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Mandarin Characters of the week

ChineseSpeaker

Ok, so i'm going to start the above, and hopefully it'll be made into a sticky...
so here goes, the first few characters for this week...

note - Since most characters have many meanings, im not going to put them all here. just the main meanings.

我 wǒ - I, me; 我们 wǒmen - we

可以 kěyǐ - 1) can; may;
2) passable; pretty good; not bad; be worth (doing)

会 huì - 1) can; be able to | Wǒ huì yòng kuàizi. I can use chopsticks
2) get together; assemble 3) meet; see

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ChineseSpeaker

他 tā ①he ②she ③it ④they (referring to inanimate things in object position)
他们 tāmen ①they ②and the others

决定 juédìng (verb) ①decide; resolve; make up one's mind

喜欢 xǐhuan (verb) ①like; love; be fond of
②be happy/elated/delighted

davros

Thanks, ChineseSpeaker! 谢谢你!

I'll be following this as long as it continues.

nij

Damn why is this board so dead? I think it would be great if more people started learning Mandarin! I started a few years ago but I didn't give it much time...

Wo keyi yong xingyongka ma? Hehe - I remember that one from linguaphone. "Can I use a credit card?" LOL uhh let's see...

Buyao! - "Are sure you don't need to!"

Weishenme? - "Why?"

Mar tá...umm...yinwei....uhh..jiangw... ah crap i better stop now before I make a bigger fool of myself!

ChineseSpeaker

Sorry about the lack of postings...i'll keep it more regular from now on

去 qù v ①go; go to; leave; depart ②get rid of; remove; cast out - qu nǐ de! Get lost!

来 lái v. ①come; arrive

More uses of Lai - [lái] come; 起来 (qi(3)lai) get up; 原来 (yuan(2)lai) it turns out

足球 zúqiú n. 〈sport〉 football; soccer

踢 [tī] kick; 踢足球 play football

ChineseSpeaker

Just a quick word on tones

There are four tones in Chinese

The 1st tone 一 [yī] (one)

The 2nd tone 姨 [yí] (aunt (mother's sister))

The 3rd tone 椅 [yǐ] ((椅子 yǐzi) chair)

The 4th tone 亿 [yì] (100 million)

Tones differentiate the meaning. A word has a different meaning when pronounced in different tones as in the example above with yi.

The tones, in pinyin (not characters) are indicated by tone marks as shown above. These tone marks are written over the main vowel in the word.
1st - high and level tone
2nd - rising tone
3rd - falling-rising tone
4th - falling tone (sharp sound)

ChineseSpeaker

Thanks for the input wij. I'll build on a few of yours...

为什么 wèishénme - why?; why is it that?

因为 yīnwèi - because; for; on account of

所以 suǒyǐ - so; therefore; as a result

ChineseSpeaker

要 yào - want; will

说 shuō v. - speak; talk

在 zài v. - be at/in/on

什么 shénme pr. ①what? | Nǐ zài shuō shénme? - What are you talking about?

kwalsh000

Great idea chinesespeaker. I will be following this aswell, ive been studying mandarin on and off for a while but i will have to start getting back into it properly.

ChineseSpeaker

glad you guys are finding it useful...

对 duì - correct; yes; (This is usually used as an affirmative response to a question as in 'Yes, you are right'.)

Another common word 对 duì is used in
对不起 - (duìbuqǐ) excuse me.

不好意思 bù hǎoyìsi s.v. - Sorry (when you're embarrassed about something or made a mistake).

这 [zhè] - this

怎么 zěnme adv. - how?

ChineseSpeaker

意思 yìsin. ①meaning; idea ②opinion; wish; desire

是 shì v. ①be ②matter; affair

你 [nǐ] - you; 你们 nǐmen you (plural)
他 [tā] - he, him; 他们 them
她 [tā] - she, her; it; 她们 them
的 [de] - This is just a grammar particle that joins sentences together...examples below....

我的 wǒde - mine,
你的 nǐde - yours,

with 意思 yìsi above
Wǒ de yìsi shì shuō - I mean to say
Nǐ de yìsi ne? - OR - Nǐ de yìsi shì shénme? - What's your opinion?

rivers

good stuff ChineseSpeaker...

ChineseSpeaker

好 hǎo - good，well

你好 nǐhǎo - Hello.

