Complete Chinese: The Basics by Living Language - Excerpt

C O M P L E T E M A N DA R I N

C H I N E S ET H E B A S I C S

Written byJanet Lai

Edited byChristopher A. Warnasch

Shaina Malkin

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iv Complete Mandarin Chinese: The Basics

C O U R S E O U T L I N E

How to use this course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Language learning tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

Chinese pronunciation and pïnyïn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvi

UNIT 1: Hello! How are you? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Lesson 1 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Personal pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Numbers 1–10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Lesson 2 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Plurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Nationalities and rén (person) . . . . . . . . . . 8

Lesson 3 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Word order in simple statements . . . . . . 10Numbers 11–20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Lesson 4 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Yes/no question formation . . . . . . . . . . . 15Negation with bù . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

UNIT 2: Talking about family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Lesson 5 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Family terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Simple sentences with adjectives . . . . . . . 24

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Course outline v

Lesson 6 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Measure words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Demonstratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29


Yôu (to have) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32The connection word hé (and) . . . . . . . . 33

Lesson 8 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Possessives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Adverbs: hên (very) and tài (too) . . . . . . . 39

UNIT 3: Everyday life and likes/dislikes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Lesson 9 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

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

Lesson 10 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Mêi (every/each) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53


Xîhuan/bù xîhuan (to like/not like) . . . . . 55Use of zài and zhe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Lesson 12 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Superlative with zuì . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Question word shénme (what) . . . . . . . . 63

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vi Complete Mandarin Chinese: The Basics

UNIT 4: Going shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Lesson 13 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

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

Lesson 14 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Negation with méiyôu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Asking how much and how many . . . . . . . 76

Lesson 15 (sentences) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

This one and that one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Currency of China: money expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Lesson 16 (conversations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Numbers 21–1,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Quantity expressions and the number two (èr and liâng) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

UNIT 5: Doctors and health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Lesson 17 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Negation with bù and búshì before adjectives and adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

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Course outline vii

Lesson 18 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Expressing a completed action with le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Asking how long? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

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

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

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

Asking where? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Asking questions about completed actions with yôu méiyôu . . . . . . . . . . . 111

UNIT 6: On the phone and making appointments . . . . . . . . . . 117

Lesson 21 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Telling time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118Use of time expressions and huì . . . . . . 122

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

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


More on telling time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Shénme shíhou (when) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

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viii Complete Mandarin Chinese: The Basics

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

Use of guò . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137Lái (to come) and qù (to go) . . . . . . . . . . 141

UNIT 7: Asking directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Lesson 25 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Zhèlî (here) and nàli (there) . . . . . . . . . . 146Other location expressions . . . . . . . . . . 148

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

Yôu duö yuân? (how far?) . . . . . . . . . . . 153Expressing direction or motion with location phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155


Using lî and zài in location expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Yôu (there is/there are) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160


Cóng . . . dào (from . . . to . . . ) . . . . . . . 164Shì (to be) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

UNIT 8: At a restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Lesson 29 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Making suggestions: hâo ma? . . . . . . . . 174More commands and requests . . . . . . . 176

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Course outline ix

Lesson 30 (phrases) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

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


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


Huòzhê/Háishì (or) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188Expressing quantities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

UNIT 9: Work and school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Lesson 33 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

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

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

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


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


The interrogative wèishénme (why) . . . 216The conjunctions yïnwèi (because)and suôyî (therefore) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

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x Complete Mandarin Chinese: The Basics

UNIT 10: Sports and leisure activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Lesson 37 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

The verb dâ qiú (to play ball) . . . . . . . . . 226Uses of bâ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

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

Expressing frequency with cì or biàn . . 232Expressing duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234


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

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

Making comparisons with gèng (even) . . 244Intensifying comparisons . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Chinese in action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Supplemental vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Internet resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Summary of Chinese grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Dialogues in Chinese characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

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Lesson 1 1

Unit 1Hello! How are you?

