Chinese Words

1.
I/me – 我 (wǒ)
There’s also no accusative case. So if you want to say “me” rather than “I”, keep using 我.
2. You – 你 (nǐ)
You’ll see this in 你好 (nǐ hǎo) – “hello”. It’s an informal way to address somebody, so use it when you’re
talking in casual, social settings. The more formal form of address is 您 (nín). Use this when you want
to show formality, such as in a business setting.
3. He/she/it – these are all pronounced the same – (tā)
You’ll need to guess the meaning from context when listening to someone speaking. In writing though,
they have distinct characters – ‘he’ (他) / ‘she’(她) / ‘it’ (它).
For plural pronouns, just add 们 / (men). For example, “us” is 我们 / (wǒ men), and “they” for a male or
mixed group is 他们 / tā men. There is no irregularity, such as with “I” and “us”.
If you want to indicate possession, add a 的 / (de) after the pronoun. It is sort of like adding an
apostrophe and s in English and it has many uses. This makes it one of the most common Chinese
words.
“This” and “that” work exactly the same as in English. You need to know whether the thing you’re talking
about is near or far from you. Notice the different plural marker – 些 (xiē).
4. This – 这 (zhè)
Use this when the thing you’re talking about is close to you, or you need to emphasize which of a
particular thing you’re talking about.
5. That – 那 (nà)
This basic word will be useful when the thing you’re talking about is not close to you. To make “this”
and “that” into their plurals, “these’” and “those”, just add 些 (xiē) afterward. So if you want to talk
about the people (人 / rén) over there, you would refer to them as “those people” 那些人 (nà xiē rén).
Question words in Chinese
Here are the common question words in Chinese:
6. What – 什么 (shén me)
This works in the same way as the English word for “what”, except that it can go in more places in the
sentence – “What is that?” – 那是什么？(nà shì shén me?), or literally “That is (是) what?”. To answer, simply
substitute the question word for whatever “that” is.
7. When – 什么时候 (shén me shí hòu)
This literally translates as “what time”.
8. How many – 几 (jǐ)
Use this for countable things like objects.

9. How much – 多少 (duō shǎo)
This literally translates as “many few”. Use this to ask about money and prices.
10. Who – 谁 (héi/shuí)
Use this in the same way you would use the question word “who” in English. You can also use 谁 when
asking who’s knocking at your door.
11. Where – 哪里 (nǎ lǐ)
The second character, 里 (lǐ), is also used as a preposition to mean “in”.
12. Yes/no indicator – 吗 (ma)
Place this at the end of a sentence to make it into a yes/no question.
Chinese phrases in social situations
It’s important to be polite when you’re learning to speak Chinese. In addition to “hello”, 你好 (nǐ hǎo),
these phrases will help.
13. My name is – 我叫 (wǒ jiào)
叫 (jiào) is a verb that means “to be called”, so use it when you want to tell someone your name. For
example, “我叫 Noreen” means “my name is Noreen”.
14. Please – 请 (qǐng)
Put it at the start of your sentences to say “please”. It is also a verb to mean invite or request.
15. Sorry – 对不起 (duì bù qǐ)
Use this to apologize to someone.
16. Thank you – 谢谢 (xiè xie)
Add emphasis by adding 你 to the end – 谢谢你!
17. Good morning – 早 (zǎo)
This literally means “morning” and it’s the most casual way to say good morning. A slightly more formal
way to say this would be 早安 (zǎo ān), or “morning peace”. And the top level of formality is 早上好 (zǎo
shang hǎo), or literally “early morning good”.
18. Good evening or goodnight – 晚上好 (wǎn shang hǎo)
This follows the same pattern as for “good morning”. The character for “evening” is 晚 (wǎn), so it’s
simply 晚 (wǎn) for a casual “evening”, and 晚上好 (wǎn shang hǎo) for a formal evening greeting. 晚安 (wǎn
ān) is used more as a goodnight farewell when someone is going to bed, rather than as a greeting.
19. Goodbye – 再见 (zài jiàn)
The literal translation of this is “meet again”.

