'''Mandarin Chinese''' is the official language of China and Taiwan, and is one of the official languages of Singapore. In English, it is often just called "Mandarin" or "Chinese". In China, it is called ''Putonghua'' (_____b), meaning "common speech", while it Taiwan it is referred to as ''Guoyu'' (____) - "the national language." It has been the '''main language of education in China''' (but not Hong Kong) since the 1950s. Standard Mandarin is close to, but not quite identical with, the dialect of the Beijing area. Note that while the spoken mandarin in the above places is the same, the written characters are different. In Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau traditional characters are used, whereas China and Singapore use a simplified derivative.

Understand

The word "dialect" means something different when applied to Chinese than it does for other languages. Chinese "dialects" are often mutually unintelligible, as different as, say, Spanish and French and even English, which we would call "related languages" rather than "dialects".

However, while there are different spoken dialects of Chinese, there is only one form of written Chinese, with one common set of characters - mostly. An exception arises where in some spoken dialects, for example Cantonese as used in Hong Kong, more informal phrasings are used in everyday speech than what would be written. Thus, there are some extra characters that are sometimes used in addition to the common characters to represent the spoken dialect and other colloquial words. One additional complication is that mainland China and Singapore use '''simplified characters''', a long-debated change completed by the mainland Chinese government in 1956 to facilitate the standardization of language across China's broad minority groups and sub-dialects. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau and many overseas Chinese use the '''traditional characters'''. In addition, the Dungan language, which is spoken in some parts of Russia, is considered to be a variant of Mandarin but uses the Cyrillic alphabet instead of Chinese characters.

About one fifth of the people in the world speak some form of Chinese as their native language, making it the most widely spoken language in the world. It is a tonal language that is related to ''Burmese'' and ''Tibetan''. Although Japanese and Korean use Chinese written characters and a large number of Chinese loanwords, they are not in the same language family. Rather they are related in a manner that resembles English having a lot of Romance language-derived loanwords while being a Germanic language. Also, the unrelated Vietnamese language (which uses a distinctive version of the Latin alphabet) language has borrowed many words from Chinese.

Note that travellers headed for Hong Kong, Macau or Guangdong will almost certainly find Cantonese more useful than Mandarin.

Chinese, like most other Asian languages such as Arabic, is famous for being difficult to learn but it needn't be. While English speakers would initially have problems with the tones and recognizing many different characters (Chinese has no alphabet), the grammar is very simple and can be picked up very easily. Most notably, Chinese grammar does not have conjugation, tenses, gender, plurals or other nigglesome grammatical rules which plague other major languages such as English, French or Japanese.

Pronunciation guide

The pronunciation guide below uses [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin Hanyu pinyin], the official romanization of the People's Republic of China. Until recently, Taiwan used the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade-Giles Wade-Giles] system, which is quite different, but has recently officially switched to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongyong_Pinyin Tongyong pinyin], which is only slightly different.

Pinyin allows very accurate pronunciation of Chinese ''if'' you understand how it works, but the way it uses letters like ''q'', ''x'' and even ''i'' is not at all intuitive to the English speaker. Studying the pronunciation guide below carefully is thus essential.

Vowels

;a :as in f'''a'''ther ;e :as in s'''ay''' ;i :as in s'''ee''' or k'''ey''';<br>after ''sh'', ''zh'', ''s'',''z'' or ''r'', closest companion in English is the '''i''' in b'''i'''t, however it is more similar to ''''__'''' in cyrillic but the position of the tongue is more towards the back. ;o :as in s'''aw''' ;u :as in s'''oo'''n; but read '''u''' in ''ju'', ''qu'', ''yu'' and ''xu'' ;u :as in French l'''u'''ne or German gr'''u'''n

Diphthongs

As in any language, there are diphthongs in Chinese, and they are listed below:

;ai : as in p'''ie''' ;ao: as in p'''o'''uch ;ei : as in p'''ay''' ;ia: as in '''ya''' ;ia in ' '''ia'''n': as in ''''ye'''s ;iao: as in m'''eow''' ;ie: as in '''ye'''s ;iong: as in P'''yong'''yang ;ou: as in m'''o'''w ;ua: as in '''wha'''t ;uo: as in '''wa'''r

Consonants

Chinese stops distinguish between ''aspirated'' and ''unaspirated'', not ''voiceless'' and ''voiced'' as in English. Aspirated sounds are pronounced with a distinctive puff of air, the way they are in English when at the beginning of a word, while unaspirated sounds are pronounced without the puff, as in English when found in clusters. Place a hand in front of your mouth and compare '''p'''it (aspirated) with s'''p'''it (unaspirated) to see the difference.

