Mandarin Chinese/Printable version

Mandarin Chinese

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Pinyin

This chapter you will learn:

• Pinyin
• Pronouns
• Numbers 1-99

1. Consonants
2. A, O, and E
3. I and N
4. Quiz One
5. U, Ü and NG
6. Pronouns
7. Numbers
8. Quiz Two

Pinyin/Consonants

Lesson

In pinyin, there are 23 consonants. Do not be alarmed by this number, many are pronounced as they are in English.

Here is a list.

b p m f
d t n l
g k h
j q x
zh ch sh r
z c s
w y

The pronunciations of all these consonants, except for q, x, zh and c, are similar to those in English.

• q - ch as in "cheese"
• x - sh as in "sheet"
• zh - j as in "jack"
• c - ts as in "hats"

See, Chinese is easier than people say it is.

In Short...

• 23 consonants
• b p m f d t n l g k h j q x zh ch sh r z c s w y
• Most are like English
• "q" and "x" are "ch" and "sh" respectively
• "c" is "ts"
• "zh" is like "jack"

Pinyin/A, O, and E

There are three (3) types of vowels in Chinese- Simple, Compound, Nasal

• Simple consists of a single vowel
• Compound is two (2) or more
• Nasal ends in -n or -ng

This lesson, you will learn three (3) simple finals and one (1) compound final

Simple Finals

There are six (6) vowels in Chinese: a, e, i, o, u and ü

Vowel	Pronunciation	IPA	English Example
a	ah	a	father
e	uh	ʊ	bud
o	oh	o	toe

Compound Finals

"a" and "o" can combine to form "ao"- how

• This IS the same sound as in well known, "Ni Hao"

In Short...

• Three types
  • Simple
  • Compound
  • Nasal
• a is ahh
• e is uh
• o is oh
• ao is ow

Pinyin/I and N

Simple Finals

Vowel	Pronunciation	IPA	English Example
i	ee*	i	bee

* After zh, sh, ch z, s, c and r, "i" is pronounced b'''i'''t (ɪ)

Compound Finals

i- can begin a final, and in general is pronounced y-. In fact, it is changed as such when it has no initial

Final	Pronunciation	IPA	Example
ai	eye	aɪ	eye
ei	ey	e	hey
ia	yeah	ja	German "Ja!"
ie	yeh	jɛ	yet

Nasal Finals

Final	Pronunciation	IPA	Example
an	ahn	an	Ann
en	uhn	ʊn	won
ian	yahn	jan	No Example
in	een	in	No Example

In Short...

• i is pronounced ee, except after zh, sh, ch, z, s, c and r
• Here it is bit
• ai is "eye"
• ei is hey
• i- is y-

Guess What! It's... Quiz Time!

Pinyin/U

This lesson you will learn:

• The letters U and Ü
• Compound and Nasal finals containing the letter U
• Tones
• NG

The Letter U

"U" is pronounced "oo".

Compound and Nasal Finals Containing U

• ou- oh
• iou- yo
• uo- woah
• uei- way
• ua- water
• uai- why
• uan- wahn
• uen- wuhn

Like with "i", "u" become "w" initially.

Tones

As many know, Chinese is a tonal language. This means that the way you pronounce a word can change its meaning. For example:

Character	Meaning	Pinyin	Tone
妈妈	Mom	Māma	Flat
麻	Hemp	Má	Rising
马	Horse	Mǎ	Change
骂	To Scold	Mà	Falling
吗	Question Particle	Ma	Neutral

• The flat line means your voice is Higher and Level: āēīōūǖ
• The falling line means your voice drops, like you are angry: àèìòùǜ
• The line going down and up means your voice drops and rises again: ǎěǐǒǔǚ
• The rising line means your voice goes up, like you are asking a question: áéíóúǘ
• No line means you voice is Lower and Level: aeiouü

Ü is the ONE vowel sound in Chinese but not English. If you know German, yes, it is the same sound, and to those who know French it is a "U". But for the rest of us...

