January 2012
1 post
6 tags
Where? Here and There... 哪里？这里和那里...
在 Zài
哪里 Nǎlǐ
这里 Zhèlǐ
那里 Nàlǐ
哪 Pronounced like “nah”
里 Pronounced like “lee”
在 Pronounced like “z-eye”
哪 means which
里 means in, within, inner
哪里 means where
这里 means here
那里 means there
在 shows location
Stating location generally goes before the verb and directly after the subject. 在 zài is generally the word used to link the subject to a...
10 tags
Happy New Year! 新年快乐!
新年快乐 Xīnnián kuàilè
Pronounced like “sheen n-yan k-why luck”
新年快乐 means Happy New Year!
Of course, Chinese New Year doesn’t start until January but, living in New York and running this blog, it’s only appropriate to post it here.
I want to thank everyone that follows this blog just for following, y’know?
I know I don’t update as much as I want to or as...
6 tags
Hello! I am…你好!我是…
Audio of Lesson 2
December 2011
7 posts
6 tags
Years... 年...
年 Nián
Pronounced like “n-yan”
年 means year
Numbering years follows the month-naming format, placing a number before 年. The only difference, however, is that years are numbered using single digits.
二零一一年
Èr língyī yī nián 2011
二零一二年
Èr língyī èr nián 2012
零 líng
Pronounced like “lean-g”
零 means zero
6 tags
Months... 月...
月 Yuè
Pronounced like “you-eh”
月 means moon, month
Naming the months in the year is similar to naming the days of the week except the number is placed before 月.
January 一月 Yī yuè
February 二月 Èr yuè
March 三月 Sān yuè
This pattern follows for all months.
8 tags
Days of the Week... 星期几...
星期 Xīngqí
Pronounced like “sheen-g chee”
Xīngqí means week
Naming the days of the week follows a 星期 + Number format all with the exception of Sunday.
Starting from one, 一, and ending at six, 六, the days of the week are as follows.
星期一 is Monday
星期二 is Tuesday
星期三 is Wednesday
星期四 is Thursday
星期五 is Friday
星期六 is Saturday
星期天 is Sunday
今天是星期六。
Jīntiān shì xīngqí liù....
6 tags
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow... 昨天，今天和明天...
昨天 zuótiān
今天 jīntiān
明天 míngtiān
昨天 Pronounced like “z-whoa t-yen”
今天 Pronounced like “jean t-yen”
明天 Pronounced like “meeng t-yen”
昨天 means yesterday
今天 means today
明 means bright, clear
明天 means tomorrow
When using time words such as 昨天 or 今天, the time word always precedes the verb. This allows for some customization when forming a sentence.
...
6 tags
I Like... 我喜欢...
喜欢 xǐhuan
*Pronounced like “she hwan”
喜欢 means to like
我喜欢茶。
Wǒ xǐhuan chá. I like tea.
我喜欢她。
Wǒ xǐhuan tā. I like her.
我不喜欢可乐。
Wǒ bù xǐhuan kělè. I don’t like cola.
她不喜欢我。
Tā bù xǐhuan wǒ. She doesn’t like me.
November 2011
20 posts
Ah! Also, all new posts will have the correct pīnyīn with the correct tones as per request. I also intend to go back and fix all of the old posts that lack tones.
My apologies for not having posted in a while. I’ve been rather busy doing miscellaneous stuff. I was also wondering what the next lesson would be, thus the delay.
8 tags
I Eat, I drink... 我吃，我喝...
我吃
Wǒ chī
我喝
Wǒ hē
吃 chī
Pronounced like “chick”
喝 hē
Pronounced like “her”
吃 means to eat
喝 means to drink
Now we’re getting somewhere! Rather simply, these two verbs are used to show that you eat and/or drink something. It follows the same pattern we’ve been using all along and negates the same way.
*我吃饭。
Wǒ chī fàn. I eat (food).
我吃饺子。
Wǒ...
Hello! 你好!
Audio of Lesson 1
7 tags
I Am Not... 我不是...
我不是
Wo bu shi
不 bu
Pronounced like “boo”
不 negates verbs
*不 is the easiest way to show that you do not do something.
我不是学生。
Wo bu shi xuesheng. I am not a student.
他不是老师。
Ta bu shi laoshi. He is not a teacher.
她不是李友。她是小艾。
Ta bu shi Liyou. Ta shi Xiaoai. She is not Liyou. She is Xiaoai.
你不是我的朋友。
Ni bu shi wo de pengyou. You are not my friend.
不 always goes before...
Sentence Structure #1
It’s probably important I address this now before we move on any further.
Structuring a sentence, in its basic form, in Chinese is relatively easy. Much more so when compared to English. Over the course of the few lessons we’ve covered, we examined how words are put into a sentence and what those sentences turn out to be.
1我是王明。
I am Wangming.
2她是学生。
She is a student.
...
6 tags
How Many Friends Do You Have? 你有几个朋友？
你有几个朋友？
Nî you ji ge pengyou? How many friends do you have?
有 you
Pronounced like “yo”
有 means to have, to possess
有 is another way to show that someone or something possesses something. It can only be used, however, for tangible objects.
我有两本书。
Wô you liang ben shu. I have two books.
你有几个朋友？
Nî you ji ge pengyou? How many friends do you have?