{| ! !! width=200 | Unaspirated !! !! width=200 | Aspirated

The other consonants in Chinese are:

;m :as in '''m'''ow ;f :as in '''f'''un ;n :as in '''n'''one or no'''n'''e ;l :as in '''l'''ease ;h :as in '''h'''er ;x :as in '''sh'''eep ;sh :as in '''sh'''oot ;r :as in fai'''r''' ;s :as in '''s'''ag ;ng :as in si'''ng''' ;w :as in '''w'''ing, but '''silent''' in ''wu'' ;y :as in '''y'''et, but '''silent''' in ''yi'', ''yu''

If you think that's a fairly intimidating repertoire, rest assured that you're not alone, and many Chinese, particularly those who are not native Mandarin speakers, will merge many of the sounds above (eg. ''q'' with ''ch'', ''j'' with ''zh'').

Exceptions

There are a fairly large number of niggling exceptions to the basic rules above, based on the position of the sound. Some of the more notable ones include:

; wu- :as '''u-''', so ___S ''wubai'' is pronounced "'''u'''bai" ; yi- :as '''i-''', so ____ ''yige'' is pronounced "'''i'''ge" ; yu- :as '''u-''', so __? ''Yuyuan'' is pronounced "'''u'''-'''u'''an"

Tones

Always insert tone marks above the vowels. If there is more than 1 vowel letter, follow the steps below:

(1) Insert it above the 'a' if that letter is present. For example, it is ''r'''?'''o'' and not ''ra'''?'''''

(2) If not, insert it above 'o'. eg. ''gu'''o''''' and not ''g'''u'''o''

(3) Insert it above the letter 'e' if the letters 'a' and 'o' are not present. eg. ''ju'''e''''' and not ''j'''u'''e''

(4) If only 'i', 'u' and 'u' are the only present letters, insert it in the letter than occurs '''last'''. eg. ''ji'''u''''' and not ''j'''i'''u'', ''chu'''i''''' and not ''ch'''u'''i''. Note, if the vowel present is u, the tone mark is put '''in addition''' to the umlaut. eg. l'''?'''

There are four tones in Mandarin that must be followed for proper pronunciation. If you are not used to tonal languages then never underestimate the importance of these tones. Consider a vowel with a different tone as simply a different vowel altogether, and you will realize why Chinese will ''not'' understand you if mess this up — ''m?'' is to ''m?'' as "I want a cake" is to "I want a coke". Be especially wary of questions that have a falling tone, or conversely exclamations that have an "asking" tone (eg ''j?ngcha'', police!). In other words, ''pronounced like'' does not imply ''meaning''. While Mandarin speakers also vary their tone just like English speakers do to differentiate a statement from a question and convey emotion, this is much more subtle than in English so it is best not to try it until you have mastered the basic tones.

;1. first tone ( ? ) : flat, high pitch — more sung instead of spoken ;2. second tone ( a ) : low to middle, rising — pronounced like the end of a question phrase (''What?'') ;3. third tone ( ? ) : middle to low to high, dipping — '''Note''': For two consecutive words in the 3rd tone, the first word is pronounced as if it is in the 2nd tone. For example, __? ''d?r?o'' is pronounced as ''dar?o''. ;4. fourth tone ( a ) : high to low, rapidly falling — pronounced like a command (''Stop!'') ;5. a fifth tone : this is a neutral tone, which is rarely used by itself (mostly for phrase particles), but frequently occurs as the second part of a phrase.

Phrase list

All phrases shown in here use the simplified characters used in mainland China and Singapore. See Chinese phrasebook - Traditional for a version using the traditional characters still used on Taiwan.