The Letter Ü

Pronounce this vowel "ee" but with your lips rounded like you were pronouncing "oo"

Rules About, and Compounds With Ü

• üe- +eh
• ün- +n
• üan- +ahn

Like i become y and u becomes w, ü becomes yu. The finals after this rule

Final	Without Initial
ü	yu
üe	yue
ün	yun
üan	yuan

NG

NG acts just like N in a nasal final. And here they are: ang, iang, uang, eng, ing, yong, ong

Pinyin/Pronouns

Your First Words!

This lesson you will learn personal pronoun |- |You (sing.) |你(Nǐ) |- |He, him |他(Tā) |- |She, her |她(Tā) |- |We, us |我们(Wǒmen) |- |You (pl.) |你们(Nǐmen) |- |They (all boys, or both) |他们(Tāmen) |- |They (all girls) |她们(Tāmen) |}

Samples of the 4 tones

妈(mā) 麻(má) 马(mǎ) 骂(mà) 吗(ma) (Being "mother", "hemp", "horse", "scold" and a question particle, respectively.)

Pinyin/Numbers

Ojhhhl |-poppop |1poop |一(Yī) |- |2 |二(Èr) |- |3 |Template:Ruby-bigghggjfkg |- |4 |四(Sì) |- |5 |五(Wǔ) |- |6 |六(Liù) |- |7 |七(Qī) |- |8 |八(Bā) |- |9 |九(Jiǔ) |- |10 |十(Shí) |- |11 |十一(Shíyī) |- |12 |十二(Shíèr) |- |13 |十三(Shísān) |- |20 |二十(Èrshí) |- |30 |三十(Sānshí) |- |47 |四十七(Sìshí Qī) |}

When you have finished the lesson...

Congratulations, you have finished Chapter One! Now for a test

Pinyin/Consonants

Lesson

In pinyin, there are 23 consonants. Do not be alarmed by this number, many are pronounced as they are in English.

Here is a list.

b p m f
d t n l
g k h
j q x
zh ch sh r
z c s
w y

The pronunciations of all these consonants, except for q, x, zh and c, are similar to those in English.

• q - ch as in "cheese"
• x - sh as in "sheet"
• zh - j as in "jack"
• c - ts as in "hats"

See, Chinese is easier than people say it is.

In Short...

• 23 consonants
• b p m f d t n l g k h j q x zh ch sh r z c s w y
• Most are like English
• "q" and "x" are "ch" and "sh" respectively
• "c" is "ts"
• "zh" is like "jack"

Sentences/Hello

First meet someone

"你好" means "Hello", sometimes it can be consider as "Nice to meet you". When first meet someone,Chinese native speakers usually speak in this word and used in most other senses. And 您好 is a more formal way.

Familiar Greetings

Generally, people use kinds of words or phrases with features to ask for another when they are in a good relationship, such as "你吃了吗?". Those words are like what was used in English such as "how are you?" and "how is going?"

Sentences/How are you

This sentence is How are you? It is pronounced as Nǐ hǎo ma

Sentences/He is a student

他是学生

他 is the subject，the word 是 is the Predicate of this sentence, and the word 学生 is the Object. As same as in English, Chinese have also had a basic sentence structure witch contains only one simple subject and a simple predicate.

See this sentence:他晕倒了。

In this sentence, 他 is the subject while the phrase "晕倒了" is the predicate.

Sentences/What is her name

What's her name?

In Chinese, this sentence 她叫什么名字？ is a basic interrogative sentence.什么 is the word to transfer the interrogative.This sentence can be also written as "她的名字是什么？"

Interrogative

In chinese, those words which used in interrogative including 什么, 谁, 哪个, 哪里, and so on.

Sentences/I am 42

This Sentence is I am 42 years old. You pronounce it as Wǒ sìshí'èr suì.

Sentences/Hello

First meet someone

"你好" means "Hello", sometimes it can be consider as "Nice to meet you". When first meet someone,Chinese native speakers usually speak in this word and used in most other senses. And 您好 is a more formal way.

Familiar Greetings

Generally, people use kinds of words or phrases with features to ask for another when they are in a good relationship, such as "你吃了吗?". Those words are like what was used in English such as "how are you?" and "how is going?"