ suì you are twenty-nine (years old) you, twenty-nine, years (old) to state someone else's age, simply add the number of their age
and the word "岁" to "你"; ("你" + number + "岁")
你多大？ nǐ duō dà how old are you? you, (how) much, big commonly used to ask the age of someone who isn't a child or
senior citizen
你几岁？ nǐ jǐ suì how old are you? you, (what) several, age commonly used to ask the age of someone who is a child, or this is because the word "几" usually refers to things that are few
occasionally, a teenager in number (e.g. under 10)

他叫什么？ tā jiào shénme what is his name? he, to be called, (what)

她是中国人 tā shì Zhōngguó rén she is Chinese she, to be, China, people
他多大？ tā duō dà how old is he? he, (how) much, big
你们姓什么？ nǐmen xìng shénme what are your (guys') last names? you (plural), last name, (what)
他们几岁？ tāmen jǐ suì how old are they? they, (what) several, age commonly used to ask the age of persons who are relatively young

他们八岁 tāmen bā suì they are eight (years old) they, eight, years (old)

我的名字是 ____ wǒde míngzi shì ____ my name is ____ my, name, to be, ____ this exemplifies the A "de" B sentence structure common to many the A "de" B sentence structure implies that "A has B" or B
Chinese sentences belongs to A; it is often translated "A's B" or "B of A" in English
你的名字是什么？ nǐde míngzi shì shénme what is your name? your, name, to be, what

他是我的朋友 tā shì wǒ de péngyou he is my friend he, to be, my, friend

when referring to people to whom you have a close relationship
她是我的 妈妈 (我妈妈) tā shì wǒ de māma she is my mother she, to be, my, mother (such as family or close friends), the particle "de" is often ommitted
(e.g. saying "wǒ māma" instead of "wǒde māma" to say
"my mother").
他是我爸爸 tā shì wǒ bàba he is my father he, to be, (my), father
他是你爸爸 tā shì nǐ bàba he is your father he, to be, (your), father
我们是她的朋友 wǒmen shì ta de péngyou we are her friends we, to be, her, friends
她是我的好朋友 tā shì wǒ de hǎo péngyou she is my good friend she, to be, my, good, friend

你是谁？ nǐ shì shéi who are you? you, to be, (who)

by switching the subject and object of the previous sentence ("nǐ
谁是你? shéi shì nǐ which one is you? (who), to be, you shì shéi" to "shéi shì nǐ"), the question becomes "you to be who,"
or, "which one is you," rather than "who are you"
他是谁？ tā shì shéi who is he? he, to be, (who)
他们是谁？ tāmen shì shéi who are they? they, to be, (who)?
谁是你的爸爸？ shéi shì nǐ de bàba who is your father? (who), to be, your, father
谁是中国人 ? shéi shì Zhōngguó rén who is Chinese? (who), to be, China, people

她是你姐姐 吗？ tā shì nǐ jiějie ma is she your older sister? she, to be, (your), older sister, (?) the following examples illustrate how the particle "ma" is used to
turn declarative sentences into yes/no questions in Chinese
你是弟弟 吗？ nǐ shì dìdi ma are you the younger brother? you, to be, younger brother, (?)
你叫____吗？ nǐ jiào ____ ma are you called ____? you, called, ____, (?)
你的名字是 ____吗？ nǐde míngzi shì ____ ma is your name ____? your, name, to be, ____, (?)
你的朋友姓 ____吗？ nǐde péngyou xìng ____ ma is your friend's last name ____? your, friend, last name (is), ____, (?)
你们是中国人 吗？ nǐmen shì Zhōngguó rén ma are you (guys) Chinese? you (guys), to be, China, people, (?)