Nî hâo! In Unit 1, you’ll learn how to greet people, how to in-troduce yourself, how to tell people your name, your ageand nationality, and how to use basic expressions of cour-tesy. You’ll learn some very important basic grammar aswell, such as personal pronouns, how to express plurals inChinese, and how to ask and answer simple questions. Areyou ready to begin?

Lesson 1 (words)

WORD LIST 1Each Unit begins with a lesson that focuses on words. The wordswill be used throughout the Unit, so familiarize yourself withthem. For advice on learning new vocabulary, consult the Lan-guage learning tips section at the beginning of this program.

shì to be, am, is, are, was, werebù not, noyê alsohâo good, wellnâ whichguó(jiä) countrylâoshï teacherxuésheng studentrén person, manguì honorable, expensivexìng last name

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2 Unit 1: Hello! How are you?

míngzi first nameZhöngwén Chinese language

NUTS & BOLTS 1Personal pronounsPersonal pronouns are the pronouns that you use to refer to peo-ple in sentences, such as I, you, we, and so on. The Chinese per-sonal pronouns are:

wô I wômen we

nî/nín (fml.) you nîmen (pl.) you, all of you

tä he, she, it tämen 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 thepolite form nín, which you would use in the case of a person forwhom you want to show respect, such as your parents, yourfriend’s parents, your teacher, your boss, or people who are gen-erally older than you are. The other is the informal form nî,which you would use when addressing friends, colleagues, or peo-ple who are your own age or younger.

Note that the plural forms of both nî (you) and the polite nín(you) are nîmen. Nínmen does not exist in Chinese. Also notethat although the pronouns he, she and it are pronounced thesame (tä), their written characters are totally different: (he),(she), (it).

PRACTICE 1Which Chinese pronoun would you use for the following peo-ple? There may be more than one correct answer.




Lesson 1 3

1. Your friend David’s mother

2. The CEO in your office (with whom you’re talking)

3. Mary and John

4. Your friend Nancy

5. Yourself

WORD LIST 2Mêiguó AmericaZhöngguó ChinaYïngguó BritainFâguó FranceXïbänyá SpainDéguó GermanyYìdàlì ItalyRìbên JapanÀozhöu Australiaxiänsheng Mr., husband, sirtàitai/fürén (fml.) Mrs., wifexiâojiê Miss, young ladyyïshëng doctorhùshi nurselùshï lawyerchüzüchë sïjï taxi drivershängrén business personyóukè tourist

NUTS & BOLTS 2Numbers 1–10Now let’s look at numbers in Chinese. Let’s start with onethrough ten:





yï one

èr two

sän three

sì four

wû five

liù six

qï seven

bä eight

jiû nine

shí ten

Note that the number yï (one) changes tone depending on whereand how it is used in a sentence. When yï is used in counting, intelling time, as part of a larger number, at the end of a word, or asan ordinal number, it is pronounced with a first tone.

yï, èr, sän, sì, wû . . .

one, two, three, four, five . . .

Otherwise, it changes to the second tone when it comes before asyllable in the fourth tone in a sentence, and to the fourth tonewhen it comes before a syllable in the first, second, or third tone.

yíqiè

everything

yìxië

some




Lesson 1 5

PRACTICE 2Please translate the following numbers into Chinese:

1. four 4. five

2. six 5. ten

3. one

Culture noteIn Chinese, the common titles of address are: xiänsheng,tàitai/fürén and xiâojiê. For example, use xiänsheng to addressMr. Wang. Use xiâojiê to address Miss Wang. Finally, use tàitai orfürén to address Mrs. Wang. Note that tàitai is commonly used inHong Kong and Taiwan. Fürén is commonly used in mainland Chinaand is more formal and respectful than tàitai.

Also note that the placement of a person’s last name before his orher title is the opposite of what is familiar to English speakers. Forexample, if you want to address Mr. Wang in Chinese, you need tosay Wáng xiänsheng, instead of xiänsheng Wáng. Full names inChinese are also placed in a different order than in the English tra-dition. In Chinese, the last name is put before the first name. Inother words, if someone’s first name is Yi and last name is Wang,then the correct order in Chinese would be Wang Yi.