Basics

; To be or not to be: __ shi, _s__ bu shi ; To have or not have / there is or is not: _L y?u, _v_L mei y?u ; To be right or wrong: ? dui, _s? bu dui

; Hello. : ?_D_B N? h?o. ; How are you? : ?_D?_H N? h?o ma? _g___D?? Sh?nt? h?o ma? ; Fine, thank you. : _k_D, ??_B H?n h?o, xiexie. ; May I please ask, what is your name? : ???___Y?__? Q?ngwen n?jiao sh?nme ming? ; Who are you? : ?___Y?_____H N? jiao shenme mingzi? ; My name is ______ . : ____ _____ _B W? jiao ______ . ; Nice to meet you. : _k__????_B H?n g?oxing renshi n?. ; Please. : ?_B Q?ng. ; Thank you. : ??_B Xiexie. ; You're welcome. : _s_q___B Bu keqi. ; Excuse me. (''getting attention'') : ?? q?ng wen ; Excuse me. (''begging pardon'') : __?_____B D?r?o yixia ; __??__, Mafan nin le. ; I'm sorry. : ?_s_N_B Duibuq?. ; It's okay. (polite response to "I'm sorry"): _v?_n (meigu?nxi). ; Goodbye : __?_B Zaijian ; Goodbye (''informal'') : _`_`_B Bai-bai (Byebye) ; I can't speak Chinese. : ___s__?_____B W? bu hui shu? zh?ngwen. ; Do you speak English? : ?__?_p??_H N? hui shu? Y?ngy? ma? ; Is there someone here who speaks English? : ?___L_l__?_p??_H Zhel? y?u ren hui shu? Y?ngy? ma? ; Help! (in emergencies): _~___I Jiuming! ; Good morning. : _____B Z?o'?n. ; Good evening. : ?___D_B W?nshang h?o. ; Good night. : ?___B W?n'?n. ; I don't understand. : _____s?_B W? t?ng bu d?ng. ; Where is the toilet? : ?____?___H Cesu? zai n?li?

Problems

; Verb/Adj. + bu + Verb/Adj. : Example - h?o bu h?o? - Are you ok? (literally - good not good?) Exception - y?u mei y?u? - Do you have? (literally - have not have?) ; Sentence + ma : Example - n? shi zh?ngguoren ma? - Are you Chinese? (literally - you are chinese + ma)}} ; Leave me alone. : _s_v__?___B (''buyao d?r?o w?'') ; I don't want it! (useful for people who come up trying to sell you something) : ___s_v (''w? buyao!'') ; Don't touch me! : _s_v?___I (''buyao peng w?!'') ; I'll call the police. : ___v___x_@___B (''w? yao jiao j?ngcha le'') ; Police! : _x_@_I (''j?ngcha!'') ; Stop! Thief! : _Z___I__?_I (''zhush?u! xi?ot?u!'') ; I need your help. : _____v?_I?___B (''w? x?yao n?de b?ngzhu'') ; It's an emergency. : ?__?_}___v_B (''zheshi j?nji qingkuang'') ; I'm lost. : _____H___B (''w? milu le'') ; I lost my bag. : __?_________B (''w? di?le sh?utib?o'') ; I lost my wallet. : __?__?___B (''w? di?le qianb?o'') ; I'm sick. : _____a___B (''w? sh?ngbing le'') ; I've been injured. : ____?___B (''w? shoush?ng le'') ; I need a doctor. : _____v_____B (''w? x?yao y?sh?ng'') ; Can I use your phone? : __________???_H (''w? k?y? d? ge dianhua ma?'')

Going to the doctor

; I am sick. : _____a___B (''w? sh?ngbing le'') ; Painful. : ___B (''tong'') ; Uncomfortable. : _s_____B (''bu sh?fu'') ; Itchy/ticklish. : _y_B(''y?ng'') ; Fever. : ??_B (''f?sh?o'') ; Cough. : _P_u_B (''kesou'') ; Sneeze. : __?__ (''d? p?nti'') ; Diarrhoea. : ?___q/_f___q (''xie duzi/l? duzi'') ; Running nose. : ___@__ (''liu biti'') ; Phlegm. : ___B (''tan'') ; Hands/Arms. : ___B (''sh?u'') ; Fingers. : ___w_B(''sh?uzh?'') ; Wrist. : ___r_B (''sh?uwan'') ; Shoulder. : ___N_B (''ji?nb?ng'') ; Feet. : _r_B (''ji?o'') ; Toes. : _r_w_B (''ji?ozh?'') ; Legs. : ___B (''tu?'') ; Nails. : _w_b_B (''zh?ji?'') ; Body. : _g___B (''sh?nt?'') ; Eyes. : _____B (''y?nj?ng'') ; Ears. : __?_B (''?rduo'') ; Nose. : _@_q_B (''bizi'') ; Face. : ?_B (''li?n'') ; Hair. : ??_B (''touf?'') ; Head. : ?_B (''tou'') ; Neck. : ??/?_q_B (''j?ngxiang''/''bozi'') ; Throat. : _A?_B (''houlong'') ; Chest. : ___B (''xi?ng'') ; Abdomen. : ___q_B (''duzi'') ; Hip/Waist. : ___B (''y?o'') ; Buttocks. : _____B (''pig?'') ; Back. : _w_B (''bei'')

