Complete Chinese the Basics Excerpt

8/3/2019 Complete Chinese the Basics Excerpt

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C O M P L E T E

M A N D A R I N

CHINESET H E B A S I C S

Written by

Janet Lai

Edited by

Christopher A. WarnaschShaina Malkin


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Copyright 2008 by Living Language, an imprint of Random House, Inc.

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First Edition

ISBN: 978-1-4000-2425-4

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The Basics

Complete Chinese:

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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 andpnyn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvi

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

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

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

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

Plurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Nationalities and rn (person) . . . . . . . . . . 8

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

Word order in simple statements . . . . . . 10Numbers 1120 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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

Yes/no question formation . . . . . . . . . . . 15Negation with b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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


Yu (to have) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32The connection word h (and) . . . . . . . . 33

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

Possessives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Adverbs: hn (very) and ti (too) . . . . . . . 39

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

Lesson 9 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Days of the week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Expressing months and dates . . . . . . . . . 46

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

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


Xhuan/b xhuan (to like/not like) . . . . . 55Use ofzi and zhe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

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

Superlative with zu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Question word shnme (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 andaccessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

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

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

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

This oneand that one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Currency of China: moneyexpressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

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

Numbers 211,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Quantity expressions and the numbertwo (r and ling) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

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

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

Negation with b and bsh beforeadjectives and adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95



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Course outline vii

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

Expressing a completed actionwith le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Asking how long? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

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

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

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

Asking where? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Asking questions about completedactions with yu miyu . . . . . . . . . . . 111

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

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

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

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

More on time expressions . . . . . . . . . . . 126Use ofshi (who) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128


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



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viii Complete Mandarin Chinese: The Basics

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

Use ofgu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137Li (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?) . . . . . . . . . . . 153Expressing direction or motion withlocation phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155


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


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

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

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

Making suggestions: ho 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


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

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

Lesson 33 (words) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197Ynggi (should, ought to) . . . . . . . . . . . . 198Making comparisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

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

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


Functions ofhu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208Making equal comparisons . . . . . . . . . . 211


The interrogative wishnme (why) . . . 216The conjunctions ynwi (because)and suy (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 d qi (to play ball) . . . . . . . . . 226Uses ofb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

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

Expressing frequency with c orbin . . 232Expressing duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234


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

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

Making comparisons withgng (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?

Nho! In Unit 1, youll learn how to greet people, how to in-

troduce yourself, how to tell people your name, your age

and nationality, and how to use basic expressions of cour-

tesy. 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. Areyou ready to begin?

Lesson 1 (words)

WORD LI ST 1

Each 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.

sh to be, am, is, are, was, were

b not, no

y alsoho good, well

n which

gu(ji) country

losh teacher

xusheng student

rn person, man

gu honorable, expensive

xng last name



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2 Unit 1: Hello! How are you?

mngzi first name

Zhngwn Chinese language

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Personal 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:

w I wmen we

n/nn (fml.) you nmen (pl.) you,all of you

t he, she, it tmen 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 sayyou in Chinese. One is thepolite form nn, which you would use in the case of a person forwhom you want to show respect, such as your parents, yourfriends parents, your teacher, your boss, or people who are gen-erally older than you are. The other is the informal form n,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 n (you) and the polite nn(you) are nmen. Nnmen does not exist in Chinese. Also notethat although the pronouns he, sheand it are pronounced thesame (t), their written characters are totally different: (he),(she), (it).

PRACTICE 1

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



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Lesson 1 3

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 America

Zhnggu China

Ynggu BritainFgu France

Xbny Spain

Dgu Germany

Ydl Italy

Rbn Japan

ozhu Australia

xinsheng Mr., husband, sir

titai/frn (fml.) Mrs., wife

xioji Miss, young lady

yshng doctor

hshi nurse

lsh lawyer

chzch sj taxi drivershngrn business person

yuk tourist

NUTS & BOLTS 2

Numbers 110

Now lets look at numbers in Chinese. Lets start with onethrough ten:



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y one

r two

sn threes four

w five

li six

q seven

b eight

ji nine

sh ten

Note that the numbery (one) changes tone depending on whereand how it is used in a sentence. When y 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.

y, r, sn, s, w . . .

