Learn Chinese — basic Chinese phrases list — basic Chinese sentences — survivor’s Chinese words — simple Chinese for traveling in China

BBC offers a  very good basic Chinese learning site with videos.

Topics:

Click: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/chinese/real_chinese/

Basic spoken Chinese from Oxford University:
http://www.ctcfl.ox.ac.uk/Spoken%20Chinese/SpeakingMandarin.htm

This following websites offer some good Audio Chinese phrases:

http://chinese.travel-way.net/

http://www.standardmandarin.com/chinesephrases

This link has some useful basic phrases got sorted into categories:
http://www.linguanaut.com/english_chinese.htm

Also Wikitravel has a very complete Chinese phrases list, read on

Basics

To be or not to be?

Chinese does not have words for “yes” and “no” as such; instead, questions are typically answered by repeating the verb. Here are common examples:

To be or not to be

是 shì, 不是 bú shì

To have or not have / there is or is not

有 yǒu, 没有 méi yǒu

To be right or wrong

对 duì, 不对 bú duì

Hello.

你好。 Nǐ hǎo.

How are you?

你好吗? Nǐ hǎo ma? 身体好吗? Shēntǐ hǎo ma?

Fine, thank you.

很好, 谢谢。 Hěn hǎo, xièxie.

May I please ask, what is your name?

请问你叫什么名? Qǐngwèn nǐjiào shěnme míng?

What is your name?

你叫什么名字? Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

My name is ______ .

我叫 _____ 。 Wǒ jiào ______ .

Nice to meet you.

很高兴认识你。 Hěn gāoxìng rènshì nǐ.

Please.

请。 Qǐng.

Thank you.

谢谢。 Xièxiè.

You’re welcome.

不客气。 Bú kèqi.

Excuse me. (getting attention)

请问 qǐng wèn

Excuse me. (begging pardon)

打扰一下。 Dǎrǎo yixià ; 麻烦您了, Máfán nín le.

Excuse me. (coming through)

对不起 Duìbùqǐ * or * 请让一下 Qǐng ràng yixià

I’m sorry.

对不起。 Duìbùqǐ.

It’s okay. (polite response to “I’m sorry”)

没关系 (méiguānxi).

Goodbye

再见。 Zàijiàn

Goodbye (informal)

拜拜。 Bai-bai (Byebye)

I can’t speak Chinese.

我不会说中文。 Wǒ bú huì shuō zhōngwén.

Do you speak English?

你会说英语吗? Nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma?

Is there someone here who speaks English?

这里有人会说英语吗? Zhèlĭ yǒu rén hùi shuō Yīngyǔ ma?

Help! (in emergencies)

救命! Jiùmìng!

Good morning.

早安。 Zǎo’ān.

Good evening.

晚上好。 Wǎnshàng hǎo.

Good night.

晚安。 Wǎn’ān.

I don’t understand.

我听不懂。 Wǒ tīng bù dǒng.

Where is the toilet?

厕所在哪里? Cèsuǒ zài nǎli?

Where is the bathroom(polite)?

洗手间在哪里? Xǐshǒujiān zài nǎli?

Problems

Asking a question in Chinese

There are many ways to ask a question in Chinese. Here are two easy ones for travelers…

Verb/Adj. + bù + Verb/Adj.

Example – hăo bù hăo? – Are you all right? (literally – good not good?)

Exception – yŏu méi yŏu? – Do you have? (literally – have not have?)

Sentence + ma

Example – nĭ shì zhōngguóren ma? – Are you Chinese? (literally – you are chinese + ma)

Leave me alone.

不要打扰我。 (búyào dǎrǎo wǒ)

I don’t want it! (useful for people who come up trying to sell you something)

我不要 (wǒ búyào!)

Don’t touch me!

不要碰我! (búyào pèng wǒ!)

I’ll call the police.

我要叫警察了。 (wǒ yào jiào jǐngchá le)

Police!

警察! (jǐngchá!)

Stop! Thief!

住手!小偷! (zhùshǒu! xiǎotōu!)

I need your help.

我需要你的帮助。 (wǒ xūyào nǐde bāngzhù)

It’s an emergency.

这是紧急情况。 (zhèshì jǐnjí qíngkuàng)

I’m lost.

我迷路了。 (wǒ mílù le)

I lost my bag.

我丟了手提包。 (wǒ diūle shǒutíbāo)

I lost my wallet.

我丟了钱包。 (wǒ diūle qiánbāo)

I’m sick.