ANSWERSPRACTICE 1: 1. tä/nín; 2. nín; 3. tämen/nîmen; 4. tä/nî; 5. wô

PRACTICE 2: 1. sì; 2. liù; 3. yï; 4. wû; 5. shí





Lesson 2 (phrases)

PHRASE LIST 1The second lesson of each Unit moves from words to phrases.The following table lists some useful courtesy expressions foundin daily conversation:

Nín/Nî hâo. Hello.Nín/Nî hâo ma? How are you?Nín/Nî hâo ma? Good morning/afternoon/evening.Zâo’än. Good morning.Wân’än. Good night.Jî suì? How old?Bú yàojîn. It doesn’t matter.Duìbuqî. Sorry./Excuse me.Búkèqì. You’re welcome. (lit., Don’t be polite.)Xièxie. Thank you.Zàijiàn. Goodbye.

NUTS & BOLTS 1PluralsIn Chinese, the same form is used for both singulars and plurals.So, depending on the context, the nouns that you learned inWord list 1 could be translated as either singulars or plurals inEnglish:

lâoshï teacher, teachers

xuésheng student, students

rén person, people




Lesson 2 7

Remember that with pronouns, the ending -men is added ontothe singulars to form the plurals:

wô (I) wômen (we)

nî/nín (you/you fml.) nîmen (you pl., all of you)

tä (he, she, it) tämen (they)

Let’s look at some examples:

Tämen shì xuésheng.

They are students.

Wômen shì xuésheng.

We are students.

Nî shì xuésheng.

You are a student.

Notice that the form of to be doesn’t change in Chinese—unlikeEnglish, Chinese doesn’t have verb conjugation, which meansthat verbs don’t change form based on subject or on when theaction is taking place. Therefore, shì means am, is, are, was, orwere. And finally, also notice that there are no articles (the, a/an)in Chinese. They are simply understood in the translation basedon context.

PRACTICE 1Please translate the following sentences into Chinese:

1. We are doctors. 4. They are teachers.

2. She is a lawyer. 5. He is a teacher.

3. I am a doctor.





PHRASE LIST 2Here are some more phrases we’ll be using later on in this unit.

Nâguórén? What nationality?Mêiguórén AmericanZhöngguórén ChineseYïngguórén BritishFâguórén FrenchXïbänyárén SpanishDéguórén GermanYìdàlìrén ItalianRìbênrén JapaneseÀozhöurén AustralianBêijïngrén PekingeseShànghâirén ShanghaieseXiänggângrén HongkongeseNánjïngrén NanjingeseGuângdöngrén Cantonese

NUTS & BOLTS 2Nationalities and rén (PERSON)As you can probably guess from the table above, nationality is ex-pressed in Chinese by adding rén (person) after a country name,so that the combined form literally means a person born in a spe-cific country. It’s also very common in Chinese to add rén aftera city or other place name to indicate where a person is from.

Tä shì Zhöngguórén.

He is Chinese.

Wômen shì Mêiguórén.

We are American.

Tä shì Bêijïngrén.

She is from Beijing.




Lesson 2 9

PRACTICE 2What nationalities are the following people? Answer in pïnyïn.

1. John is from London. 4. Joe is from Rome.

2. Jose is from Barcelona. 5. Mei is from Beijing.

3. Yaeko is from Tokyo.

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 ortwice is not going to make it stick. You’ll need to repeat the words,and practice several times before they stay in your memory. Youcould say the word aloud several times, or write it down severaltimes as you say it. The more senses you activate the better. Youcould also make flashcards, writing the Chinese on one side of alittle slip of paper, and the English on the other. As you’re workingthrough a Unit, carry flashcards of the vocabulary around with youso you can practice when you have “down time.” First go from Chi-nese to English, and then when you’re able to go through thewhole “deck,” reverse the order, and see if you can come up withthe Chinese translations of the English words.

ANSWERSPRACTICE 1: 1. Wômen shì yïshëng. 2. Tä shì lùshï. 3. Wô shìyïshëng. 4. Tämen shì lâoshï. 5. Tä shì lâoshï.