你好吗? nǐhǎo ma? - How are you?

谁 [shuí] [shéi] - who : shéi lái le? Who came?

哪儿 nǎr - where : nǐ shàng nǎr?你上哪儿? where are you going?

nij

Is the 'ni' in nihao not the rising tone?

rivers

Do you mean is 'ni' a rising tone because it's before a third tone?
i think it is, but i don't think in writing its is represented...

davros

Right, when two third tones come together the first becomes second tone. This change is not reproduced in written pinyin, however; you just need to remember the rule when reading the words aloud.

ChineseSpeaker

叫 jiào ①to be called ②call; greet

名字 míngzi - name

你叫什么名字? nǐ jiào shénme míngzi? What's your name?

您 nín you (polite - usually used with elders instead of nǐ 你)
贵姓 guìxìng - (May I ask) your family name?
nín guìxìng? - May i ask your family name? (polite)

Ideo

i'm liking this a lot chinese speaker - keep up the good work!

ChineseSpeaker

In a restaurant...

饭店 fàndiàn - restaurant
饭馆 fànguǎn - restaurant
菜单 càidān - menu
菜 cài - vegetable; dish - this is the same 'cài' in 'càidān'
好吃 hǎochī - good to eat; tasty
请问 qǐngwèn - Excuse me, may I ask...?
等一下 děng yīxià - wait a little while, wait a moment
等一会儿 děng yīhuìr - ①wait a little while ②after a little while
点菜 diǎncài - choose dishes from a menu; order dishes
还可以 hái kěyǐ- not bad; passable
不错 bùcuò - correct, right, good

qǐngwèn, yǒu càidān ma? - Excuse me, do you have a menu?
yǒu de, qǐng děng yīxià - Yes we do, please wait a moment
hǎo de, xièxie - ok, thanks

wǒ xiànzài xiǎng diǎncài - I would like to order now.

hǎochī ma? Is it tasty? does it taste good?
hěn hǎochī, nǐ ne? - very tasty, and yours?
hái kěyǐ - not bad; passable

mǎidān - the bill please
duōshao qián? How much?

MsGu

Hello!

It is not so polite putting these three in my first post, but it is very very popular in daily conversation.

有毛病！(you 3 mao 2 bing 4),
it can be translated as weird. And when you feel even more unhappy with someone, you could also say:

神经病!! （shen 2 jing 1 bing 4)
That means weird, mad and crazy. If you can't stand this person anymore, say:

去死吧！！！（qu 4 si 3 ba)
This means go to the hell.

All of these three are NOT recommended when you are talking with strangers.

ChineseSpeaker, how did you put the tone on PinYing? I don't know how to do that so I put number 1,2,3,4 instead of Yi sheng, er sheng, san sheng , si sheng.

Have a nice day!
MsGu

armada104

I've just found this thread ChineseSpeaker, and it's very helpful. I intend to follow it from now on, if you're going to continue. So thanks.

ChineseSpeaker

圣诞节 Shèngdànjié - Christmas
快乐 kuàilè - happy; cheerful
圣诞节快乐 Shèngdànjié kuài lè - Happy xmas
圣诞树 Shèngdànshù - Christmas tree

期盼 qīpàn - expect; await; look forward to
家人 jiārén - family members
亲戚 qīnqi - relatives
礼物 lǐwù - gift; present
得到 dédào - gain; receive
所有 suǒyǒu - all; every
将 jiāng - shall

我期盼这圣诞节因为, 我所有的家人都将在家
wǒ qīpàn zhè Shèngdànjié yīnwèi wǒ suǒyǒu de jiārén dōu jiāng zài jiā.
I'm looking forward to Xmas because my entire family will be at home.
我从我父母那得到
wǒ cóng wǒ fùmǔ nà dédào ____.
I received _______ from my parents.

DEmeant0r

Hi, stickified now. Thanks for doing this ChineseSpeaker.

ChineseSpeaker

Hey everyone who's interested. Sorry about the long delay in getting new posts but ill make up for it this week with a few...

