COMPLETE M A N DA R I N

CHINE SE
THE BASICS
Written by Janet Lai

Edited by Christopher A. Warnasch Shaina Malkin

Copyright 2008 by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc. Living Language is a member of the Random House Information Group Living Language and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc. www.livinglanguage.com Editors: Christopher A. Warnasch and Shaina Malkin Production Editor: Carolyn Roth Production Manager: Tom Marshall Interior Design: Sophie Chin First Edition ISBN: 978-1-4000-2425-4 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request. This book is available at special discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions or premiums. Special editions, including personalized covers, excerpts of existing books, and corporate imprints, can be created in large quantities for special needs. For more information, write to Special Markets/Premium Sales, 1745 Broadway, MD 6-2, New York, New York 10019 or e-mail specialmarkets@randomhouse.com. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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COURSE OUTLINE
How to use this course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Language learning tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Chinese pronunciation and pnyn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvi

UNIT 1: Hello! How are you? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Lesson 1 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Personal pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Numbers 110 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Lesson 2 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Plurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Nationalities and rn (person) . . . . . . . . . . 8

Lesson 3 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Word order in simple statements . . . . . . 10 Numbers 1120 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Lesson 4 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Yes/no question formation . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Negation with b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

UNIT 2: Talking about family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Lesson 5 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Family terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Simple sentences with adjectives . . . . . . . 24
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Lesson 6 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Measure words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Demonstratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Lesson 7 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Yu (to have) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 The connection word h (and) . . . . . . . . 33

Lesson 8 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Possessives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Adverbs: hn (very) and ti (too) . . . . . . . 39

UNIT 3: Everyday life and likes/dislikes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Lesson 9 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Days of the week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Expressing months and dates . . . . . . . . . 46

Lesson 10 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Mi (every/each) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Lesson 11 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Xhuan/b xhuan (to like/not like) . . . . . 55 Use of zi and zhe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Lesson 12 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Superlative with zu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Question word shnme (what) . . . . . . . . 63

Course outline

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UNIT 4: Going shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Lesson 13 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Measure words for clothing and accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Lesson 14 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Negation with miyu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Asking how much and how many . . . . . . . 76

Lesson 15 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
This one and that one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Currency of China: money expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Lesson 16 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Numbers 211,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Quantity expressions and the number two (r and ling) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

UNIT 5: Doctors and health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Lesson 17 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Negation with b and bsh before adjectives and adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

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Lesson 18 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Expressing a completed action with le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Asking how long? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Lesson 19 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Asking how? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Negating completed actions: miyu . . 105

Lesson 20 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Asking where? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Asking questions about completed actions with yu miyu . . . . . . . . . . . 111

UNIT 6: On the phone and making appointments . . . . . . . . . . 117 Lesson 21 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Telling time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Use of time expressions and hu . . . . . . 122

Lesson 22 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

More on time expressions . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Use of shi (who) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Lesson 23 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

More on telling time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Shnme shhou (when) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Course outline

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Lesson 24 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Use of gu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Li (to come) and q (to go) . . . . . . . . . . 141

UNIT 7: Asking directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Lesson 25 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Zhl (here) and nli (there) . . . . . . . . . . 146 Other location expressions . . . . . . . . . . 148

Lesson 26 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Yu du yun? (how far?) . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Expressing direction or motion with location phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Lesson 27 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Using l and zi in location expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Yu (there is/there are) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Lesson 28 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Cng . . . do (from . . . to . . . ) . . . . . . . 164 Sh (to be) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

UNIT 8: At a restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Lesson 29 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Making suggestions: ho ma? . . . . . . . . 174 More commands and requests . . . . . . . 176
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Lesson 30 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Modal verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Negative questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Lesson 31 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Polite requests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Adverbial expressions with de . . . . . . . . 185

Lesson 32 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Huzh/Hish (or) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Expressing quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