Numbers

Chinese numbers are very regular. While Indo-Arabic (Western) numerals have become more common, the Chinese numerals shown below are still used, particularly in informal contexts like markets. The characters in parentheses are generally used in financial contexts, such as writing cheques and printing banknotes.

; 0 _Z, __ : ling ; 1 __ (__) : y? ; 2 __ (?) : er (? li?ng is used when specifying quantities) ; 3 _O (?) : s?n ; 4 _l (__) : si ; 5 __ (__) : w? ; 6 _Z (?) : liu ; 7 __ (?) : q? ; 8 __ (_J) : b? ; 9 __ (__) : ji? ; 10 _\ (_E) : shi ; 11 _\__ : shi-y? ; 12 _\__ : shi-er ; 13 _\_O : shi-s?n ; 14 _\_l : shi-si ; 15 _\__ : shi-w? ; 16 _\_Z : shi-liu ; 17 _\__ : shi-q? ; 18 _\__ : shi-b? ; 19 _\__ : shi-ji? ; 20 ___\ : er-shi ; 21 ___\__ : er-shi-y? ; 22 ___\__ : er-shi-er ; 23 ___\_O : er-shi-s?n ; 30 _O_\ : s?n-shi ; 40 _l_\ : si-shi ; 50 ___\ : w?-shi ; 60 _Z_\ : liu-shi ; 70 ___\ : q?-shi ; 80 ___\ : b?-shi ; 90 ___\ : ji?-shi

For numbers above 100, any "gaps" must be filled in with _Z ''ling'', as eg. ___S__ ''y?b?iy?'' would otherwise be taken as shorthand for "110". A single unit of tens may be written and pronounced either ___\ ''y?shi'' or just _\ ''shi''.

; 100 ___S (____): y?-b?i ; 101 ___S_Z__ : y?-b?i-ling-y? ; 110 ___S___\ : y?-b?i-y?-shi ; 111 ___S___\__ : y?-b?i-y?-shi-y? ; 200 ___S : er-b?i or ?_S_Fli?ng-b?i ; 300 _O_S : s?n-b?i ; 500 ___S : w?-b?i ; 1000 ____ (____): y?-qi?n ; 2000 ____ : er-qi?n or ?___Fli?ng-qi?n

Numbers above 10,000 are grouped by in units of four digits, starting with __ ''wan'' (ten thousand). "One million" in Chinese is thus "hundred tenthousands" (___S__).

; 10,000 ____ (____): y?-wan ; 10,001 _____Z__ : y?-wan-ling-y? ; 10,002 _____Z__ : y?-wan-ling-er ; 20,000 ____ : er-wan ; 50,000 ____ : w?-wan ; 100,000 _\__ : shi-wan ; 200,000 ___\__ : er-shi-wan ; 1,000,000 ___S__ : y?-b?i-wan ; 10,000,000 ______ : y?-qi?n-wan ; 100,000,000 __? (____) : y?-yi ; 1,000,000,000,000 ____ : y?-zhao ; number _____ (''train, bus, etc.'') : number '''''measure word''''' (_H lu, __ hao, ...) _____ (hu? ch?, g?ng gong qi ch?, etc.) Measure words are used in combination with a number to indicate an amount of mass nouns, similar to how English requires "two ''pieces of'' paper" rather than just "two paper". Read [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/measure_word this] for full details. When in doubt, use __ (ge); even though it may not be correct you will probably be understood because it is the most common measure word. (One person: _____l yi2ge4ren2; two apples: ?______ li?ngge pinggu?; note that two of something always uses ? li?ng rather than __ er). ; half : __ ban ; less than : ____ sh?oyu ; more than : ____ du?yu ; more : _X geng

Time

; now : ?__ xianzai ; later : ___@_C y?hou ''or'' sh?ohou ; before : ___O, y?qian ; morning : ____, z?oshang ; noon: ____, zh?ngw? ; afternoon : ____, xiaw? ; evening/night : ?__, w?nshang ; midnight: ____ banye or ____ (w?ye)

Clock time

; What time is it? : ?___{___H Xianzai j? di?n? ; It is nine in the morning. : ____9__?_B Z?oshang j?u di?n zh?ng. ; Three-thirty PM. : ____3____. Xiaw? s?n di?n ban. ; 4:38 PM. ____3__38__ (xiaw? s?ndi?n s?nshib? f?n).

