Chapter 9: N ho!

To be read with the video Chinese with Mike: Lesson 9

Congratulations! You have mastered pnyn, the four tones, the basic strokes to write Chinese
characters, and hopefully youre catching on to how I run things around heremy garage, that is. Some
of you have been surprised by the fact that youre learning the worlds most fascinating language from a
guy living and teaching in a one-car garage. Well, let me assure you that when it was my turn to tell my
kindergarten class what I wanted to be when I grew up, this wasnt my responseI wanted at least a
two-car garage!

Enough about me. Lets talk about your first words in Chinese!

New Vocabulary
w () I; me

n ( or ) You

h o () Good/Well/Fine

hn () Very

ma () A question particle
(makes a statement a question)
y () Also; too

xixie Thank you

ne () A question particle
(means roughly and you?)
The most basic greetings and phrases in Chinese:

Literal Actual Meaning

Pnyn Translation
N ho! You good Hello; hi

N ho ma? You good? How are you?

W hn hao. I very good/well/fine I am fine/good/well.

N ne? You? And you?

W y hn ho. I also very good/well/fine. Im good/well/fine, too.

Xixie! X Thank you

You may be confused why there is no be verb (e.g., am, is, or are) in some of the sentences
above. Dont worry about that for now. Ill explain it in a future lesson. For now, just memorize and
practice.

Sample Conversation:
Mike Losh: N ho!

Student: N ho!

Mike Losh: N ho ma?

Student: W hn ho. N ne?

Mike Losh: W y hn ho! Xixie.

Sadly, thats all the conversation we have through Chapter 9, but I promise there will be more soon!
Exercises:
Translate the following into English (or your native language):

1. N ho.

2. N ho ma?

3. W hn ho. N ne?

4. W y hn ho. Xixie.

**Answers at the end of the chapter following the character writing practice.
Character Writing Practice

n
n w ho hn y
you very
you good; too; also
Masculine Feminine I; me well; fine
More character practice on next page
ANSWERS TO EXERCISES:

1. Hello!

2. How are you?

3. Im fine. And you?

4. Im fine, too. Thank you.

Well, Im off for a bike ride. Ill see you with Chapter 10 on the next page. Now get to work on your
character practice!