UNIT 9: Work and school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Lesson 33 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Ynggi (should, ought to) . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Making comparisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Lesson 34 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

The double conjunction yu . . . yu . . 204 Ordinal numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Lesson 35 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Functions of hu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Making equal comparisons . . . . . . . . . . 211

Lesson 36 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

The interrogative wishnme (why) . . . 216 The conjunctions ynwi (because) and suy (therefore) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
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UNIT 10: Sports and leisure activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Lesson 37 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
The verb d qi (to play ball) . . . . . . . . . 226 Uses of b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Lesson 38 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Expressing frequency with c or bin . . 232 Expressing duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Lesson 39 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Indefinite pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Expressing conditions with rgu (if) . . 240

Lesson 40 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Making comparisons with gng (even) . . 244 Intensifying comparisons . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Chinese in action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Supplemental vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Internet resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Summary of Chinese grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Dialogues in Chinese characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Complete Mandarin Chinese: The Basics

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Unit 1
Hello! How are you?
N ho! In Unit 1, youll learn how to greet people, how to introduce yourself, how to tell people your name, your age and nationality, and how to use basic expressions of courtesy. Youll learn some very important basic grammar as well, such as personal pronouns, how to express plurals in Chinese, and how to ask and answer simple questions. Are you ready to begin?

Lesson 1 (words)
WORD LIST 1 Each Unit begins with a lesson that focuses on words. The words will be used throughout the Unit, so familiarize yourself with them. For advice on learning new vocabulary, consult the Language learning tips section at the beginning of this program.
sh b y ho n gu(ji) losh xusheng rn gu xng

to be, am, is, are, was, were not, no also good, well which country teacher student person, man honorable, expensive last name

Lesson 1

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mngzi Zhngwn

first name Chinese language

NUTS & BOLTS 1 Personal pronouns Personal pronouns are the pronouns that you use to refer to people in sentences, such as I, you, we, and so on. The Chinese personal pronouns are: w n/nn (fml.) t I you he, she, it wmen nmen (pl.) tmen we you, all of you they

The following abbreviations will be used in this course: (pl.) = plural, (fml.) = formal/polite, (lit.) = literally. As you see, there are two ways to say you in Chinese. One is the polite form nn, which you would use in the case of a person for whom you want to show respect, such as your parents, your friends parents, your teacher, your boss, or people who are generally older than you are. The other is the informal form n, which you would use when addressing friends, colleagues, or people who are your own age or younger. Note that the plural forms of both n (you) and the polite nn (you) are nmen. Nnmen does not exist in Chinese. Also note that although the pronouns he, she and it are pronounced the same (t), their written characters are totally different: (he), (she), (it). PRACTICE 1 Which Chinese pronoun would you use for the following people? There may be more than one correct answer.
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1. Your friend Davids mother 2. The CEO in your office (with whom youre talking) 3. Mary and John 4. Your friend Nancy 5. Yourself WORD LIST 2
Migu Zhnggu Ynggu Fgu Xbny Dgu Ydl Rbn ozhu xinsheng titai/frn (fml.) xioji yshng hshi lsh chzch sj shngrn yuk

America China Britain France Spain Germany Italy Japan Australia Mr., husband, sir Mrs., wife Miss, young lady doctor nurse lawyer taxi driver business person tourist

NUTS & BOLTS 2 Numbers 110 Now lets look at numbers in Chinese. Lets start with one through ten:

Lesson 1

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y r sn s w li q b ji sh

one two three four five six seven eight nine ten

Note that the number y (one) changes tone depending on where and how it is used in a sentence. When y is used in counting, in telling time, as part of a larger number, at the end of a word, or as an ordinal number, it is pronounced with a first tone.
y, r, sn, s, w . . . one, two, three, four, five . . .

