The Chinese language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages and uses characters which are ideographic – a symbol is used to represent an idea or an object. Mandarin Chinese, known as Putonghua in mainland China, is fairly straightforward as each character is monosyllabic. Traditionally, Chinese is written in vertical columns from top right to bottom left, however the Western style is widely used. There are several Romanization systems; the Pinyin system used here is the official system in mainland China. This phrase book gives the English word or phrase, followed by the Chinese script, then the Pinyin.
Pronounce vowels as in these English words:
a = as in “father”
e = as in “lurch”
i = as in “see”
o = as in “solid”
u = as in “pooh”
ü = as the French u or German ü (place your lips to say “oo” and try to say “ee”)
Most of the consonants are pronounced as in English. As a rough guide, pronounce the following consonants as in these English words:
c = as ts in “hats”
q = as ch in “cheat”
x = as sh in “sheet”
z = as ds in “heads”
zh = as j in “Joe”
Mandarin Chinese is a tonal language with four tones, represented in Pinyin by one of the following marks above each vowel – the symbol shows whether the tone is flat, rising, falling and rising, or falling. The Chinese characters do not convey this information: tones are learnt when the character is learnt. Teaching tones is beyond the scope of this small phrase book, but a language course book with a CD or app will help those who wish to take the language farther.
There are many Chinese dialects in use. It is hard to guess exactly how many, but they can be roughly classified into one of seven large groups (Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, Hui, etc.), each group containing a large number of more minor dialects. Although all these dialects are quite different – Cantonese uses six tones instead of four – Mandarin or Putonghua, which is mainly based on the Beijing dialect, is the official language. Despite these differences all Chinese people are more or less able to use the same formal written language so they can understand each other’s writing, if not each other’s speech.
Help! | Qing bangmang | |
Stop! | Ting zhu | |
Call a doctor! | Jiao yisheng | |
Call an ambulance! | Jiao jiuhuche | |
Call the police! | Jiao jiingcha | |
Fire! | Huo | |
Where is the hospital/police station? | Yiyuan/jingcha fenju zai nali ? |
Hello | Nihao | |
Goodbye | Zaijian | |
Yes/No | Shi/Bushi | |
… not … | bushi | |
I’m from… | Wo shi ... ren | |
I understand | Wo mingbai | |
I don’t know | Wo bu zhidao | |
Thank you | Xiexie ni | |
Thank you very much | Duo xie | |
Thanks (casual) | Xiexie | |
You’re welcome | Bu yong xie | |
No, thank you | Bu, xiexie ni | |
Please (offering) | Qing | |
Please (asking) | Qing wen | |
I don’t understand | Wo Bu mingbai | |
Sorry/Excuse me! | Baoqian/Duibuqi | |
Could you help me please? (not emergency) | Ni neng bang zhu wo ma? |
My name is …. | Wo jiao ... | |
Goodbye | Zaijian | |
What is (this)? | (zhe) shi shenme? | |
Could I possibly have ...? | Neng buneng qing ni gei | |
(very polite) Is there … here? | wo ...? Zhe’r you ... ma? | |
Where can I get ...? | Wo zai na li keyi de dao ...? | |
How much is it? | Ta yao duoshao qian? | |
What time is …? | ... shenme shijian? | |
Cheers! (toast) | Ganbei! | |
Where is the restroom/toilet? | Weishengjian/Xishoujian zai nali? |
open | kai | |
closed | guan | |
entrance | renkou | |
exit | chukou | |
danger | weixian | |
emergency exit | anquanmen | |
information | xinxi | |
restroom | Weishengjian/ | |
toilet | Xishoujian | |
men | nanshi | |
women | nüshi |
bank | yinhang | |
cash | xianjin | |
credit card | xinyongka | |
currency exchange office | waihui duihuanchu | |
dollars | meiyuan | |
pounds | yingbang | |
yuan | yuan |
Where is a telephone? | Dianhua zai nali? | |
May I use your phone? | Wo keyi yong nide dianhua ma? | |
cell phone | shouji | |
sim card | sim ka | |
Hello, this is ... | Nihao, wo shi... | |
airmail | hangkong | |
dianzi youjian | ||
fax | chuanzhen | |
Internet | hulianwang | |
postcard | mingxinpian | |
post office | youju | |
stamp | youpiao | |
telephone card | dianhua ka |
Where can I buy ...? | Wo keyi zai nali maidao ...? | |
How much does this cost? | Zhe yao duo-shao qian? | |
Too expensive! | Tai gui le! | |
Do you have ...? | Ni you … ma? | |
May I try this on? | Wo keyi shi chuan ma? | |
