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com/Mandarin
 Nǐ hǎo
Lesson 3 on Basic Mandarin!
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 Revision - Tones

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 Revision-Vocabulary

English Mandarin
Mother Mā
Hemp Má
Horse Mǎ
Scold Mà

You (informal) Nǐ
You (formal) Nín
Good Hǎo

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 Revision

English Mandarin Tone

falling rising,
Hello (informal) Nǐ hǎo
falling rising
mid rising,
Hello (formal) Nín hǎo
falling rising

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 Lesson objectives

1 Basic greetings

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 What's in store today?

Alright! So you now know how to say

'hello' in Mandarin!

Let's move on and look at some

other greetings

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 Vocabulary

English Mandarin Type

You (singular,
Nǐ Pronoun
informal)
Good Hǎo Adj
Question particle Ma Yes/no questions

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 Greetings and pleasantries

How are you?

'How are you?' is literally translated as

'you good?' in Mandarin

We saw that Nǐ hǎo = You good

We just need to convert it to a question now...

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 Greetings and pleasantries

You good = Nǐ hǎo

To convert this into a question (you good?),

we only need to add a question particle; ‹ma›

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 Tonal tip

As a question particle, 'ma' is pronounced using a

neutral tone which carries a soft falling sound, as
if the sound is fading away

Let’s try and say 'ma'

Great! Now let's try it in a question!

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 Greetings : How are you?

How are you?

Nǐ hǎo ma?

Literally : you good?

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 Grammar tip

Ma is a question particle

Adding the particle ‹ma› to the end of a sentence

makes a statement into a question

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 Grammar tip

Ma is usually used for questions which can be

answered by a yes/no

Eg: Nǐ hǎo ma? = you good?

Can be answered by saying 'yes/no'

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 So remember!

'Ma' is pronounced using a neutral tone which

carries a soft falling sound, as if the sound
is fading away

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 Tonal tip

Let's try saying Nǐ hǎo ma?

It is said using a mid rising tone for Nǐ, a

rising falling tone for 'Hǎo'and a neutral tone
for the question particle 'ma'

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 Let's see if you remember…

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 Pick the right option

How do we say, 'How are you?'

1 2 3
Nǐ hāo ma? Nǐ hǎo ma? Nǐ háo ma?

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 Solution

How do we say, 'How are you?'

1 2 3
Nǐ hāo ma? Nǐ hǎo ma? Nǐ háo ma?

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 Responding to : how are you?

Let's see how to answer the question

How are you? / you good? = 'Nǐ hǎo ma?'

You will say 'I am very good' or

'I am very well'

Let’s learn the vocabulary for this!

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 Vocabulary

English Mandarin Type

I, Me Wǒ Pronoun
Very Hěn Adv.
Good Hǎo Adj.
Also / too Yě Adv.
'To-be' verb (is,
Shì Verb
am, are)

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 Pronunciation tip

Before moving on, lets take a look

at the pronunciations for the new
words we've just learnt!

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 Tonal tip

I, Me = Wǒ

It is pronounced using a
'falling rising' tone (3rd)

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 Tonal tip

Let's try and say Wǒ

It is said with a 'falling rising' tone - also

known as the third tone, Wǒ

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 Tonal tip

Very = Hěn

It is also pronounced using a

'falling rising' tone (3rd)

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 Tonal tip

Let's try and say Hěn

It is said with a 'falling rising' tone - also

known as the third tone, Hěn

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 Tonal tip

Good = Hǎo

It is also pronounced using a

'falling rising' tone (3rd)

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 Tonal tip

Let's try and say Hǎo

It is said with a 'falling rising' tone - also

known as the third tone, Hǎo

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 Tonal tip

'To-be' verb = Shì

( 'To-be' verbs include : is, am, are, etc...)

It is pronounced using a
'falling' tone (4th)

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 Tonal tip

Let's try and say Shì

It is said with a 'falling' tone - also known as

the fourth tone, Shì

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 Moving on...

Great! Now that we know

how to pronounce these words,
let's use them in a sentence!

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 Responding to : how are you?

I am very good
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
Wǒ shì hěn hǎo

In Chinese, 'am', 'is', 'are' etc.

are not used with adjectives

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 Grammar tip

We noticed that we did not translate 'am' in

the last sentence

Unlike English, in Chinese, the 'to-be' verb

(shì = am, is, are) is not used with
adjectives (good, bad etc.)

I am very good = Wǒ hěn hǎo = I very good

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 Responding to : how are you?

I am very good / I am very well

Wǒ hěn hǎo

'am' is not translated

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 So do you remember?

Very good = Hěn hǎo

I am very good = Wǒ hěn hǎo

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 Let's see if you remember…

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 Pick the right option

'How are you?' translates as?