PRACTICE 2: 1. Yïngguórén; 2. Xïbänyárén; 3. Rìbênrén; 4. Yìdàlìrén; 5. Zhöngguórén





Lesson 3 (sentences)

SENTENCE LIST 1The third lesson of each Unit moves on to sentences.

Wô shì yóukè. I am a tourist.

Tä shì yïshëng. He/She is a doctor.

Tä shì lùshï. He/She is a lawyer.

Wáng xiâojiê shì hùshi. Tä Miss Wang is a nurse. She is Chinese.shì Zhöngguórén.

Wáng xiänsheng shì Mr. Wang is a taxi driver.chüzüchë sïjï.

Nín shì lâoshï ma? Are you (fml.) a teacher?

Wô shì lâoshï. I am a teacher.

Wô bú shì lâoshï. I am not a teacher.

Wô shì Zhöngguórén. I am Chinese.

Wô yê shì Zhöngguórén. I am also Chinese.

Wô yê bú shì Zhöngguórén. I am not Chinese either.

NUTS & BOLTS 1Word order in simple statementsAs you have seen, the word order of simple statements in Chi-nese is much the same as in English. This can be seen in the sen-tence Wô shì lâoshï (I am a teacher), which has this structure:

Subject + to be (shì) + noun.

This word order can be used to link a noun or pronoun to an-other noun, as in these examples:

Tä shì lùshï.

He/She is a lawyer.

Wáng xiâojiê shì hùshi.

Miss Wang is a nurse.




Lesson 3 11

Tä shì Zhöngguórén.

She is Chinese.

Keep in mind that in Chinese, the words for nationalities you’velearned so far are nouns.

PRACTICE 1Translate the following simple statements into English:

1. Wô shì yóukè. 5. Tämen shì Fâguórén.

2. Tä shì xuésheng. 6. Wáng xiâojiê shì yïshëng.

3. Tä shì lâoshï. 7. Wáng xiänsheng shì lùshï.

4. Wômen shì Mêiguórén.

SENTENCE LIST 2Qîngwèn nín guìxìng? May I ask your (fml.) last name?

Wô xìng Huáng. My last name is Huang.

Wô jiào Huáng Xìn. My name is Huang Xin.

Wô hên hâo. I’m very well.

Qîngwèn ní jî suì? May I ask how old you are?

Wô shí bä suì. I’m eighteen years old.

Nín shì yïshëng ma? Are you (fml.) a doctor?

Nîmen shì yóukè ma? Are you (pl.) tourists?

NotesNotice that Chinese has two verbs that can be used to give yourname. The verb xìng is used to give last names, and the verb jiàois usually used to give full names. Remember that the order offull names in Chinese is last name followed by first name. Theverb jiào can also be used to give first names when the conversa-tion is between/among people who have a close relationship witheach other.





NUTS & BOLTS 2Numbers 11–20Now let’s add onto the numbers you know by looking at 11through 20. As you can see in the table below, the teens areformed with shí (ten) plus a number from 1 through 9. The num-ber 20 is formed by adding shí right after èr (two):

shí yï eleven

shí èr twelve

shí sän thirteen

shí sì fourteen

shí wû fifteen

shí liù sixteen

shí qï seventeen

shí bä eighteen

shí jiû nineteen

èrshí twenty

PRACTICE 2Translate the following numbers in Chinese:

1. 11 4. 18

2. 15 5. 13

3. 20




Lesson 4 13

Tip!So far, you’ve seen that Chinese grammar is very different fromEnglish grammar in a few ways. For example, there are no conju-gated verb forms, so shì can mean to be, is, am, are, was, or were.There are no plural forms in Chinese either, so xuésheng can betranslated as student or students, depending on the context.You’ve also learned that there are no articles in Chinese, soxuésheng can actually mean any of the following: student, a stu-dent, the student, and students. Chinese does have special wordscalled measure words, which are used to quantify a noun, andwhich are used in some special circumstances that you’ll learnlater. But by now it should be clear that as a student of Chinese,you don’t have to worry about irregular verb forms, genders, plu-rals, or many of the difficult grammatical structures that studentsof other languages have to master. Of course, Chinese is difficultin its own ways—tones, writing, and plenty of other constructionsthat you’ll encounter as you progress. No language is all easy!

