Chinese phrasebook

From Imakoopedia

Chinese is spoken in China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), Singapore as well as the ethnic chinese minorities in many countries. It is spoken by a fifth of the world's population. It is a tonal language that is related to Burmese and Tibetan. Although Japanese and Korean use Chinese written characters they are not related to Chinese. Also the unrelated Vietnamese language has borrowed many words from chinese.

Although the Chinese consider that they only have a single language, there are major regional dialectal differences that would be considered to be separate languages in other parts of the world. In many cases the regional dialects are not clearly regionalised but vary gradually across a region. Thus linguists can identify anywhere between seven and seventeen separate chinese languages where the speakers of different dialects are mutually unintelligible.

Mandarin Chinese, covered here, is considered the official dialect. However, the Cantonese dialect, for example, is widely spoken, especially in the former British colony of Hong Kong and by the ethnic minorities in other countries. While formally written Mandarin can be read by speakers of both dialects, the spoken languages are, for most purposes, mutually unintelligible and will require translation. Mandarin Chinese is now being uniformly taught in the schools of China.

Pronunciation guide

The pronunciation guide below uses Hanyu pinyin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin), the official romanization of the People's Republic of China. Until recently, Taiwan used the Wade-Giles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade-Giles) system, which is quite different, but has recently officially switched to Tongyong pinyin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongyong_Pinyin), which is only slightly different.

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
ü: as in French lune

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 tsar
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
x: as in sheep
y: as in yet
z: as in red zebra
zh: as in jungle

Tones

There are four tones in Mandarin that must be followed for proper pronunciation.

first tone ( ā ): flat, high pitch
second tone ( á ): low to middle, rising
third tone ( ǎ ): middle to low to high, dipping
fourth tone ( à ): high to low, falling

There is also a fifth tone, the neutral tone, which is used rarely, mostly for phrase particles.

Phrase list

All phrases shown in here use the simplified characters used in mainland China and Singapore.

Basics

Hello.: 你好。 Nǐ hǎo.
How are you?: 你好吗？ Nǐ hǎo ma?
Fine, thank you.: 很吗, 谢谢。 Hěn hǎo, xǐe-xǐe.
What is your (first) name?: 你叫什么名字？ Ni jiao shenme mingzi?
My name is ______ .: 我叫 _____ 。 Wo jiao ______ .
Nice to meet you.: 遇见您很高兴。 Yu4jian4 nin2 hen3 gao2xing4.
Please.: 请。 Qing.
Thank you.: 谢谢。 xǐe-xǐe.
You're welcome.: 不客气。 Bu keqi.
Yes.: 是。 Shì.
No.: 不是。 Bú shì.
Excuse me. (getting attention)
Excuse me. (begging pardon): Da jiao yi-xia or Ma fan nin yi-xia.
I'm sorry.: 对不起。 Duibuqi.
Goodbye: 再见。 Zàijiàn
Goodbye (informal): Bai-bai
I can't speak Chinese [well].: 我不会说汉语。 Wo3 bu2 hui4 shuo2 han4yu3.
Do you speak English?: 你会说英语吗？ Ni hui shuo Yingyu ma?
Is there someone here who speaks English?: 这里有人会说英语吗？ Zheli you ren hui shuo Yingyu ma?
Help!
Good morning.: 早上好。 Zaoshang hao.
Good evening.: 晚上好。 Wanshang hao.
Good night.: 晚安。 Wan an.
I don't understand.: 我听不懂。 Wo ting bu dong.
Where is the toilet?: 厕所在哪里？ Cesuo zai nali?

To be translated later

Problems

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.

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: yi1-bai3
101 一百〇一: yi1-bai3-ling2-yi1
110 一百一十: yi1-bai3-yi1-shi2
110 一百一十一: yi1-bai3-yi1-shi2-yi1
200 二百: er4-bai3
300 三百: san1-bai3
500 五百: wu5-bai3
1000 一千: yi1-qian1
2000 二千: er4-qian2

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).

1,0000 一万: yi1-wan4
1,0001 一万〇一: yi1-wan4-ling2-yi1
1,0002 一万〇二: yi1-wan4-ling2-er4
2,0000 二万: er4-wan4
5,0000 五万: wu3-wan4
10,0000 十万: shi2-wan4
20,0000 二十万: er4-shi2-wan4
100,0000 一百万: yi1-bai3-wan4
number _____ (train, bus, etc.): number measure word (lu4 or hao4 etc.) _____ (huo3 che1, gong1 gong4 qi4 chi1, etc. Measure words are used in combination with a number to indicate the count of mass nouns. Check out here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/measure_word) for more details.)
half: ban4 (...)
less: shao3yu1 (...)
more: duo1yu1 (...)

Time

now: xian4 zai4
later: shao1 hou4 or yi2 hou4
before: zhi1 qian2
morning: zao3 shang4
afternoon: xia4 wu3
night: wan3 shang4

Clock time

What time is it?: Xian4zai4 ji3 dian3 zhong1?
It is nine in the morning.: Zao3shang4 jiu3 dian3 zhong1.
Three-thirty PM.: Xia4wu3 san1dian3ban4.