Otherwise, it changes to the second tone when it comes before a syllable in the fourth tone in a sentence, and to the fourth tone when it comes before a syllable in the first, second, or third tone.
yqi everything yxi some

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PRACTICE 2 Please translate the following numbers into Chinese: 1. four 2. six 3. one 4. five 5. ten

Culture note
In Chinese, the common titles of address are: xinsheng, titai/frn and xioji. For example, use xinsheng to address Mr. Wang. Use xioji to address Miss Wang. Finally, use titai or frn to address Mrs. Wang. Note that titai is commonly used in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Frn is commonly used in mainland China and is more formal and respectful than titai. Also note that the placement of a persons last name before his or her title is the opposite of what is familiar to English speakers. For example, if you want to address Mr. Wang in Chinese, you need to say Wng xinsheng, instead of xinsheng Wng. Full names in Chinese are also placed in a different order than in the English tradition. In Chinese, the last name is put before the first name. In other words, if someones first name is Yi and last name is Wang, then the correct order in Chinese would be Wang Yi.

ANSWERS
PRACTICE 1: 1. t/nn; 2. nn; 3. tmen/nmen; 4. t/n; 5. w PRACTICE 2: 1. s; 2. li; 3. y; 4. w; 5. sh

Lesson 1

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Lesson 2 (phrases)
PHRASE LIST 1 The second lesson of each Unit moves from words to phrases. The following table lists some useful courtesy expressions found in daily conversation:
Nn/N ho. Nn/N ho ma? Nn/N ho ma? Zon. Wnn. J su? B yojn. Dubuq. Bkq. Xixie. Zijin.

Hello. How are you? Good morning/afternoon/evening. Good morning. Good night. How old? It doesnt matter. Sorry./Excuse me. Youre welcome. (lit., Dont be polite.) Thank you. Goodbye.

NUTS & BOLTS 1 Plurals In Chinese, the same form is used for both singulars and plurals. So, depending on the context, the nouns that you learned in Word list 1 could be translated as either singulars or plurals in English: losh xusheng rn teacher, teachers student, students person, people

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Remember that with pronouns, the ending -men is added onto the singulars to form the plurals: w (I) n/nn (you/you fml.) t (he, she, it) Lets look at some examples:
Tmen sh xusheng. They are students. Wmen sh xusheng. We are students. N sh xusheng. You are a student.

wmen (we) nmen (you pl., all of you) tmen (they)

Notice that the form of to be doesnt change in Chineseunlike English, Chinese doesnt have verb conjugation, which means that verbs dont change form based on subject or on when the action is taking place. Therefore, sh means am, is, are, was, or were. And finally, also notice that there are no articles (the, a/an) in Chinese. They are simply understood in the translation based on context. PRACTICE 1 Please translate the following sentences into Chinese: 1. We are doctors. 2. She is a lawyer. 3. I am a doctor. 4. They are teachers. 5. He is a teacher.

Lesson 2

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PHRASE LIST 2 Here are some more phrases well be using later on in this unit.
Ngurn? Migurn Zhnggurn Ynggurn Fgurn Xbnyrn Dgurn Ydlrn Rbnrn ozhurn Bijngrn Shnghirn Xinggngrn Nnjngrn Gungdngrn

What nationality? American Chinese British French Spanish German Italian Japanese Australian Pekingese Shanghaiese Hongkongese Nanjingese Cantonese

NUTS & BOLTS 2 Nationalities and rn (PERSON) As you can probably guess from the table above, nationality is expressed in Chinese by adding rn (person) after a country name, so that the combined form literally means a person born in a specific country. Its also very common in Chinese to add rn after a city or other place name to indicate where a person is from.
T sh Zhnggurn. He is Chinese. Wmen sh Migurn. We are American. T sh Bijngrn. She is from Beijing.
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PRACTICE 2 What nationalities are the following people? Answer in pnyn. 1. John is from London. 2. Jose is from Barcelona. 3. Yaeko is from Tokyo. 4. Joe is from Rome. 5. Mei is from Beijing.