ANSWERSPRACTICE 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. shí yï; 2. shí wû; 3. èrshí; 4. shí bä; 5. shí sän

Lesson 4 (conversations)

CONVERSATION 1The fourth lesson of each Unit covers conversations in the formof two different dialogues. In this dialogue, a man and a womanare talking outside a language school.

Mali: Nín hâo ma?Hai: Wô hên hâo. Xièxie.

Mali: Nín shì lâoshï ma?





Hai: Wô bú shì lâoshï. Wô shì xuésheng.Mali: Duìbuqî.Hai: Búyaòjîn. Nî yê shì xuésheng ma?

Mali: Wô bú shì xuésheng, wô shì lâoshï.Hai: Qîngwèn nín guìxìng?

Mali: Wô xìng Zhäng, Zhöngwén míngzi jiào Mâlì.Nî ne?

Hai: Wô xìng Wáng, jiào Wáng Hâi.Mali: Zàijiàn.Hai: Zàijiàn.

Mary: How are you (fml.)?Hai: I’m very well. Thank you.

Mary: Are you (fml.) a teacher?Hai: No, I’m not. I’m a student.

Mary: Sorry.Hai: That’s okay. (lit., It doesn’t matter.) Are you a student

too?Mary: I’m not a student. I’m a teacher.

Hai: May I ask your (fml.) last name?Mary: My last name is Zhang. (My) Chinese first name is

Mali. How about you?Hai: My last name is Wang. I’m called Wang Hai.

Mary: Goodbye.Hai: Goodbye.

NotesIn the dialogue, you came across two so-called particles: ma andne. Particles are little words that are added to words, phrases, orsentences for different reasons. Ma, for example, indicates thatthe sentence is a question. Ne does as well, but it can be trans-lated more along the lines of and how about . . . ? We’ll come backto those particles in this lesson, and you’ll learn many more asyou progress through this course.




Lesson 4 15

NUTS & BOLTS 1Yes/no question formationAs you saw in the dialogue, the question particle ma is used at theend of a sentence to signal that the sentence is a question ratherthan a statement. As an example, let’s look at: Nín shì lâoshïma? (Are you (fml.) a teacher?). The structure of this simple ques-tion is:

Subject + to be (shì) + noun + question particle (ma)?

The word order of a simple yes/no question in Chinese is differ-ent from that in English, because there is no change in wordorder between the statement and the question. The only changeis the use of the particle ma at the end of the sentence. Take alook at some more examples, as well as some responses:

Nîmen shì yóukè ma?

Are you (pl.) tourists?

–Shì, wômen shì yóukè.

–Yes, we’re tourists.

–Bù, wômen bú shì yóukè.

–No, we’re not tourists.

Nín shì Mêiguórén ma?

Are you (fml.) American?

–Shì, wô shì Mêiguórén.

–Yes, I’m American.

–Bù, wô bú shì Mêiguórén. Wô shì Fâguórén.

–No, I’m not American. I’m French.





PRACTICE 1Please 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 2Mary runs into Hai at school one morning, but she’s unfortu-nately forgotten who he is.

Hai: Zhäng lâoshï, zâo’än.Mali: Nín shì . . . ?Hai: Wô shì Wáng Hâi.

Mali: Duìbuqî, Wáng Hâi.Hai: Búyàojîn. Zhäng lâoshï, qîngwèn nín shì

nâguórén?Mali: Wô shì Mêiguórén. Nî ne?Hai: Wô shì Zhöngguórén.

Mali: Tämen yê shì Zhöngguórén ma?Hai: Bú shì. Tämen shì Rìbênrén.

Mali: Nî jî suì?Hai: Wô èrshí suì.

Hai: Good morning, teacher Zhang.Mary: You (fml.) are . . . ?

Hai: I’m Wang Hai.Mary: Sorry, Wang Hai.




Lesson 4 17

Hai: No problem. Teacher Zhang, may I ask whatnationality you (fml.) are?

Mary: I’m American. How about you?Hai: I’m Chinese.

Mary: Are they also Chinese?Hai: No. They’re Japanese.