我不是中国人 wǒ bú shì Zhōngguó rén I am not Chinese I, (not), to be, China, person the following examples illustrate how the word "bú" is used to
express negativity in Chinese
她不叫____ tā bú jiào ____ she is not called ____ she, (not), called, ____
我认识你 wǒ rènshi nǐ I know you I, know, you
你不认识我 nǐ bú rènshi wǒ you do not know me you, (not), know, me
我不认识她 wǒ bú rènshi tā I do not know her I, (not), know, her
她是你的老 师吗？ tā shì nǐde lǎoshī ma is she your teacher? she, to be, (your), teacher, (?)
她不是你的女儿 tā bú shì nǐde nǚ'ér she is not your daughter she, (not), to be, (my), daughter
他不是我的儿子 tā bú shì wǒde érzi he is not my son he, (not), to be, (my), son
我不是你 wǒ bú shì nǐ I am not you I, (not), to be, you
他们不认识我们 tāmen bú rènshi wǒmen they do not know us they, (not), know, us
你不是他的哥哥 吗？ nǐ bú shì tāde gēge ma are you not his big brother? you, (not), to be, (his), big brother, (?)

"您好" differs from "你好" in that the polite version of "你" ("您") is
您好 nín hǎo hello (politely) you, good used in place of "你" (giving the greeting a more polite and
respectful tone)
我认识您 wǒ rènshi nín I know you (politely) I, know, you
just like the common greeting "你好", the character "hao" is often as shown in this case, add the character "好" to a word that refers
早上好 zǎoshànghǎo good morning morning, good added to the end of words (such as in this case, "早") to form other, to a time of the day to form a greeting for that time of the day
specific greetings (seen in the following case as well)
晚上好 wǎnshànghǎo good evening evening, good
晚安 wǎn'ān good night night, safe saying "晚安" is similar to wishing someone a peaceful sleep
再见 zàijiàn good bye again, see saying "zàijiàn" is similar to saying, "I'll see you soon/again" "zàijiàn" is a slightly less casual way of saying "goodbye" than the
following example
拜拜 báibái good bye bye bye "拜拜" is a common way of saying "goodbye" in Chinese; it is
derived from the English phrase "bye bye"
the character "好" can also be added to the end of words referring
老师好 lǎoshī hǎo hello, teacher teacher, good to people to form other greetings that are more specific to the
person being greeted (as seen with "老师")
老师再见 lǎoshī zàijiàn good bye, teacher teacher, again, see

谢谢你 xièxienǐ thank you thank (you), you

búyòngxiè
不用谢 you're welcome (no need to thank) need not, thank "不用谢 " is similar to saying, "you need not thank me," hence it's
translation, "you're welcome"
不客气 búkèqi you're welcome (don't be polite) no, (be) polite "不客气" is similar to saying, "don't be polite," hence it's translation, "不客气" carries the connotation, "make yourself comfortable"
"you're welcome" or "don't feel like a guest"
the characters "不起" are an example of a complement in Chinese; complements usually appear after a verb (or occasionally, an hence, "对不起" is similar to saying, "(I'm) treating (you) not up to
对不起 duìbuqǐ sorry (to) treat, (not up to a standard) in Chinese, complements are characters or groups of characters adjective) and suggest the result, possibility, direction, or state of a standard" or "I'm not treating you well", hence the translation
that serve some grammatical purpose in a sentence: (note: "不" is an action; the complement "不起" suggests that the character it "sorry"
pronounced in the neutral tone) follows is "not up to a standard"
没关系 méiguānxi it doesn't matter not (have), importance “没关系” is similar to saying, "(it's) not important", hence the
translation, "it doesn't matter" or "don't worry about it"