Duration

; _____ minute(s) : _____ __? f?nzh?ng ; _____ hour(s) : _____ __? xi?oshi ; _____ day(s) : _____ _V ti?n ; _____ week(s) : _____ ____ x?ngq? ; _____ month(s) : _____ __ yue ; _____ year(s) : _____ _N nian

Days

; today : ___V j?nti?n ; yesterday : ___V zuoti?n ; the day before yesterday: _O_Vqi?nti?n ; tomorrow : ___V mingti?n ; the day after tomorrow: _@_V houti?n

; this week : ?______ zhege x?ngq? ; last week : ________ shangge x?ngq? ; next week : ________ xiage x?ngq?

Weekdays in Chinese are easy: starting with 1 for Monday, just add the number after ____ x?ngq?. In Taiwan, ____ is pronounced x?ngqi (second tone on the second syllable).

; Sunday : _____V x?ngq?ti?n ''or'' x?ngq?ri (______) ; Monday : ______ x?ngq?y? ; Tuesday : ______ x?ngq?er ; Wednesday : _____O x?ngq?s?n ; Thursday : _____l x?ngq?si ; Friday : ______ x?ngq?w? ; Saturday : _____Z x?ngq?liu

____ can also be replaced with ___` l?bai and occasionally __ zh?u.

Months

Months in Chinese are also easy: starting with 1 for January, just add the number before __ yue.

; January : ____, y? yue ; February : ____, er yue ; March : _O__, s?n yue ; April : _l__, si yue ; May : ____, w? yue ; June : _Z__, liu yue ; July : ____, q? yue ; August : ____, b? yue ; September : ____, ji? yue ; October : _\__, shi yue ; November : _\____, shi y? yue ; December : _\____, shi er yue ; 13th month_F_\_O__, shi-s?n yue (occasionally added as a leap month in the Lunar Calendar)

''Tips: From January to December, you just need to use this pattern: number (1-12) + yue''

Writing Dates

If you are attempting to name a date in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, add the words _e??_f before the name of the month to distinguish it from the months of the solar calendar, although it is not strictly necessary. There are some differences: The words __(ri)/ __(hao) are generally not required when stating dates in the lunar calendar; it is assumed. Besides that, the 1st Month is called ____ (zhengyue). If the number of the day is less than 11, the word __ is used before the value of the day. Besides that, if the value of the day is more than 20, the word __ (nian) is used, so the 23rd day is ___O for example.

;15th day of the 8th lunar month (the mid-autumn festival): (??)_____\__ ( (nongli) b?yue shi-w?). ;1st day of the 1st lunar month: (??)________ ( (nongli) zhengyue ch?y?). ; 23rd day of the 9th lunar month: ( ??) _______O ( (nongli) ji? yue nians?n). }}

When writing the date, you name the month ''(number (1-12) + yue)'', before inserting the day ''(number (1-31) + __(ri)/ __(hao) )''. Note that the usage of __(hao), which is more often used in spoken language, is more colloquial than that of __(ri), which is more often used in written documents.

;6th January: _____Z__ (y? yue liu hao) or _____Z__ (y? yue liu ri) ;25th December: _\_______\____ (shi-er yue er-shi-w? hao)

Colours

; black : _K_F h?i se ; white : ___F bai se ; grey : _D_F hu? se ; red : ?_F hong se ; blue : ?_F lan se ; yellow : ___F huang se ; green : ?_F l? se ; orange : ___F cheng se ; purple : ___F z? se ; brown : ___F he se, ___F z?ng se, ; Do you have it in another colour? : ??_L_v_L?_O?_F? n?men y?u meiy?u lingwai yanse ?

''Tips: se means 'colour', therefore, 'hong se' is 'red colour'(literally).'' More common for brown and easier to remmember is 'coffee colour': ??_F k? f?i se

Transportation

Bus and Train

; How much is a ticket to _____? : _________I_[____? qu _____ de piao du? sh?o qian? ; Do you go to... (the central station)? : ___s__... (__?__) qu bu qu... (hu? ch? zhan)

Directions

; How do I get to _____ ? : __?_______ z?nme qu _____? ; ...the train station? : ...__?__? ...hu?ch? zhan? ; ...the bus station? : ..._D??__? ...qich? z?ngzhan? ; ...the airport? : ...__?? ...j? ch?ng?