Duration

_____ minute(s): _____ fen1zhong1
_____ hour(s): _____ xiao3shi2
_____ day(s): _____ tian1
_____ week(s): _____ xing1qi1
_____ month(s): _____ yue4
_____ year(s): _____ nian2

Days

today: jin1 tian1
yesterday: zuo2 tian1
tomorrow: ming2 tian1
this week: zhe4 ge xing1 qi1
last week: shang4 ge xing1 qi1
next week: xia4 ge xing1 qi1

Sunday: xing1 qi1 tian1 or xing1 qi1 ri4 or xing1 qi1 qi1
Monday: xing1 qi1 yi1
Tuesday: xing1 qi1 er4
Wednesday: xing1 qi1 san1
Thursday: xing1 qi1 si4
Friday: xing1 qi1 wu5
Saturday: xing1 qi1 liu6

Tips: From Monday to Saturday, you just need to use this pattern: Xing1 qi1 + number(from 1 to 6)

Months

January: yi1 yue4
February: er4 yue4
March: san1 yue4
April: si4 yue4
May: wu3 yue4
June: liu4 yue4
July: qi1 yue4
August: ba1 yue4
September: jiu3 yue4
October: shi2 yue4
November: shi2 yi1 yue4
December: shi2 er4 yue4

Tips: From January to December, you just need to use this pattern: number (1-12) + yue4

Writing Time and Date

Colors

black: hei1 se4
white: bai2 se4
gray: hui1 se4
red: hong4 se4
blue: lan2 se4
yellow: huang2 se4
green: lü4 se4
orange: cheng2 se4
purple: zi3 se4
brown: he4 se4

Tips: Se4 means 'color', therefore, 'hong2 se4' is 'red color'(literally).

Transportation

Bus and Train

How much is a ticket to _____?: qu _____ de piao duoshao qian?

Directions

How do I get to _____ ?: zenme qu _____?
...the train station?: ...huoche zhan
...the bus station?: ...qiche zongzhan
...the airport?: ...jichang

street: jie
Turn left.: zuobianr zhuanwan
Turn right.: youbianr zhuanwan
left: zuobianr
right: youbianr
straight ahead: yizhi
north: bei
south: nan
east: dong
west: xi

Taxi

Taxi!: Taxi! (...) (literally) chuzu qi che
Take me to _____, please.: qing kaidao _____

Lodging

Do you have any rooms available?: nimen you fangjian ma?
Does the room come with...: you meiyou...
...bedsheets?: ...sábanas? (...)
...a bathroom?: ...yushi?
...a telephone?: ...dianhua?
...a TV?: ...dianshi?

I will stay for _____ night(s).: wo dasuan zhu _____

Do you have a safe?: nimen you meiyou cun guizhong wupin de baoxianxiang?

Can you wake me at _____? | qing mingtian zaoshang _____ jiaoxing wo?
I want to check out.: wo xianzai yao zou.

Money

Eating

Can I look at the menu, please?: qing geo wo kankan caidan?
I'm a vegetarian.: wo shi chisu de
breakfast: zao fan
lunch: wu fan or zhong fan
supper: wan fan

beef: niurou
cheese: nailao
eggs: jidan
bread: mianbao
noodles: miantiao
rice: dami

coffee: kafei
tea (drink): cha
juice: zumo (...)
water: shui
beer: pijiu
red/white wine: hong/bai putao jiu

Bars

whiskey: weishiji
vodka: futejia

water: shui

orange juice: juzizhi

Shopping

I don't want it: Bu2yao4, xie4xie.
Too expensive: Tai4 gui4.
Do you have it in another color?: You3 mei2you3 ling4wai4 yan3se4?
Too small: Tai4 xiao3.
Too big: Tai4 da4.

Driving

Authority

Police: jing3cha2

Learning more

Zhongwen.com (http://www.zhongwen.com/): Chinese to English dictionary and other resources presented in English; searchable by English meanings; Chinese text displayed as graphics (i.e. does not require any Chinese font).
China West Exchange (http://www.chinawestexchange.com/): Free Cantonese and Mandarin lessons and a discussion board.
Translate Chinese (http://www.asinah.net/chinese.html): English / Chinese Dictionary.
Chinese to English Dictionary (http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/Lindict/): searchable by English meanings; Chinese text in Big5 code (i.e. requires Chinese font).
Chinese Linguistics (http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a9305416/): Sites on Chinese linguistics (in English).
Chinese Characters Dictionary (http://www.chineselanguage.org/CCDICT/index.html): supports Japanese, Korean, Cantonese, Hakka etc.
Marjorie Chan's ChinaLinks (http://deall.ohio-state.edu/chan.9/c-links.htm): A large collection of Web resources by a professor of linguistics at Ohio State University

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