你的生日是几月几日 ? nǐde shēngrì shì jǐyuè jǐrì what day and month is your birthday? (your), birthday, to be, (how many), the question word "吗" isn't used here because "几" is used to ask
month, (how many), day the question
我的生日是四月二十六日 wǒde shēngrì shì sìyuè 'èrshíliùrì my birthday is on April 26 (my), birthday, to be, four, month,
twenty-six, day
你的生日是几几年几月
(your), birthday, to be, (how many),
几号？ nǐde shēngrì shì jǐjǐnián jǐyuè jǐhào what is your date of birth? year, (how many) month, (how many),
day
我的生日是二零一零年 wǒde shēngrì shì èrlíngyīlíngnián my date of birth is April 26, 2010 (my), birthday, to be, two, zero, one,
四月二十六号 sìyuè 'èrshíliùhào zero, year, four, month, twenty-six, day
你爸爸的生日是四月五 nǐ bàba de shēngrì shì sìyuè is your father's birthday on April fifth? (your), father('s), birthday, to be, four,
日吗？ wǔrì ma month, five, day
我爸爸的生日不是四月 wǒ bàba de shēngrì búshì sìyuè my father's birthday is not on April (my), father('s), birthday, (not), to be,
五日 wǔrì fifth four, month, five, day

现在几点几分？ xiànzài jǐdiǎn jǐfēn what time is it? present time, how many, hour, how
many, minute
现在五点零五分 xiànzài wǔdiǎn língwǔfēn it is 5:05 right now present time, five, hour, zero, five,
minute
现在十二点零九分 xiànzài shíèrdiǎn língjiǔfēn it is 12:09 right now present time, twelve, hour, zero, nine,
minute
上午好 shàngwǔhǎo good morning morning, good adding "好" to the end of this and the following time words makes
the Chinese greeting specific to that time of the day
中午好 zhōngwǔhǎo good noon noon, good
下午好 xiàwǔhǎo good afternoon afternoon, good
to specify what time of the day a particular time is at (like AM or
早上八点 zǎoshàng bādiǎn eight o'clock in the morning morning, eight, hour PM in English) place the appropriate time word before the time
(as in this and the following examples)
晚上八点 wǎnshàng bādiǎn eight o'clock in the evening evening, eight, hour
上午九点三十分 shàngwǔ jiǔdiǎn sānshífēn 9:30 in the morning morning, nine, hour, thirty, minute
中午十二点 zhōngwǔ shíèrdiǎn twelve o'clock at noon noon, twelve, hour
下午三点四十七分 xiàwǔ sāndiǎn sìshíqīfēn 3:47 in the afternoon afternoon, three, hour, forty-seven,
minute

as seen in this sentence (and many of the following sentences), this is because Chinese sentences are usually composed of a the difference in Chinese is that the predicate part can also be a
今天星期二 jīntiān xīngqīèr today is Tuesday today, Tuesday there is no "是" between "今天" and the day of the week ("星期二") subject part, a predicate part, and (optionally) an object part; noun instead of a verb (as in the sentences shown here) and
as might be supposed if attempting to directly translate the phrase sometimes, the predicate part is a verb, and the object part says the sentence remains grammatically correct; in the following
"today is Tuesday" into Chinese something about the subject part, as in English cases, the object part is also ommitted
昨天星期六 zuótiān xīngqīliù yesterday was Saturday yesterday, Saturday
明天周日 míngtiān zhōurì tomorrow is Sunday tomorrow, Sunday
今天星期几？ jīntiān xīngqī jǐ what day of the week is it today? today, week, how many
今天周几？ jīntiān zhōujǐ what day of the week is it today? today, week, how many
昨天星期几？ zuótiān xīngqī jǐ what day of the week was yesterday? yesterday, week, how many
明天星期几？ míngtiān xīngqī jǐ what day of the week is tomorrow? tomorrow, week, how many
三月八日星期日 sānyuè bārì xīngqīrì March 8 is a Sunday March, eight, day, Sunday
八月十二号是周几？ bāyuè shíèrhào shì zhōu jǐ what day is August 12? August, twelve, day, to be, week, how
many
明天是星期三 吗？ míngtiān shì xīngqīsān ma is tomorrow Wednesday? tomorrow, to be, Wednesday, (?)
明天不是星期三 míngtiān búshì xīngqīsān tomorrow is not Wednesday tomorrow, (not), to be, Wednesday
今天是谁的生日 jīntiān shì shéide shēngrì whose birthday is today? today, to be, (whose), birthday
今天是我 妈妈的生日 jīntiān shì wǒ māmade shēngrì today is my mother's birthday today, to be, (my), mother('s), birthday