; street : _X ji?; _H lu

; Turn left. : __??_^ zu?bi?n zhu?nw?n/____zu?gu?i ; Turn right. : _E??_^ youbi?n zhu?nw?n/_E__yougu?i ; Go straight: ______ yizhiz?u ; I've reached my destination: ____daole ; U-turn: _{ ? diaotou ; Taxi driver: ?__ sh?fu ; Please use the meter machine: ?___\ q?ng d?bi?o ; Please turn up the aircon/heater: ?__??_____X_B q?ng k?ngtiao k?i dadi?n(r)

; left : __? zu?bi?n ; right : _E? youbi?n ; straight ahead : ___O__ w?ngqian z?u ; north : _k b?i ; south : __ nan ; east : ? d?ng ; west : __ x?

Taxi

; Taxi _o_d? ch? z? ch? ; Take me to _____, please. : ??________B q?ng k?idao ______B

Lodging

; ____ : Entrance [ruk?u] ; _o__ : Exit [ch?k?u] ; __ : Push [tu?] ; _f : Pull [l?] ; ?__ / ____? : Toilet [cesu?] / [x?sh?uji?n] ; _j : Men [nan] ; __ : Women [n?] ; ___~ : Forbidden [jinzh?] ; _z_| : Smoking [x?y?n]}}

; Do you have any rooms available? : ??_L_[??_H N?men y?u fangji?n ma? ; Does the room come with... : _L_v_L... Y?u meiy?u... ; ...bedsheets? : ...__?_H ...chuangd?n? ; ...a bathroom? : ..._____H ...yushi? ; ...a telephone? : ...??_H ...dianhua? ; ...a TV? : ...??_H ...dianshi ? ; I will stay for _____ night(s). : _____Z_Z________B W? d?suan zhu _____ ye. ; Do you have a safe? : ??_L_v_L__?___H N?men y?u meiy?u b?oxi?n xi?ng? ; Can you wake me at _____? : ?___V________________B Q?ng mingti?n z?oshang _____ jiaox?ng w?. ; I want to check out. : __?___v___B W? xianzai yao z?u.

Money

; pay: _t fu ; cash: ?? xian qian ; credit card: _M_p? xin yong k? ; cheque: _x_[_@zh?piao

Eating

;d?ng: __ (cubed/diced) ;pian: __ (thinly sliced) ;s?: ? (shredded) ;kuai: ? (chunk/cut into bite-sized pieces) ;qiu: __ (curled) ;ch?o: _u (stir-fried) ;zha or zha: _y (deep-fried) ;k?o: ? (dry-roasted) ;sh?o: ? (roasted w/ sauce)}} ; Can I look at the menu, please? : ??________?. q?ng g?i w? kankan caid?n. ; Do you have an English menu? : ?_L_v_L_p____?_H n? y?u mei y?u y?ngwen caid?n? (Listen for... Yes, we have one. : _L y?u - No, we don't. : _v_L mei y?u) ; I'm a vegetarian : ___h_f_I w? ch? su de ; breakfast : __? z?ofan or ___` z?oc?n ; lunch : __? w?fan ''or'' zh?ngfan or ___` w?c?n ; supper : ?? w?nfan or ?_` w?nc?n ; beef : ____ niurou ; pork: ____ zh?rou_Cor sometimes simply '__' rou. ; mutton: _r__ yangrou ; chicken: ? j? ; fish: ? yu ; cheese : ?__ n?ilao ; eggs : ?_` j?dan ; bread : ____ mianb?o ; noodles : ____ miantiao ; fried rice: _u? ch?ofan ; dumpling: ?_q ji?ozi ; rice : __? m?fan ; coffee : ?? k?f?i : black coffee: _K?? h?i k?f?i ; milk: __? niun?i ; sugar: __ tang ; tea (''drink'') : __ cha ; green tea: ?__ l? cha ; scented tea: ____ hu?cha ; black tea: ?__ hongcha ; juice : (__)___` (shu?)gu?zh?, literally 'fruit juice'. ; water : __ shu? ; natural mineral water: ?____ kuangquan shu? ; beer : ?__ piji? ; red/white wine : ?/__ ____ __ hong/bai putao ji? ; It was delicious. : _D_h?___B h?och? ji le ; The check, please. : ???_B q?ng jiezhang