Key verbs in Chinese
One thing that learners will appreciate about Chinese verbs is that they only take one form. There’s no
need to conjugate for tense or aspect. If you want to put a verb in the past, simply put 了 (le) after it to
show that it’s finished. And for the future, add in 会 (huì) before it.
If you want to negate a verb, you either need to add 不 (bù) or 没 (méi) before the verb.
20. To be – 是 (shì)
Use this when talking about yourself, such as describing your country of origin. For example, 我是美国人
(wǒ shì měi guó rén) = “I am American” or literally “I am American person”.
21. To have – 有 (yǒu)
You’ll see this verb pop up a lot. As well as being another way to indicate possession, it has many other
grammatical meanings. These include indicating something’s state, 我的家有许多人 (wǒ de jiā yǒu xǔ duō
rén) – “There are a lot of people at home”, or “There are a lot of people in my family”.
22. To go – 去 (qù)
For example, 我去那里 (wǒ qù nà lǐ) means “I go there”.
23. To eat – 吃 (chī)
A very important word. If you want to say that something tastes good, just add “good” to the verb to
make 好吃 (hǎo chī), or literally “good eat”.
24. To drink – 喝 (hē)
Notice that eat and drink both have the same radical 口 (kǒu), which means “mouth”.
25. To want or need something – 要 (yào)
For example, 我要水 (wǒ yào shuǐ) means “I want water”.
26. “Would like” or “desire” something – 想 (xiǎng)
For example, 我想去喝水 (wǒ xiǎng qù hē shuǐ) means “I would like to go drink water”.
27. To be located somewhere – 在 (zài)
If you need to say something “is somewhere”, you shouldn’t directly translate from English and use 是
(shì). Instead, use 在 (zài).
28. To give – 给 (gěi)
If you want to ask for something, it’s perfectly polite to say “give me”, 给我 … (gěi wǒ… ), before stating the
object you want. It might sound a little rude and direct to English speakers, but in Chinese it’s fine.
There’s not really a single way to say “yes” and “no” in Chinese. What you have to do is listen to the
question being asked – if you hear a 吗 (ma) at the end of it, you know it needs a yes/no answer.
Rather than using “yes” or “no”, however, you need to repeat the verb that was used in the question in
either the affirmative or the negative. So if someone asks you 你要水吗 (nǐ yào shuǐ ma) or “do you want
water?”, the answer would simply be 要 or “want” for “yes” or 不要 “no want” for “no”.
Now you are familiar with the basic Chinese words and phrases, but there’s a lot more you need to know
to say them right. Let’s cover a few things learners of Chinese should understand about the language.

Chinese Words

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1.

3. He/she/it – these are all pronounced the same – (tā)

Question words in Chinese

Here are the common question words in Chinese:

6. What – 什么 (shén me)

7. When – 什么时候 (shén me shí hòu)

This literally translates as “what time”.

8. How many – 几 (jǐ)

Use this for countable things like objects.

10. Who – 谁 (héi/shuí)

11. Where – 哪里 (nǎ lǐ)

The second character, 里 (lǐ), is also used as a preposition to mean “in”.

12. Yes/no indicator – 吗 (ma)

Place this at the end of a sentence to make it into a yes/no question.

Chinese phrases in social situations

13. My name is – 我叫 (wǒ jiào)

14. Please – 请 (qǐng)

15. Sorry – 对不起 (duì bù qǐ)

Use this to apologize to someone.

16. Thank you – 谢谢 (xiè xie)

Add emphasis by adding 你 to the end – 谢谢你!

17. Good morning – 早 (zǎo)

18. Good evening or goodnight – 晚上好 (wǎn shang hǎo)

19. Goodbye – 再见 (zài jiàn)

The literal translation of this is “meet again”.

21. To have – 有 (yǒu)

For example, 我去那里 (wǒ qù nà lǐ) means “I go there”.

23. To eat – 吃 (chī)

24. To drink – 喝 (hē)

25. To want or need something – 要 (yào)

For example, 我要水 (wǒ yào shuǐ) means “I want water”.

26. “Would like” or “desire” something – 想 (xiǎng)

27. To be located somewhere – 在 (zài)

28. To give – 给 (gěi)

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