我有一个苹果 wǒ yǒu yíge píngguǒ I have an apple I, have, one (个), apple
你有两个苹果 nǐ yǒu liǎngge píngguǒ you have two apples you, have, two (个), apples as shown, "两" is used here instead of "二" when referring to time, "两" is often used over "二" the third tones in "你" and "有" change to second tones since they
precede "两" (which has a third tone)
他有三个朋友 tā yǒu sānge péngyou he has three friends he, has, three (个), friends
我没有苹果 wǒ méiyǒu píngguǒ I don't have an apple I, not have, apple when using "没有" to state not having something, the measure
word "个" is usually eliminated (as seen in this example)
她没有朋友 tā méiyǒu péngyou she doesn't have friends she, not have, friends
你有几个苹果？ nǐ yǒu jǐge píngguǒ how many apples do you have? you, have, how many, apples the third tones in "你" and "有" change to second tones since they
precede "几" (which has a third tone)
他有几个哥哥？ tā yǒu jǐge gēge how many older brothers does he he, has, how many (个), older brothers
have?
一个星期有七天 yíge xīngqīyǒu qītiān one week has seven days one (个), week, has, seven, day
一年有几个月？ yíniányǒu jǐgeyuè how many months are in a year? one, year, has, how many (个), month
你的老师有几个妹妹？ nǐde lǎoshīyǒu jǐge mèimei how many younger sisters does your (your), teacher, has, how many,
teacher have? younger sister

他是李先生 tā shì Lǐ xiānsheng he is Mr. Li he, to be, Li, mister "李" is the popular Chinese name "Li"
她是王小姐 tā shì Wáng xiǎojiě she is Miss Wang she, to be, Wang, miss "王" is the popular Chinese name "Wang"
这是谁？ zhè shì shéi who is this? this, to be, who
这是一位先生 zhè shì yí wèi xiānsheng this is a gentleman this, to be, one (), gentleman
那是谁？ nà shì shéi who is that? that, to be, who
那是一位小姐 nà shì yí wèi xiǎojiě that is a young lady that, to be, one (), young lady
这是你的朋友的爸爸 吗？ zhè shì nǐde péngyoude bàba ma is this your friend's father? this, to be, your, friend's, father, (?)
那不是李先生的女儿 nà búshì Lǐ xiānshengde nǚ'ér that is not Mr. Li's daughter that, (not), to be, Li, gentleman, ('s),
daughter
这是什么？ zhè shì shénme what is this? this, to be, what
那是什么？ nà shì shénme what is that? that, to be, what

这个学生姓王 zhège xuésheng xìng Wáng this student's last name is Wang this "个", student, last name, Wang
那个同学叫李 nàge tóngxué jiào Lǐ that classmate is called Li that "个", classmate, called, Li
你认识这位同学吗？ nǐ rènshi zhèwèi tóngxué ma do you know this classmate? you, know, this "位", classmate, (?)
你认识哪个学生？ nǐ rènshi nǎge xuésheng which student do you know? you, know, which "个", student
哪位先生是你的爸爸？ nǎwèi xiānsheng shì nǐde bàba which gentleman is your father? which "位", gentleman, to be, your,
father
这个苹果是你的 吗？ zhège píngguǒ shì nǐde ma is this apple yours? this "个", apple, to be, yours, (?)
那个苹果不是我的 nàge píngguǒ búshì wǒde that apple is not mine that "个", apple, (not), to be, mine
哪个东西是他的？ nǎge dōngxi shì tāde which thing is his? which "个", thing, to be, his
哪个东西不是我 们的？ nǎge dōngxi búshì wǒmen de which thing is not ours? which "个", thing, (not), to be, ours
这个东西是什么 ? zhège dōngxi shì shénme what is this thing? this "个", thing, to be, what
那位老师有二十个学生 nàwèi lǎoshī yǒu èrshíge that teacher has twenty students that "位", teacher, has, twenty "个",
xuésheng students
你是哪国人？ nǐ shì nǎ guó rén which country are you from? you, to be, which, country, people