Bars

; Do you serve alcohol? : ?_s?___H ('' maibu maiji??'') ; Is there table service? : _L_v_L_`?__?_H (''y?u meiy?u c?nzhu? fuwu?'') ; A beer/two beers, please. : ??_____t/?_t?___B (''q?ng g?iw? yib?i/li?ngb?i piji?'') ; A glass of red/white wine, please. : ??_____t?/_________B (''q?ng g?i w? yib?i hong/bai putaoji?'') ; A pint, please. : ??_____i_E_B (''q?ng g?i w? yip?ntu?'') ; A bottle, please. : ??_____r_B (''q?ng g?i w? yiping'') ; _____ (''hard liquor'') and _____ (''mixer''), please. : ??________a______B (''q?ng g?i w? _____ he _____'') ; whiskey : ___m__ (''w?ishiji'') ; vodka : ______ (''futeji?'') ; rum : ?_G__ (''lanm?ji?'') ; water : __ (''shu?'') ; mineral spring (i.e. bottled) water : ?____ (kuangquanshu?) ; boiled water: ?__ (k?ishu?) ; club soda : ?____ (s?d?shu?) ; tonic water : __?__ (t?ngningshu?) ; orange juice : _____` _ili?chengzh?) ; Coke (''soda'') : __? (''k?le'') ; Do you have any bar snacks? : _L_v_L?_i___S_H (''y?u meiy?u b?tai di?nx?n?'') ; One more, please. : ?__?_______B (q?ng zai g?i w? yige') ; Another round, please. : ?______?_B (q?ng zailai yilun) ; When is closing time? : _{____?_A??_H (j?di?n d?yang/gu?nmen?) ; Where is the toilet? : ?____?__ (''cesu? zai n?li?'') ; Where is the washingroom? : ____?__?_X_H_i''x?sh?uji?nzain?r?''_j

Shopping

; Do you have this in my size? : _L_v_L___I_____H (''y?u meiy?u w?de ch?cun?'') ; How much is this? : ?______?_H (''zhege du?sh?o qian?'') ; That's too expensive. : __?___B (''tai gui le'') ; Would you take _____? : ___________?_H (''_____ yuan k?y? ma?'') ; expensive : ? (''gui'') ; cheap : ___X (''pianyi'') ; I can't afford it. : __?_I?_s?_B (''w? dai de qian bugou'') ; I don't want it. : ___s_v_B (''w? bu yao'') ; You're cheating me. : ?_\?___B (''n? q?pian w?'') '''Use with caution!''' ; I'm not interested. : ___v_L?___B (''w? meiy?u xingqu'') ; OK, I'll take it. : ___v??___B (''w? yao m?i zhege'') ; Please provide me with a carrier-bag. : ??_____q_B (''q?ng g?i w? daizi'') ; Do you ship (overseas)? : ____?_____C_O?_H (''k?y? youji dao h?iwai ma?'') ; I need... : ___v_____ (''w? yao _____'') ; ...toothpaste. : ___p (''yag?o'') ; ...a toothbrush. : ____ (''yashu?'') ; ...tampons. : ?______ (''weish?ng miantiao'') ; ...soap. : ___p (''feizao'') ; ...shampoo. : __?__ (''x?faj?ng'') ; ...pain reliever. (''e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen'') : ?__? (''zhentongji'') ; ...cold medicine. : ___`? (''g?nmao yao'') ; ...stomach medicine. : __?? (''weichang yao'') ; ...a razor. : ____ (''tid?o'') ; ...an umbrella. : _J? (''y?s?n'') ; ...sunblock lotion. : _h_N__ (''fangshaiyou'') ; ...a postcard. : ___M__ (''mingxinpian'') ; ...postage stamps. : ?_[ (''youpiao'') ; ...batteries. : ?_r (''dianchi'') ; ...writing paper. : ? (''zh?'') ; ...a pen. : ? (''b?'') ; ...a pencil. : ?? (''qi?nb?'') ; ...glasses. : __? (''y?njing'') ; ...English-language books. : _p__? (''Y?ngwen sh?'') ; ...English-language magazines. : _p__?_u (''Y?ngwen zazhi'') ; ...an English-language newspaper. : _p__?? (''Y?ngwen baozh?'') ; ...a Chinese-English dictionary. : ?_p?_T (''Han-Y?ng cidi?n'') ; ...an English-Chinese dictionary. : _p??_T (''Y?ng-Han cidi?n'')

