Everyday Chinese: 28 lessons, from hello to the news

good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (of two people) close; on intimate terms; (after a form of address) hello

什么shénme

what?; something; anything

谁shéi

who; also pr. shuí

哪里nǎlǐ

where?; somewhere; anywhere; wherever; nowhere (negative answer to question); humble expression denying compliment; also written 哪里

哪儿nǎr

where?; wherever; anywhere; somewhere; (used in rhetorical questions) how can ...?; how could ...?

这zhè

(pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. zhèi, esp. in Beijing)

那nà

(specifier) that; the; those (colloquial pr. nèi); (pronoun) that (referring to persons, things or situations); then (in that case)

有yǒu

to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意 (yǒuyì) intentional)

没有méiyǒu

haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be

也yě

also; too; as well; (not ...) either; (used after a verbal or nominal expression X to indicate that X is an extreme or unexpected case) even (X); (literary) particle having functions similar to 啊 (a)

Particle

只zhǐ

only; merely; just

很hěn

very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element)

这里zhèlǐ

here

那里nàli

there; that place

认识rènshi

to know; to recognize; to be familiar with; to get acquainted with sb; knowledge; understanding; awareness; cognition

高兴gāoxìng

happy; glad; willing (to do sth); in a cheerful mood

欢迎huānyíng

to welcome; welcome

我wǒ

I; me; my

你nǐ

you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您 (nín)); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.)

您nín

you (courteous, as opposed to informal 你 (nǐ))

他tā

(third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日 (tārì) and 他人 (tārén))

她tā

she

它tā

it; it (pronoun for an animal)

we; us; ourselves

you (plural)

they; them

name (of a person or thing)

叫jiào

to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood)

的de

of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的 (pígéde) "one made of leather" or 跑堂儿的 (pǎotángrde) "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的 (xīnde) "new one"); also pr. dì or di in poetry and songs

Particle

和hé

(joining two nouns) and; together with; with (Taiwan pr. hàn); (math.) sum; to make peace; (sports) to draw; to tie; (bound form) harmonious; (bound form) Japan; Japanese; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和 (hé))

Conjunction

跟gēn

heel; to follow closely; to go with; (of a woman) to marry sb; with; compared with; to; towards; and (joining two nouns)

Conjunction

在zài

to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)

从cóng

from; through; via; (bound form) to follow; (bound form) to obey; (bound form) to engage in (an activity); (used before a negative) ever; (bound form) (Taiwan pr. zòng) retainer; attendant; (bound form) (Taiwan pr. zòng) assistant; auxiliary; subordinate; (bound form) (Taiwan pr. zòng) related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor

到dào

to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoughtful; thorough

给gěi

to; for; for the benefit of; to give; to allow; to do sth (for sb); (grammatical equivalent of 被); (grammatical equivalent of 把); (sentence intensifier)

对duì

right; correct; towards; at; for; concerning; regarding; to treat (sb a certain way); to face; (bound form) opposite; facing; matching; to match together; to adjust; to fit; to suit; to answer; to reply; to add; to pour in (a fluid); …

现在xiànzài

now; at present; currently

今天jīntiān

today; the present time; now

tomorrow

yesterday

always

always; at all times; never (if used in negative sentence)

有时候yǒushíhou

sometimes

或者huòzhě

or; possibly; maybe; perhaps

Conjunction

但是dànshì

but; however

因为yīnwèi

because; owing to; on account of

所以suǒyǐ

therefore; as a result; so; the reason why

吗ma

(question particle for "yes-no" questions)

Particle

呢ne

(sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?"); (sentence-final particle) indicating that a state or situation still holds; (discourse particle) used to mark a slight pause or emphasis in speech

Particle

吧ba

(modal particle indicating suggestion or surmise); ...right?; ...OK?; ...I presume.

Particle

了le

(completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)

Particle

人rén

person; people

男人nánrén

a man; a male; men

woman

child

boy

girl; lass

(coll.) father; dad

妈妈māma

mama; mommy; mother

父亲fùqīn

father; also pr. fùqin

mother

son

daughter

older brother

older sister

younger brother

younger sister; young woman

爷爷yéye

(coll.) paternal grandfather; grandpa

奶奶nǎinai

(informal) grandma (paternal grandmother); (respectful) mistress of the house; (coll.) boobies; breasts

外公wàigōng

(coll.) mother's father; maternal grandfather

外婆wàipó

(coll.) mother's mother; maternal grandmother

叔叔shūshu

father's younger brother; paternal uncle; form of address used by children for a male one generation older

阿姨āyí

maternal aunt; term of address for a woman of one's mother's generation; childcare worker; nanny; domestic worker

家jiā

home; family; (polite) my (sister, uncle etc); classifier for families or businesses; refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China; noun suffix for a specialist in some activity, such as a musician or revolutionary, corresponding to English -ist, -er, -ary or -ian

父母fùmǔ

father and mother; parents

husband

wife

(coll.) wife

(coll.) husband

infant; baby; lead (Pb)