Mary: How old are you?Hai: I’m twenty.

NotesAgain, notice the use of the question particle ma in yes/no ques-tions such as Tämen yê shì Zhöngguórén ma? (Are they also Chi-nese?) But note that in questions that cannot be answered with yesor no, such as Nî jî suì? (How old are you?), ma is not used.

The use of the question particle ne is slightly different from thatof ma. As you know, it can be translated as and how about . . . ? orand what about . . . ? So, if someone asks you a question and you’dlike to ask the same question back, you can just say Nî/Nín ne?(And how about you?)

To express age, the word suì (years old) is placed after the appro-priate number. For example, suì is combined with èrshí (twenty)to form èrshí suì, which means twenty years old. Notice that thereis no form of shì (to be) in the answer. Ages and descriptive adjec-tives are not used with shì.

NUTS & BOLTS 2Negation with bùTo negate a simple statement in Chinese, the word bù (no, not) isplaced before the verb. So, to negate Wô shì lâoshï (I’m ateacher), you’d say Wô bú shì lâoshï (I’m not a teacher). The struc-ture of that negative sentence is:

Subject + negative particle (bù) + to be (shì) + noun.





Wô bú shì Zhöngguórén.

I’m not Chinese.

Tämen bú shì Rìbênrén.

They’re not Japanese.

You’ve probably noticed that the tone of bù seems to be chang-ing. When it’s used before a one-syllable word of the fourth tone(such as shì), its tone changes from the fourth to the second: búshì.

PRACTICE 2AAnswer the following simple questions in Chinese:

1. Nín shì Zhöngguórén ma? (Answer: Yes)

2. Tä shì xuésheng ma? (Answer: No)

3. Tä shì lâoshï ma? (Answer: Yes)

4. Nîmen shì Mêiguórén ma? (Answer: Yes)

5. Tämen shì Fâguórén ma? (Answer: No)

PRACTICE 2BNow fill in the blanks basing your answers on the second dia-logue.

1. Mâlì shì _____ (lâoshï, xuésheng).

2. Hâi shì _____ (lâoshï, xuésheng).

3. Hâi xìng _____.

4. Mâlì xìng _____.




Lesson 4 19

Culture noteIn Chinese, it is very common to address a person by adding a titlebefore that person’s last name. In the dialogue above, Hai callsMali Zhäng lâoshï, which literally means teacher Zhang. Pleasenote that a person’s title is the same for male or female. So, whenaddressing an office manager whose last name is Hé, you woulduse the title jïnglî (manager) and call that person Hé jïnglî, regard-less of gender. However, you cannot call the student in the abovedialogue Wáng xuésheng because, as in English, student is not con-sidered a title in Chinese.

ANSWERSPRACTICE 1: 1. Nín shì Zhöngguórén ma? 2. Tä shì xuéshengma? 3. Tä shì lâoshï ma? 4. Nîmen shì Mêiguórén ma? 5. Tämen shì Fâguórén ma? 6. Nî shì lâoshï ma? 7. Nî shì yóukèma? 8. Tä shì Zhöngguórén ma?

PRACTICE 2A: 1. Wô shì Zhöngguórén. 2. Tä bú shì xuésheng.3. Tä shì lâoshï. 4. Wômen shì Mêiguórén. 5. Tämen bú shìFâguórén.

PRACTICE 2B: 1. lâoshï; 2. xuésheng; 3. Wáng; 4. Zhäng

UNIT 1 ESSENTIALSAt the end of each Unit you’ll find a list of essential phrases. Thegrammar and vocabulary used should be familiar to you.

Nín hâo ma?

How are you (fml.)?

Qîngwèn nín guìxìng?

May I ask your (fml.) last name?

Wô xìng _____.

My last name is _____.

Duìbuqî.

Sorry./Excuse me.





Zàijiàn.

Goodbye.

Búyaòjîn.

It doesn’t matter.

Wô jiào _____.

I’m called _____. (My name is _____.)

Qîngwèn nî jî suì?

May I ask how old you are?

xuésheng

student

lâoshï

teacher

Zâo’än.

Good morning.

Xièxie.

Thank you.




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