1 2 3
Nǐ hǎo ma? Nǐ hǎo Wǒ hěn hǎo

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 Solution

'How are you?' translates as?

1 2 3
Nǐ hǎo ma? Nǐ hǎo Wǒ hěn hǎo

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 Pick the right option

'I am very good' translates as?

1 2 3
Nǐ hǎo Wǒ shì Wǒ hěn
hěn hǎo hǎo

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 Solution

'I am very good' translates as?

1 2 3
Nǐ hǎo Wǒ shì Wǒ hěn
hěn hǎo hǎo

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 Moving on…

While responding to 'how are you?' you

would often say :

'I am very good, and you?'

Let's see how we say this in Mandarin…

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 Responding to : how are you?

Now you know

I am very good = Wǒ hěn hǎo

To additionally ask 'and you?' we need to

learn one new question particle, 'ne'

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 Tonal tip

'Ne' is spoken in a neutral tone

It is pronounced using a soft falling sound,

as if the sound is fading away

Let’s try and pronounce 'Ne'

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 Grammar tip

Ne is also a particle used to convert

statements to questions

Ending with 'ne' makes a question when the

context is already known

nǐ ne? = and you?

A common circumstance is when you wish to

repeat a question that was just asked

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 Responding to : how are you?

I am very good, and you?

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?

Remember! In Mandarin, 'am',

'is', 'are' etc. are not
used with adjectives
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 Responding to : how are you?

nǐ ne? = and you?

We used 'ne' here as we were answering to

'how are you?' by saying 'I am good, and you? '
hence we were repeating the question

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 Responding to : how are you?

I am very good, and you?

Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?

'am' is not translated

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 Responding to : I am good, and you?

You can also reply to 'I am good, and you?'

by saying 'I am also very good'

For this we will need to

learn how to say 'also'

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 Tonal tip

Also = Yě

It is pronounced using a
'falling rising' tone (3rd)

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 Tonal tip

Let's try and say Yě

It is said with a 'falling rising' tone - also

known as the third tone, Yě

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 Responding to : I am good, and you?

I am also very good

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
Wǒ yě hěn hǎo

Remember!In Mandarin, 'am',

'is', 'are' etc. are not
used with adjectives
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 Grammar tip

We can just say 'also very good'

instead of saying

'I am also very good'

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 Responding to : how are you?

Also very good

Yě hěn hǎo

Literally : also very good

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 Let's see if you remember…

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 Pick the right option

How do we say 'I am also very good'

in Mandarin?

1 2 3
Nǐ Nǐ Wǒ
hěn hǎo yě hěn yě hěn
ma hǎo hǎo

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 Solution

How do we say 'I am also very good'

in Mandarin?

1 2 3
Nǐ Nǐ Wǒ
hěn hǎo yě hěn yě hěn
ma hǎo hǎo

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 Pick the right option

What tone does 'yě' carry?

1 2 3
High Falling Mid
level rising rising

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 Solution

What tone does 'yě' carry?

1 2 3
High Falling Mid
level rising rising

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 Pick the right option

What tone does 'ne' carry?

1 2 3
Neutral Falling High level

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 Solution

What tone does 'ne' carry?

1 2 3
Neutral Falling High level

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 Vocabulary for today

English Mandarin Type

I, Me Wǒ Pronoun
You (singular,
Nǐ Pronoun
informal)
Very Hěn Adv
Good Hǎo Adj
Also / too Yě Adv
Ne Question particle
Question particle
Ma
(yes/no questions)

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 Let's practice

English Mandarin
Lisa Hello! Nǐ hǎo
Mark Hello! Nǐ hǎo
Lisa How are you? Nǐ hǎo ma?
Mark I am very good, and you? Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?
Lisa I am also very good Yě hěn hǎo

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 Culture Leaf

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 Culture leaf : Yin and yang

The concept of yin and yang (Pinyin:

yīnyáng)originates in ancient Chinese philosophy,
which describes two opposing but complementary
forces found in all things in the universe

Literally meaning 'shadow and light'

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 Culture leaf : Yin and yang
Many natural dualities — e.g., dark and
light,female and
male, low and high, cold and hot, water and fire,
earth and air — are thought of as manifestations
of
yin and yang (respectively)

Everything has both Yin and Yang aspects - E.g.

We could
not have appreciated 'Light' had there been no
'Darkness'
and 'Shadow (a form of darkness)' could not have
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existed
without there being 'Light'!
 What's next?

In the next lesson, we will learn more

greetings and pleasantries and common
phrases like 'thank you'!

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 Credits
Content
Team Culture Alley, Sunny Dang
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang

Images
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Guanhua.png
User: Raghith
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pinyin_Tone_Char
User : Wereon

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 See you at the Alley!

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