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.

yqi

everything

yxi

some



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Lesson 1 5

PRACTICE 2

Please 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: xinsheng,

titai/frn and xioji. For example, use xinsheng to address

Mr. Wang. Use xioji to address Miss Wang. Finally, use titai orfrn 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 tra-

dition. 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



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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 foundin daily conversation:

Nn/N ho. Hello.

Nn/N ho ma? How are you?

Nn/N ho ma? Good morning/afternoon/evening.

Zon. Good morning.

Wnn. Good night.

J su? How old?

B yojn. It doesnt matter.

Dubuq. Sorry./Excuse me.

Bkq. Youre welcome. (lit., Dont be polite.)

Xixie. Thank you.

Zijin. 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 inWord list 1 could be translated as either singulars or plurals in

English:

losh teacher, teachers

xusheng student, students

rn person, people



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Lesson 2 7

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

w (I) wmen (we)

n/nn (you/you fml.) nmen (you pl., all of you)

t (he, she, it) tmen (they)

Lets look at some examples:

Tmen sh xusheng.

They are students.

Wmen sh xusheng.

We are students.

N sh xusheng.

You are a student.

Notice that the form ofto bedoesnt change in ChineseunlikeEnglish, Chinese doesnt have verb conjugation, which meansthat verbs dont change form based on subject or on when theaction is taking place. Therefore, sh 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 1

Please 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.



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PHRASE LIST 2

Here are some more phrases well be using later on in this unit.

Ngurn? What nationality?

Migurn AmericanZhnggurn Chinese

Ynggurn British

Fgurn French

Xbnyrn Spanish

Dgurn German

Ydlrn ItalianRbnrn Japanese

ozhurn Australian

Bijngrn Pekingese

Shnghirn Shanghaiese

Xinggngrn Hongkongese

Nnjngrn Nanjingese

Gungdngrn Cantonese

NUTS & BOLTS 2

Nationalities and rn (PERSON)

As you can probably guess from the table above, nationality is ex-pressed in Chinese by adding rn (person) after a country name,so that the combined form literally means a person born in a spe-

cific country. Its also very common in Chinese to add rn aftera 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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Lesson 2 9

PRACTICE 2

What nationalities are the following people? Answer in pnyn.

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. 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 youso you can practice when you have down time. First go from Chi-

nese 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 shyshng. 4. Tmen sh losh. 5. T sh losh.

PRACTICE 2: 1. Ynggurn;2.Xbnyrn; 3. Rbnrn;4. Ydlrn; 5. Zhnggurn



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Lesson 3 (sentences)

SENTENCE LIST 1

The third lesson of each Unit moves on to sentences.

W sh yuk. I am a tourist.

T sh yshng. He/She is a doctor.

T sh lsh. He/She is a lawyer.

Wng xioji sh hshi. T Miss Wang is a nurse. She is Chinese.sh Zhnggurn.

Wng xi

nsheng sh Mr. Wang is a taxi driver.chzch sj.

Nn sh losh ma? Are you (fml.) a teacher?

W sh losh. I am a teacher.

W b sh losh. I am not a teacher.

W sh Zhnggurn. I am Chinese.

W y sh Zhnggurn. I am also Chinese.

W y b sh Zhnggurn. I am not Chinese either.

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Word order in simple statements

As 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 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 an-other 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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Lesson 3 11

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. 5. Tmen sh Fgurn.

2. T sh xusheng. 6. Wng xioji sh yshng.

3. T sh losh. 7. Wng xinsheng sh lsh.

4. Wmen sh Migurn.

SENTENCE LIST 2

Qngwn nn guxng? May I ask your (fml.) last name?

W xng Hung. My last name is Huang.

W jio Hung Xn. My name is Huang Xin.W hn ho. Im very well.

Qngwn n j su? May I ask how old you are?

W sh b su. Im eighteen years old.

Nn sh yshng ma? Are you (fml.) a doctor?

Nmen sh yuk ma? Are you (pl.) tourists?

Notes

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



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NUTS & BOLTS 2

Numbers 1120

Now lets add onto the numbers you know by looking at 11through 20. As you can see in the table below, the teens are

formed with sh (ten) plus a number from 1 through 9. The num-ber 20 is formed by adding sh right afterr (two):

sh y eleven

sh r twelve

sh sn thirteen

sh s fourteen

sh w fifteen

sh li sixteen

sh q seventeen

sh b eighteen

sh ji nineteen

rsh twenty

PRACTICE 2

Translate the following numbers in Chinese:

1. 11 4. 18

2. 15 5. 13

3. 20



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Lesson 4 13

Tip!So far, youve seen that Chinese grammar is very different from

English grammar in a few ways. For example, there are no conju-

gated 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 stu-

dent, 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, plu-

rals, 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 formof two different dialogues. In this dialogue, a man and a womanare talking outside a language school.