this is another example of how the predicate part of a sentence can

这个苹果多少 钱？ zhège píngguǒ duōshao qián how much is this apple? this "个", apple, how much, money be a noun instead of a verb (and the sentence still remain
grammatically correct)
this "个", apple, how many "块", the difference between this sentence and the one shown above is since "几" refers to items that are few in number (e.g. below ten), in turn, the phrase "多少块钱" would be appropriately used to ask
这个苹果几 块钱？ zhège píngguǒ jǐ kuài qián how much is this apple? money that in this sentence, "几" is used in place of "多少" the phrase "几块钱" would be appropriately used to ask the price the price of an item you are unsure of, but know costs more than
of an item you are unsure of, but know is not very expensive would be appropriate to use "几块钱"
那个苹果两 块钱 nàge píngguǒ liǎng kuài qián that apple is 2 RMB that "个", apple, two "块", money when referring to quantities of money (as in this case) "两" is used
for the number "two" (instead of "二")
这块手表多少 钱？ zhèkuài shǒubiǎo duōshao qián how much is this watch? this "块", watch, how much, money
这部手机九百 块钱 zhèbù shǒujī jiǔbǎi kuài qián this mobile phone is 900 RMB this "部", mobile phone, 900 "块",
money
那本书多少钱？ nàběn shū duōshao qián how much is that book? that "本", book, how much, money
那本书七十八块 nàběn shū qī shí bā kuài that book is 78 RMB that "本", book, 78 "块" in everyday speech, "钱" may be dropped at the end of a sentence
stating how much money an object is worth
你的手表多少 钱？ nǐde shǒubiǎo duōshǎo qián how much does your watch cost? your, watch, how much, money in this case, there is no measure word used to refer
你有多少个老 师？ nǐ yǒu duōshao ge lǎoshī how many teachers do you have? you, have, how many "个", teachers
那位先生有多少个苹果？ nàwèi xiānsheng yǒu duōshao ge how many apples does that that "位", gentleman, has, how many
píngguǒ gentleman have? "个", apples
那位先生有八个苹果 nàwèi xiānsheng yǒu bā ge that gentleman has eight apples that "位", gentleman, has, eight "个",
píngguǒ apples
你的老师有多少个学生？ nǐde lǎoshī yǒu duōshao ge how many students does your your, teacher, has, how many,
xuésheng teacher have? students
这本书是你的吗？ zhè běnshū shì nǐde ma is this book yours? this "本", book, to be, yours, (?)

我喜欢苹果 wǒ xǐhuan píngguǒ I like apples I, like, apples

我喜欢吃苹果 wǒ xǐhuan chī píngguǒ I like to eat apples I, like, (to) eat, apples in Chinese ""我喜欢吃苹果" would be more like saying "I like to eat
apples" rather than "I would like to eat an apple"
我喜欢喝水 wǒ xǐhuan hē shuǐ I like to drink water I, like, (to) drink, water
我的朋友喜 欢吃苹果 wǒde péngyou xǐhuan chī píngguǒ my friend likes to eat apples my, friend, like, (to) eat, apples
中国人喜 欢喝茶 Zhōngguórén xǐhuan hē chá Chinese like to drink tea Chinese, like, (to) drink, tea
你喜欢吃什么？ nǐ xǐhuan chī shénme what do you like to eat? you, like, (to) eat, what
你不喜欢喝什么？ nǐ bù xǐhuan hē shénme what do you not like to drink? you, (not), like, (to) drink, what
你喜欢吃米饭吗？ nǐ xǐhuan chī mǐfàn ma do you like to eat rice? you, like, (to) eat, (cooked) rice, (?)
他不喜欢这本书 tā bù xǐhuan zhèběn shū he doesn't like this book he, (not), like, this "本", book
我妹妹不喜 欢喝可乐 wǒ mèimei bù xǐhuan hē kělè my sister doesn't like to drink Coke (my), little sister, (not), like, (to) drink,
Coke
我的同学不吃米 饭 wǒde tóngxué bù chī mǐfàn my classmate doesn't eat rice my, classmate, (not), eat, (cooked) rice