ChineseSpeaker

国家 guójiā - country; state; nation
老家 lǎojiā - hometown, native place; old home
哪儿 nǎr - where
生在 shēngzài - to be born
长大 zhǎngdà - grow up; mature
第一次 dì-yī cì - first time
第二次 dì-èr cì - second time
第五次 dì-wǔ cì - fifth time
到 dào - to, towards, until
来 lái - come

你是哪个国家的? nǐ shì nǎge guójiā de? - Which country are you from?
你的老家在哪儿? nǐ de lǎojiā zài nǎr? - Where is your hometown?
我生在爱尔兰,但是我是在美国长大的 - wǒ shēngzài Ài'ěrlán, dànshì wǒ shì zài Měiguó zhǎngdà de - I was born in Ireland, but i grew up in America.
这是你第一次到中国来吗? zhè shì nǐ dì-yī cì dào Zhōngguó lái ma? - Is this your first time to come to China?

以前 yǐqián - before; formerly; previously
过 - guò - indicating completion of an action / that an action has taken place, but does not continue up to the present. - 你看过吗? nǐ kàn guò ma? Did you see it before? 我看过 - wǒ kàn guò - I saw it before.

不是, 我来过一次 - búshì, wǒ lái guò yī cì - No, i;ve been here before.
我以前北京学中文 - I studied Chinese in Beijing before.

ChineseSpeaker

中国 Zhōngguó - China
多久 duōjiǔ - how long?
年 nián - year
半 bàn - half
生活 shēnghuó - life; existence
习惯 xíguàn - to be used to； habit; custom
差不多 chàbuduō - almost; about
有点 yǒudiǎn - some; a little
想家 xiǎngjiā - be homesick
想念 xiǎngniàn - to miss alot
想 xiǎng - miss, think, feel, consider
就是 jiùshì - to be, it's just
父母 fùmǔ - parents

你来中国多久了 - nǐ lái Zhōngguó duōjiǔ le？- How long have you been in China?
一年半了 yīnián bàn le - A year and a half
这里的生活习惯吗? zhèlǐ de shēnghuó xíguàn ma? - Are you used to life here?
差不多习惯了 - chàbuduō xíguàn le - I'm pretty much used to it.
就是有点想家了 - jiùshì yǒudiǎn xiǎngjiā le - It's just that i'm a little homesick.
我很想念我的父母 - wǒ hěn xiǎngniàn wǒ de fùmǔ / 女朋友 nǚpéngyou - I miss my parents / girlfriend alot.

~Candy~

this is hard for beginners i d say ,
its like there is no relationship between the pinyin and the actual words um mm:pac: but good job~~ Chinese is a awesome lanuage, i d wish to learn more

Cully

nij wrote: »

Is the 'ni' in nihao not the rising tone?

Ni (you) and Wo (I) are both the 3rd tone... You have to fall a little before rising your tone.

When speaking two 3rd tones in a row, the first one generally sounds like the 2nd tone.

厕所 [cè suǒ] - toilet; This is actually pronounced more like "Tsuh soo-oh".

One thing to note is that when you go to china, you will see many different signs for toilet. The key thing to look for is if it's male or female...

Take "he" and "she" for example...
他 [tā] - he, him; 他们 them
她 [tā] - she, her; it; 她们 them
See the part on the left? that is called a 'radical'.. There is one for male (人, but actually looks like the left bit on the "he" above) and female... (女 = woman)

It's worth noting that if you see these two radicals that it's quite often to do with male/female... Especially the female radical. The problem is that.

When saying tā as him or her it sounds exactly the same and you know if it's he or she from context, but written down you'll know exactly. If you encounter native chinese speakers in ireland, you will probably notice that a common mistake they make is with genders... They say stuff like "My mother... He is chinese".. This is the reason why, and as a learner of chinese, you should be aware of it.

ChineseSpeaker wrote: »

饭店 [fàndiàn] - restaurant

饭店 [fàndiàn] is generally used as "restaurant" in china as the two characters stand for 'food' 'shop', but officially this word means "Hotel".

餐馆 [cān guǎn] is the official word for "restaurant", but if you actually go to China, you will see both. It's worth noting as you will need a hotel if going to china. Also, the dictionary might confuse you.

4diarmuid

This is a very helpful list of phrases for a beginner. Keep up the good work and the additional information which is particularly helpful.

Xie xie ni

galwayqq

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Neewbie_noob

你学习汉语哪儿？
你的汉语真好，我2009学习汉语了， 6个月。但是我的汉语非常不好。