Mali: Nn h

o ma?Hai: W hn ho. Xixie.Mali: Nn sh losh ma?



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Hai: W b sh losh. W sh xusheng.Mali: Dubuq.Hai: Byajn. N y sh xusheng ma?

Mali: W b sh xusheng, w sh losh.

Hai: Q ngwn nn guxng?Mali: W xng Zhng, Zhngwn mngzi jio Ml.N ne?

Hai: W xng Wng, jio Wng Hi.Mali: Zijin.Hai: Zijin.

Mary: How are you (fml.)?Hai: Im very well. Thank you.Mary: Are you (fml.) a teacher?

Hai: No, Im not. Im a student.Mary: Sorry.

Hai: Thats okay. (lit., It doesnt matter.) Are you a studenttoo?

Mary: Im not a student. Im a teacher.Hai: May I ask your (fml.) last name?

Mary: My last name is Zhang. (My) Chinese first name isMali. How about you?

Hai: My last name is Wang. Im called Wang Hai.Mary: Goodbye.

Hai: Goodbye.

Notes

In 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 ofand how about . . . ?Well come backto those particles in this lesson, and youll learn many more as

you progress through this course.



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Lesson 4 15

NUTS & BOLTS 1

Yes/no question formation

As you saw in the dialogue, the question particle ma is used at theend of a sentence to signal that the sentence is a question rather

than a statement. As an example, lets look at: Nn sh loshma? (Are you (fml.) a teacher?). The structure of this simple ques-tion is:

Subject + to be(sh) + 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:

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 unfortu-nately forgotten who he is.

Hai: Zhng losh, zon.Mali: Nn sh . . . ?Hai: W sh Wng Hi.

Mali: Dubuq, Wng Hi.Hai: Byojn. Zhng losh, qngwn nn sh

ngurn?Mali: W sh Migurn. N ne?Hai: W sh Zhnggurn.

Mali: Tmen y sh Zhnggurn ma?Hai: B sh. Tmen sh Rbnrn.

Mali: N j su?Hai: W rsh su.

Hai: Good morning, teacher Zhang.

Mary: You (fml.) are . . . ?Hai: Im Wang Hai.

Mary: Sorry, Wang Hai.



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Lesson 4 17

Hai: No problem. Teacher Zhang, may I ask whatnationality 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 ques-

tions such as Tmen y

sh Zh

nggurn ma? (Are they also Chi-nese?) 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 thatofma. As you know, it can be translated as and how about . . . ?orand what about . . . ?So, if someone asks you a question and youdlike 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 appro-priate number. For example, su is combined with rsh (twenty)to form rsh su, which means twenty years old. Notice that thereis no form ofsh (to be) in the answer. Ages and descriptive adjec-tives are not used with sh.

NUTS & BOLTS 2

Negation with b

To negate a simple statement in Chinese, the word b (no, not) isplaced before the verb. So, to negate W sh losh (Im ateacher), youd say W b sh losh (Im not a teacher). The struc-ture 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 ofb seems to be chang-ing. When its used before a one-syllable word of the fourth tone(such as sh), its tone changes from the fourth to the second: bsh.

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 dia-logue.

1. Ml sh _____ (l

osh

, xusheng).

2. Hi sh _____ (losh, xusheng).

3. Hi xng _____.

4. Ml xng _____.



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Lesson 4 19

Culture noteIn 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 titlejngl (manager) and call that person H jngl, regard-

less of gender. However, you cannot call the student in the above

dialogue Wng xusheng because, as in English, student is not con-

sidered a title in Chinese.

ANSWERS

PRACTICE 1: 1. Nn sh Zhnggurn ma?2. T sh xushengma? 3. T sh losh ma? 4. Nmen sh Migurn ma?5. Tmen sh Fgurn ma? 6. N sh losh ma? 7. N sh yukma? 8. T sh Zhnggurn ma?

PRACTICE 2A: 1. W sh Zhnggurn.2. T b sh xusheng.

3. T

sh losh

. 4. W

men sh M

igurn. 5. T

men b shFgurn.

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. Thegrammar 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.



32/32

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