Tip!
There are lots of ways to learn and memorize new vocabulary. Keep in mind that simply reading a word in a new language once or twice is not going to make it stick. Youll need to repeat the words, and practice several times before they stay in your memory. You could say the word aloud several times, or write it down several times as you say it. The more senses you activate the better. You could also make flashcards, writing the Chinese on one side of a little slip of paper, and the English on the other. As youre working through a Unit, carry flashcards of the vocabulary around with you so you can practice when you have down time. First go from Chinese to English, and then when youre able to go through the whole deck, reverse the order, and see if you can come up with the Chinese translations of the English words.

ANSWERS
PRACTICE 1: 1. Wmen sh yshng. 2. T sh lsh. 3. W sh

yshng. 4. Tmen sh losh. 5. T sh losh.

PRACTICE 2: 1. Ynggurn; 2. Xbnyrn; 3. Rbnrn;

4. Ydlrn; 5. Zhnggurn

Lesson 2

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Lesson 3 (sentences)
SENTENCE LIST 1 The third lesson of each Unit moves on to sentences.
W sh yuk. T sh yshng. T sh lsh. Wng xioji sh hshi. T sh Zhnggurn. Wng xinsheng sh chzch sj. Nn sh losh ma? W sh losh. W b sh losh. W sh Zhnggurn. W y sh Zhnggurn. W y b sh Zhnggurn. I am a tourist. He/She is a doctor. He/She is a lawyer. Miss Wang is a nurse. She is Chinese. Mr. Wang is a taxi driver. Are you (fml.) a teacher? I am a teacher. I am not a teacher. I am Chinese. I am also Chinese. I am not Chinese either.

NUTS & BOLTS 1 Word order in simple statements As you have seen, the word order of simple statements in Chinese is much the same as in English. This can be seen in the sentence W sh losh (I am a teacher), which has this structure: Subject + to be (sh) + noun. This word order can be used to link a noun or pronoun to another noun, as in these examples:
T sh lsh. He/She is a lawyer. Wng xioji sh hshi. Miss Wang is a nurse.
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T sh Zhnggurn. She is Chinese.

Keep in mind that in Chinese, the words for nationalities youve learned so far are nouns. PRACTICE 1 Translate the following simple statements into English: 1. W sh yuk. 2. T sh xusheng. 3. T sh losh. 4. Wmen sh Migurn. SENTENCE LIST 2
Qngwn nn guxng? W xng Hung. W jio Hung Xn. W hn ho. Qngwn n j su? W sh b su. Nn sh yshng ma? Nmen sh yuk ma? Notes May I ask your (fml.) last name? My last name is Huang. My name is Huang Xin. Im very well. May I ask how old you are? Im eighteen years old. Are you (fml.) a doctor? Are you (pl.) tourists?

5. Tmen sh Fgurn. 6. Wng xioji sh yshng. 7. Wng xinsheng sh lsh.

Notice that Chinese has two verbs that can be used to give your name. The verb xng is used to give last names, and the verb jio is usually used to give full names. Remember that the order of full names in Chinese is last name followed by first name. The verb jio can also be used to give first names when the conversation is between/among people who have a close relationship with each other.

Lesson 3

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NUTS & BOLTS 2 Numbers 1120 Now lets add onto the numbers you know by looking at 11 through 20. As you can see in the table below, the teens are formed with sh (ten) plus a number from 1 through 9. The number 20 is formed by adding sh right after r (two): sh y sh r sh sn sh s sh w sh li sh q sh b sh ji rsh eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty

PRACTICE 2 Translate the following numbers in Chinese: 1. 11 2. 15 3. 20 4. 18 5. 13

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Tip!
So far, youve seen that Chinese grammar is very different from English grammar in a few ways. For example, there are no conjugated verb forms, so sh can mean to be, is, am, are, was, or were. There are no plural forms in Chinese either, so xusheng can be translated as student or students, depending on the context. Youve also learned that there are no articles in Chinese, so xusheng can actually mean any of the following: student, a student, the student, and students. Chinese does have special words called measure words, which are used to quantify a noun, and which are used in some special circumstances that youll learn later. But by now it should be clear that as a student of Chinese, you dont have to worry about irregular verb forms, genders, plurals, or many of the difficult grammatical structures that students of other languages have to master. Of course, Chinese is difficult in its own waystones, writing, and plenty of other constructions that youll encounter as you progress. No language is all easy!