Unlike English, where most types of questions can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no," Chinese has certain ways of answering different
types of questions. Although, the verbs "是" and "不是" can be directly translated as "yes" and "no," they are only used to in response to a
question whose main verb is "是." Usually, if the verb of the question being asked is not "是" or any other special verb, the question can still be
answered with "是" or "不是." Otherwise, questions are answered using the main verb of the question (verb for "yes and "不" + verb for "no").

For example, both the questions "今天是星期天吗？" and "您是李先生吗？" can be answered with "是" for "yes" and "不是" for "no." However, a
question such as "你喜欢喝茶吗？" would be answered with "喜欢" for "yes" (or, "I like") and "不喜欢" for "no" (or, "I don't like"). A question such
as "他认识你哥哥吗？" would be answered with "认识" for "yes" (or, "I know (him)") and "不认识" for "no" (or, "I don't know (him)"). Even though
they do not contain the verb "是," the questions "他姓李吗？" and "他叫大卫吗？" can still be answered with "是" for "yes" and "不是" for "no"
because they do not contain any special verbs.

*audio or video recording of unit reviews

 口 kǒu mouth noun
女 nǚ female noun
人 (亻) rén person, people; noun "人" is used when rén is written by itself; "亻" is used when rén "人" means "person, people"; "亻" means "standing person"
standing person is combined with another character
囗 wéi border noun
日 rì sun noun
山 shān mountain noun
夕 xī sunset noun

白 bái white noun

子 zǐ son, child noun
父 fù father noun
when used as a radical, "月" means "flesh" or "body"; when
月 yuè flesh; the moon, month used (by itself) as a character, "月" means "the moon" or
noun "month"
又 yòu also, again adverb
讠(言) yán speech noun
弓 gōng bow noun
耂 lǎo old adjective
巾 jīn a piece of cloth noun

宀 mián roof noun

冂 jiōng wide adjective
"心" is written as "心" when it appears under another character;
心 (忄) xīn heart noun when it appears beside another character it is written "忄"
走 zǒu (to) walk verb
丷 bā eight noun in ancient Chinese, "丷" meant "eight" just as "八" means today in modern Chinese, however, "丷" is simply used as a radical
糸 sī thin silk noun
氵(水) shuǐ water noun
雨 yǔ rain noun
王 wáng king, jade noun when used as a character, "王" means "king"; when used as a "王" is also a common Chinese last name
radical, "王" means "jade"
土 tǔ earth, soil noun
刀 dāo knife noun
灬 (火) huǒ fire noun when "火" is used as a radical and is written beneath the
character, it is written as "灬"

艹 cǎo grass, plant noun

木 mù tree, wood noun
辶 chuò to walk verb
阝 fǔ place noun
儿 ér child, son noun
一 héng horizontal noun
覀 yà to cover verb
小 xiǎo small adjective
when "金" is written on the left side of a character, it is written
钅(金) jīn metal noun as "钅"; if it is written on the bottom of a character, it is written
as "金"
when "衣" is written on the left side of a character, it is written
衤(衣) yī clothes noun as "衤"; if it is written on the bottom of a character, it is written
as "衣"
丿 piě downward left (stroke) noun "丿" is one of the fundamental strokes in Chinese character when "丿" is written to the left of a character, it is commonly a
writing radical in that character
米 mǐ rice noun
as a character, "欠" means "(to) owe"; as a radical, "欠" usually
欠 qiàn (to) owe verb denotes that the character it is used in has something to do
with "to open one's mouth"
饣(食) shí food noun