Quick Reference
Everything on one page. Come back to this when you forget something.
The six core words
| English | Pinyin | Character |
|---|---|---|
| I / Me | wǒ | 我 |
| You | nǐ | 你 |
| Good | hǎo | 好 |
| Not / No | bù | 不 |
| Want | yào | 要 |
| This | zhè gè | 这个 |
bù in front of anything negates it: bù là = not spicy · bù dǒng = don't understand · bù yào = don't want.
The ten phrases
| What | Pinyin | Phonetic | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hello | nǐ hǎo (nee how) | nee how | 你好 |
| Goodbye | zài jiàn (dzye jyen) | dzye jyen | 再见 |
| Thank you | xiè xiè (shyeh shyeh) | shyeh shyeh | 谢谢 |
| Sorry | duì bu qǐ (dway boo chee) | dway boo chee | 对不起 |
| I don't understand | wǒ bù dǒng (woh boo dohng) | woh boo dohng | 我不懂 |
| I want this | wǒ yào zhè gè (woh yow juh guh) | woh yow juh guh | 我要这个 |
| Bill please | mǎi dān (my dahn) | my dahn | 买单 |
| How much? | duō shǎo qián? (dwoh show chyen) | dwoh show chyen | 多少钱？ |
| Where is [X]? | [X] zài nǎ lǐ? (dzye nah lee) | dzye nah lee | [X]在哪里？ |
| Stop here | zhè lǐ tíng (juh lee ting) | juh lee ting | 这里停 |
Numbers
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yī | èr | sān | sì | wǔ | liù | qī | bā | jiǔ | shí |
After 10: shí + unit (11 = shí yī) · unit + shí for tens (20 = èr shí)
Food words
shuǐ 水 water · chá 茶 tea · pí jiǔ 啤酒 beer · fàn 饭 rice · miàn 面 noodles · ròu 肉 meat · jī 鸡 chicken · zhū 猪 pork · là 辣 spicy · bù là 不辣 not spicy
The five tones
ā (flat —) · á (rising /) · ǎ (valley ∨) · à (falling ↘) · a (neutral ·)
wǒ = 3rd tone ∨ · nǐ = 3rd tone ∨ · nǐ hǎo = valley + valley → sounds like "nee how"