Please show me that. | Qing gei wo kankan na ge. |
Where is ...? | ... zai nali? | |
How do I get to ...? | Wo zenme dao ...? | |
Is it far? | Yuan bu yuan? | |
bridge | qiao | |
city | chengshi | |
city center | shi zhongxin | |
gardens | huayuan | |
mountain | shan | |
museum | bowuguan | |
palace | gongdian | |
park | gongyuan | |
port | gangkou | |
river | jiang, he | |
ruins | feixu | |
shopping area | gouwu qu | |
shrine | shendian | |
street | jie | |
temple | si/miao | |
town | zhen | |
village | cun | |
zoo | dongwuyuan | |
north | bei | |
south | nan | |
east | dong | |
west | xi | |
left/right | zuo/you | |
straight ahead | yizhi xiangqian |
airport | jichang | |
bicycle | zixingche | |
I want to rent a bicycle. | Wo xiang zu yiliang zixingche. | |
ordinary bus | gonggong qiche | |
express bus | tekuai gong-gong qiche | |
minibus | mianbaoche | |
main bus station | gonggong qiche zong zhan | |
Which bus goes to …? | Nayilu gong-gong qiche dao ... qu? | |
Please tell me where to get off. | Qing gaosu wo zai nali xia che. | |
car | xiaoqiche | |
ferry | duchuan | |
baggage room | xingli shi | |
one-way ticket | dancheng piao | |
return ticket | wangfan piao | |
taxi | chuzuche | |
ticket | piao | |
ticket office | shoupiao chu | |
timetable | shikebiao |
air-conditioning | kongtiao | |
bath | xizao | |
check out | tui fang | |
deposit | dingjin | |
double bed | shuangren chuang | |
hair dryer | chuifeng ji | |
room | fangjian | |
economy room | jingji fang | |
key | yaoshi | |
front desk | qiantai | |
single/ | danren/ | |
twin room | shuangren fang | |
single beds | danren chuang | |
shower | linyu | |
standard room | biaozhun fangjian | |
deluxe suite | haohua taofang |
May I see the menu? | Qing gei wo kankan caidan? | |
Is there a set menu? | You meiyou taocan? | |
I’d like …. | Wo xiang yao... | |
May I have one of those? | Qing gei wo zhege? | |
I am a vegetarian. | Wo shi sushizhe. | |
Waiter/Waitress! | Fuwuyuan! | |
May I have a fork/knife/spoon | Qing gei wo yiba cha/dao/tangshi | |
May we have the check please. | Qing ba zhangdan kaigei women. | |
breakfast | zaocan | |
buffet | zizhucan | |
chopsticks | kuaizi | |
dinner | wancan | |
to drink | he | |
to eat | chi | |
food | shipin | |
full (stomach) | bao | |
hot/cold | re/leng | |
hungry | e | |
lunch | wucan | |
set menu | taocan | |
spicy | suan la | |
hot (spicy) | la | |
sweet | tian | |
mild | dan | |
Western food | xi can | |
restaurant | canguan | |
restaurant (upscale) | fandian |
apple | pingguo | |
bacon | xianrou | |
bamboo shoots | sun | |
beancurd | doufu | |
bean sprouts | dou ya | |
beans | dou | |
beef | niurou | |
bread | mianbao | |
butter | huangyou | |
chicken | ji | |
crab | xie | |
duck | ya | |
eel | man | |
egg | dan | |
eggplant | qiezi | |
fermented soybean paste | jiang | |
fish | yu | |
fried egg | chao dan | |
fried tofu | you doufuu | |
fruit | shuiguo | |
ginger | jiang | |
ice cream | bingqilin | |
meat | rou | |
melon | gua | |
noodles | mian | |
egg noodles | jidan mian | |
wheat flour noodles | mianfen mian | |
rice flour noodles | mifen mian | |
omelet | jiandanbing | |
onion | yangcong | |
peach | taozi | |
pepper | hujiaofen, lajiao | |
pickles | paocai | |
pork | zhurou | |
potato | tudou | |
rice | mifan | |
rice crackers | baomihua bing’gan | |
salad | sala | |
salmon | guiyu, damahayu | |
salt | yan | |
scallion | jiucong | |
seaweed | haidai | |
shrimp | xia | |
soup | tang | |
soy sauce | jiangyou | |
squid | youyu | |
steak | niupai | |
sugar | tang | |
vegetables | shucai | |
yoghurt | suannai |
beer | pijiu | |
black tea | hong cha | |
coffee (hot) | (re) kafei | |
fruit juice | guo zhi | |
rice wine | mi jiu | |
green tea | lü cha | |
iced coffee | bing kafei | |
milk | niunai | |
mineral water | kuang quanshui | |
orange juice | cheng zhi | |
wine | putaojiu |
0 | ling | |
1 | yi | |
2 | er | |
3 | san | |
4 | si | |
5 | wu | |
6 | liu | |
7 | qi | |
8 | ba | |
9 | jiu | |
10 | shi | |
11 | shiyi | |
12 | shier | |
20 | ershi | |
21 | ershi yi | |
22 | ershi er | |
30 | sanshi | |
40 | sishi | |
100 | yi bai | |
101 | yi bai ling yi | |
200 | er bai |
Monday | xingqiyi | |
Tuesday | xingqi’er | |
Wednesday | xingqisan | |
Thursday | xingqisi | |
Friday | xingqiwu | |
Saturday | xingqiliu | |
Sunday | xingqitian | |
today | jintian | |
yesterday | zuotian | |
tomorrow | mingtian |
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