*我有两个朋友。
Wô you liang ge...
6 tags
This and That 这和那
这 zhe
Pronounced like “just”
那 na
Pronounced like “not”
这 means this
那 means that
这 and 那 are the two words used when you want to address something relatively close to you or quickly. Remember in the Measure Word post that I spoke of cases where you do not require numbers in front of the measure word. 这 and 那 are two of these cases. *They always require a measure...
6 tags
Friends and Family 朋友和家人
朋友和家人
Pengyou he jia ren
朋友 means friend * 和 means and
家人 means family members
家 means family, home
人 means person, people
朋友 is pronounced like “pun-g yo”
和 is pronounced like “her”
家 is pronounced like “job” **人 is pronounced like “wrench”
她是谁？
她是李友。她是我的同学和我的朋友。
Ta shi shei?
Ta shi Liyou. Ta shi wo de tongxue he wo de pengyou. Who is...
Google?
You’ll have noticed in my previous post that I place a double superscripted “Google” by the pinyin of certain words. To avoid writing really long a drawn out posts, the Google serves as a reminder to check their translate feature to hear how difficult-to-pronounce words sound.
6 tags
Measure Words #1
Measure words are very important in Asian languages like Japanese and Chinese. How in English we use phrases like “a chair” or “a book”, Chinese does the same thing. The difference, however, is that different things use different measure words. I’ll show some examples below.
一个人。
Yi ge ren. One person.
*两本书。
Liang ben shu. Two books.
三张纸。
San zhang zhi. Three...
Friends and Family 朋友和家人 +Note →
chinese-from-a-foreigner:
朋友和家人
Pengyou he jia ren 朋友 means friend * 和 means and
家人 means family members
家 means family, home
人 means person, people 朋友 is pronounced like “pun-g yo”
和 is pronounced like “her”
家 is pronounced like “job” **人 is pronounced like “wrench” 她是谁？
她是李友。她是我的同学和我的朋友。
Ta shi…
***姐姐 only slightly sounds like the pronunciation. It is somewhat like...
5 tags
Possesive Marker 的
的
De
的 is the possessive marker
Pronounced like “duh”
的 is the word used when you want express someone or something belongs to someone or something else.
1 她是谁？
她是李友。她是我的同学。
Ta shi shei?
Ta shi Liyou. Ta shi wo de tongxue. Who is she?
She is Liyou. She is my classmate.
2 他是谁？
他是理查。他是我的老师。
Ta shi shei?
Ta shi Licha. Ta shi wo de laoshi. Who is he?
He is Licha. He is my...
5 tags
School学校
学校 xuexiao Pronounced like “shway shower”
学生 xuesheng Pronounced like “shway shun-g”
老师 laoshi Pronounced like “loud she”
同学 tongxue Pronounced like “tone-g shway”
*学 means to learn **校 means school
学校 means school
生 means life
学生 means student
老师 means teacher
同学 means classmate
These are the most essential words when talking about...
5 tags
Who is He? 他是谁？
*他是谁？
Ta shi shei?
他 means he
谁 means who
Pronounced like “top shit shay”
Pretty straightforward, use this question if you want to know who someone is.
他是谁？
他是王明。
Ta shi shei?
Ta shi Wangming. Who is he?
He’s Wangming.
*他 is a very interesting word in Chinese. It’s interesting in that the female equivalent, 她 she is pronounced the very same way. The gender...
5 tags
Numbers 数字
数字 means number
Pronounced like “shoe-zit”
Counting in Chinese is easy, especially considering most of the basic Chinese words are monosyllabic.
1 一 yi Pronounced like “bee”
2 二 er Pronounced like “her”
3 三 san Pronounced like “sand”
4 四 si Pronounced like “sit”
5 五 wu Pronounced like “who” *6 六 liu Pronounced like...
5 tags
How Old Are You? 你几岁？
你几岁？ Literally You how many years
Ni ji sui?
几 means how many
岁 means and is also a counter for years
Pronounced like “knee gee sway”
This is the basic way to ask a person their age. Similarly to a previous post, you can replace the question word, 几 “ji” how many with a number to answer the question.
你几岁？
我十八岁。
Ni ji sui?
Wo shiba sui. How old are you?...
4 tags
Hello! 你好!
Probably the first thing anyone learning Chinese should learn is this phrase.
你好
「nî haô」
你 means you.
好 means good.
Pronounced like “knee-how”
This is generally a greeting for every occasion.
It’s “Hello, what’s up, how are you doing” and all that other goodness
It’s a great way to start the day.
3 tags
Hello! I am... 你好！我是…
你好！我是王明。
「Nîhaô! Wôshì Wángmíng.」
我 means I, me
是 means am, is, are, be
王明 is a given name.
Pronounced like “knee-how! Whoa shit Wahng-meeng”
This is the easiest way to introduce yourself. “Hello. I am Wangming.” It’s simple and straight to the point.
5 tags
What's Your Name? 你叫什么名字？
*你叫什么名字？ Literally You called what name
「Nǐ jiào shénme míngzì.？」
叫 means to be called
什么 means what
名字 means name **Pronounced like “knee jowl shun-mug meeng-zit”
This is how we ask a person what their name is. It may seem a little forward but there are other ways to say the same thing that are just as forward. This is probably one of the nicest.
* Remember earlier when we...