我生病了。 (wǒ shēngbìng le)

I’ve been injured.

我受伤了。 (wǒ shòushāng le)

I need a doctor.

我需要医生。 (wǒ xūyào yīshēng)

Can I use your phone?

我可以打个电话吗? (wǒ kěyǐ dǎ ge diànhuà ma?)

[edit] Going to the doctor

I am sick.

我生病了。 (wǒ shēngbìng le)

Painful.

痛。 (tòng)

Uncomfortable.

不舒服。 (bù shūfú)

Itchy/ticklish.

痒。(yǎng)

Sore (In muscle strains).

酸。(suān)

Fever.

发烧。 (fāshāo)

Cough.

咳嗽。 (késòu)

Sneeze.

打喷嚏 (dǎ pēntì)

Diarrhoea.

泻肚子/拉肚子 (xiè dùzi/lā dùzi)

Running nose.

流鼻涕 (liú bítì)

Phlegm.

痰。 (tán)

Hands/Arms.

手。 (shǒu)

Fingers.

手指。(shǒuzhǐ)

Wrist.

手腕。 (shǒuwàn)

Shoulder.

肩膀。 (jiānbǎng)

Feet.

脚。 (jiǎo)

Toes.

脚指。 (jiǎozhǐ)

Legs.

腿。 (tuǐ)

Nails.

指甲。 (zhǐjiǎ)

Body.

身体。 (shēntǐ)

Eyes.

眼睛。 (yǎnjīng)

Ears.

耳朵。 (ěrduo)

Nose.

鼻子。 (bízi)

Face.

脸。 (liǎn)

Hair.

头发。 (tóufǎ)

Head.

头。 (tóu)

Neck.

颈项/脖子。 (jǐngxiàng/bózi)

Throat.

喉咙。 (hóulóng)

Chest.

胸。 (xiōng)

Abdomen.

肚子。 (dùzi)

Hip/Waist.

腰。 (yāo)

Buttocks.

屁股。 (pìgǔ)

Back.

背。 (bèi)

Continue the article about basic travel words for Chinese, see :

http://wikitravel.org/en/Chinese_phrasebook

Posted in Basic Chinese | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Learn Chinese sentence, phrases – learn Mandarin – How to say “That martial art teacher trains his disciple very well” in Chinese: 那武术师父训练他的弟子训练得很好. Na4 wu3 shu4 shi1 fu4 xun4 lian4 ta1 de5 di4 zi5 xun4 lian4 de5 hen3 hao3.


Learn Chinese – learn Mandarin – How to say “That martial art teacher trains his disciple very well” in Chinese: 那武术师父训练他的弟子训练得很好. Na4 wu3 shu4 shi1 fu4 xun4 lian4 ta1 de5 di4 zi5 xun4 lian4 de5 hen3 hao3. Na4 (那 that) wu3 shu4 (武术 martial art) shi1 fu4 (师父 teacher for martial art) xun4 lian4 (训练 train) ta1 de5 (他 的 his) di4 zi5 (弟子 disciple) xun4 lian4 (训练 train) de5 (得 a habitual particle usually put after a verb or a verb phrase) hen3 (很 very) hao3 (好 good or well). There are three types of teachers – 老师,师傅 and 师父 that we need to know about:

老师 Lao3 Shi1: the person who teaches you mainly the knowledge, like school teacher, music teacher, or ballet teacher.
师傅 Shi1 fu4: master worker that works and also teaches his or her apprentice, like the chief chef at restaurants or the master worker at the construction field.
师父 Shi1 fu4: Martial art teacher, Shi1 means teacher, fu4 means father. This term shows the martial art teachers receive high respect in Chinese society. However, shi1 fu4 also means monks (he2 shang4 和尚). Shaolin martial arts are considered to be the authentic Chinese kungfu (功夫 gong1 fu1, martial art). Originally, Shaolin Kungfu was developed from the Shaolin Temple, in the region of Song Mountain. The people who taught martial arts there were monks. It is also one of the reasons why the martial art teachers have been called by the term of 师父 shi1 fu4 for over several hundred years.

Posted in Chinese culture, Chinese vocabulary, One Chinese sentence a day | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Learn Chinese sentence, phrases – learn Mandarin – How to say “That martial art teacher trains his disciple very well” in Chinese: 那武术师父训练他的弟子训练得很好. Na4 wu3 shu4 shi1 fu4 xun4 lian4 ta1 de5 di4 zi5 xun4 lian4 de5 hen3 hao3.