ANSWERS
PRACTICE 1: 1. I am a tourist. 2. He/She is a student. 3. He/She is a teacher. 4. We are American. 5. They are French. 6. Miss Wang is a doctor. 7. Mr. Wang is a lawyer. PRACTICE 2: 1. sh y; 2. sh w; 3. rsh; 4. sh b; 5. sh sn

Lesson 4 (conversations)
CONVERSATION 1 The fourth lesson of each Unit covers conversations in the form of two different dialogues. In this dialogue, a man and a woman are talking outside a language school. Mali: Nn ho ma? Hai: W hn ho. Xixie. Mali: Nn sh losh ma?

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Hai: Mali: Hai: Mali: Hai: Mali:

W b sh losh. W sh xusheng. Dubuq. Byajn. N y sh xusheng ma? W b sh xusheng, w sh losh. Qngwn nn guxng? W xng Zhng, Zhngwn mngzi jio Ml. N ne? Hai: W xng Wng, jio Wng Hi. Mali: Zijin. Hai: Zijin. How are you (fml.)? Im very well. Thank you. Are you (fml.) a teacher? No, Im not. Im a student. Sorry. Thats okay. (lit., It doesnt matter.) Are you a student too? Im not a student. Im a teacher. May I ask your (fml.) last name? My last name is Zhang. (My) Chinese first name is Mali. How about you? My last name is Wang. Im called Wang Hai. Goodbye. Goodbye.

Mary: Hai: Mary: Hai: Mary: Hai: Mary: Hai: Mary: Hai: Mary: Hai:
Notes

In the dialogue, you came across two so-called particles: ma and ne. Particles are little words that are added to words, phrases, or sentences for different reasons. Ma, for example, indicates that the sentence is a question. Ne does as well, but it can be translated more along the lines of and how about . . . ? Well come back to those particles in this lesson, and youll learn many more as you progress through this course.

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NUTS & BOLTS 1 Yes/no question formation As you saw in the dialogue, the question particle ma is used at the end of a sentence to signal that the sentence is a question rather than a statement. As an example, lets look at: Nn sh losh ma? (Are you (fml.) a teacher?). The structure of this simple question is: Subject + to be (sh) + noun + question particle (ma)? The word order of a simple yes/no question in Chinese is different from that in English, because there is no change in word order between the statement and the question. The only change is the use of the particle ma at the end of the sentence. Take a look at some more examples, as well as some responses:
Nmen sh yuk ma? Are you (pl.) tourists? Sh, wmen sh yuk. Yes, were tourists. B, wmen b sh yuk. No, were not tourists. Nn sh Migurn ma? Are you (fml.) American? Sh, w sh Migurn. Yes, Im American. B, w b sh Migurn. W sh Fgurn. No, Im not American. Im French.

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PRACTICE 1 Please translate the following sentences into Chinese: 1. Are you (fml.) Chinese? 2. Is she a student? 3. Is he a teacher? 4. Are you (plural) American? 5. Are they French? 6. Are you a teacher? 7. Are you a tourist? 8. Is she Chinese? CONVERSATION 2 Mary runs into Hai at school one morning, but shes unfortunately forgotten who he is. Hai: Mali: Hai: Mali: Hai: Mali: Hai: Mali: Hai: Mali: Hai: Hai: Mary: Hai: Mary: Zhng losh, zon. Nn sh . . . ? W sh Wng Hi. Dubuq, Wng Hi. Byojn. Zhng losh, qngwn nn sh ngurn? W sh Migurn. N ne? W sh Zhnggurn. Tmen y sh Zhnggurn ma? B sh. Tmen sh Rbnrn. N j su? W rsh su. Good morning, teacher Zhang. You (fml.) are . . . ? Im Wang Hai. Sorry, Wang Hai.