Driving

; I want to rent a car. : ___z_v_d?_B (''w? xi?ngyao z?ch?'') ; Can I get insurance? : ______?__??_H (''w? k?y? m?i b?oxi?n ma?'') ; stop (''on a street sign'') : __ (''ting'') ; one way : ?_s__ (''d?nxingdao'') ; yield : ?_H (''ranglu'') ; no parking : ___~__? (''jinzh? tingch?'') ; speed limit : ___x____ (''sudu xianzhi'') ; gas (''petrol'') station : ______ (''ji?youzhan'') ; petrol : _D__ (''qiyou'') ; diesel : ____ (''chaiyou'')

Authority

; I haven't done anything wrong. : ___v_L__?___B (''w? meiy?u zuocuo shi'') ; It was a misunderstanding. : ?__?___B (''zhe shi wuhui'') ; Where are you taking me? : ??____?___H (''n? dai w? qu n?l??'') ; Am I under arrest? : ________?_H (''w? beib?le ma?'') ; I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen. : ____ ____/_S_F/_p__/___\__ _____B (''w? shi m?iguo/aozh?u/y?ngguo/ji?nada g?ngmin'') ; I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate. : _____]__ ____/_S_F/_p__/___\__ _I ___g?/?__? ?_n_B (''w? x?wang g?n m?iguo/aozh?u/y?ngguo/ji?nada de dash?gu?n/l?ngshigu?n lianxi'') ; I want to talk to a lawyer. : _____]____??_n_B (''w? x?wang g?n l?sh? lianxi'') ; Can I just pay a fine now? : _______x_t?__?_H (''w? k?y? zh? fu faku?n ma?'')

Telephone & Internet

In most Chinese cities telephone booths don't exist. Instead, small street shops have telephones which can usually be used for national calls and cost around 0.6RMB for a city-call. Look for signs like : ___p?? Public Telephone Don't go online in hotels since most common cafes are cheaper. Usually you pay 10RMB in advance for a card. Prices per hour from 1RMB to 4RMB. Those cafes are quite hidden sometimes and you should look for the following Chinese characters: : __? Internet Cafe}}

; Can I make international calls here? : ________????? (''k?y? d? guoji dianhua ma?'') ; How much is it to America/Australia/Britain/Canada? : __? ____/_S_F/_p__/___\__ ______?? (''d?g?i m?iguo/aozh?u/y?ngguo/ji?nada shi du?sh?o qian?) ; Where can I find an Internet cafe? : ?___L__?? (''n?l? y?u w?ng ba?'') ; How much is it per hour? : ____?______?? (''y? xi?oshi shi du?sh?o qian?'')

Learning more

Chinese is the most spoken language of the world, in the sense that it has the most ''native'' speakers of any language, more than the next two, Hindi and Spanish, combined. Due to China's economic growth and globalisation, more and more students in the western world are quickly taking up language to open opportunities to working in China. Be part of the new 'cultural wave' sweeping across the world!

Advice: The first step is to learn to properly read the romanization or 'hany? p?ny?n' with tones! There are still many sites with small Chinese phrase chapters which do not indicate the Mandarin tones needed. For simple sentences, one ''may'' be able to get away without tones, but this can cause confusion in more complex situations, so tones are '''very''' important. A classic example is the difference between the Chinese characters for "four" (_l, si) and "death" (__, s?), different only by tones. A good idea for practicing is to make Chinese friends online since millions of young people in China also look for somebody to practice English with.

  • [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chinese_%28Mandarin%29 Chinese (Wikibooks.org)]: Free lessons providing detailed grammar explanations, audio samples and stroke order animations.
  • [http://www.digitaldialects.com/Chinese.htm Digital Dialects Chinese]: Interactive games for learning Chinese in both Pinyin and simplified characters.
  • [http://www.zhongwenred.com ZhongWen Red]: Free basic online Mandarin tutorials with audio.
  • [http://www.chinese-course.com Chinese Flashcards]: Annotated Texts, Flashcards, Multiple choice tests
  • [http://www.mandarintoplist.com Mandarin Toplist]: List of the major Mandarin instructional websites with short reviews