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Hai: No problem. Teacher Zhang, may I ask what nationality you (fml.) are? Mary: Im American. How about you? Hai: Im Chinese. Mary: Are they also Chinese? Hai: No. Theyre Japanese. Mary: How old are you? Hai: Im twenty.
Notes

Again, notice the use of the question particle ma in yes/no questions such as Tmen y sh Zhnggurn ma? (Are they also Chinese?) But note that in questions that cannot be answered with yes or no, such as N j su? (How old are you?), ma is not used. The use of the question particle ne is slightly different from that of ma. As you know, it can be translated as and how about . . . ? or and what about . . . ? So, if someone asks you a question and youd like to ask the same question back, you can just say N/Nn ne? (And how about you?) To express age, the word su (years old) is placed after the appropriate number. For example, su is combined with rsh (twenty) to form rsh su, which means twenty years old. Notice that there is no form of sh (to be) in the answer. Ages and descriptive adjectives are not used with sh. NUTS & BOLTS 2 Negation with b To negate a simple statement in Chinese, the word b (no, not) is placed before the verb. So, to negate W sh losh (Im a teacher), youd say W b sh losh (Im not a teacher). The structure of that negative sentence is: Subject + negative particle (b) + to be (sh) + noun.

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W b sh Zhnggurn. Im not Chinese. Tmen b sh Rbnrn. Theyre not Japanese.

Youve probably noticed that the tone of b seems to be changing. When its used before a one-syllable word of the fourth tone (such as sh), its tone changes from the fourth to the second: b sh. PRACTICE 2A Answer the following simple questions in Chinese: 1. Nn sh Zhnggurn ma? (Answer: Yes) 2. T sh xusheng ma? (Answer: No) 3. T sh losh ma? (Answer: Yes) 4. Nmen sh Migurn ma? (Answer: Yes) 5. Tmen sh Fgurn ma? (Answer: No) PRACTICE 2B Now fill in the blanks basing your answers on the second dialogue. 1. Ml sh _____ (losh, xusheng). 2. Hi sh _____ (losh, xusheng). 3. Hi xng _____. 4. Ml xng _____.

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Culture note
In Chinese, it is very common to address a person by adding a title before that persons last name. In the dialogue above, Hai calls Mali Zhng losh, which literally means teacher Zhang. Please note that a persons title is the same for male or female. So, when addressing an office manager whose last name is H, you would use the title jngl (manager) and call that person H jngl, regardless of gender. However, you cannot call the student in the above dialogue Wng xusheng because, as in English, student is not considered a title in Chinese.

ANSWERS
PRACTICE 1: 1. Nn sh Zhnggurn ma? 2. T sh xusheng

ma? 3. T sh losh ma? 4. Nmen sh Migurn ma? 5. Tmen sh Fgurn ma? 6. N sh losh ma? 7. N sh yuk ma? 8. T sh Zhnggurn ma?
PRACTICE 2A: 1. W sh Zhnggurn. 2. T b sh xusheng.

3. T sh losh. 4. Wmen sh Migurn. 5. Tmen b sh Fgurn.

PRACTICE 2B: 1. losh; 2. xusheng; 3. Wng; 4. Zhng

UNIT 1 ESSENTIALS At the end of each Unit youll find a list of essential phrases. The grammar and vocabulary used should be familiar to you.
Nn ho ma? How are you (fml.)? Qngwn nn guxng? May I ask your (fml.) last name? W xng _____. My last name is _____. Dubuq. Sorry./Excuse me.
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Zijin. Goodbye. Byajn. It doesnt matter. W jio _____. Im called _____. (My name is _____.) Qngwn n j su? May I ask how old you are? xusheng student losh teacher Zon. Good morning. Xixie. Thank you.

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