Pinyin is the most widely-used system of writing

Mandarin Chinese that uses the Latin alphabet. It is a

great tool to help you learn the accurate pronunciation of
Mandarin words.

First, you need to learn how to read pinyin, as

Mandarin contains some sounds which do not exist in
English.

Mandarin, like most Chinese dialects, is a tonal

language. This means that tones, just like consonants
and vowels, are used to distinguish words from each
other. Many foreigners have difficulties mastering the
tones of each character, but correct tonal pronunciation
is essential for intelligibility because of the vAast number
of words in the language that only differ by tone.

The following are the four tones of Standard

Mandarin:Tone name YinPing, YangPing, Shang, Qu.

First or high-level tone is a steady high sound, as if it

were being sung instead of spoken.

Second tone, or rising, or linguistically, high-rising is a

sound that rises from mid-level tone to high-level.
Third tone has a mid-low to low descent at the end of a
sentence or before a pause; it is then followed by a
rising pitch.

Fourth tone, falling tone or high-falling features a sharp

downward accent from high to low and shorter tone.

Neutral tone

Also called Fifth tone or zeroth tone, neutral tone is

sometimes thought of incorrectly as a lack of tone. The
neutral tone is particularly difficult for non-native
speakers to master correctly because of its
uncharacteristically large number of allot one contours:
the level of its pitch depends almost entirely on the tone
carried by the syllable proceeding on it. The situation is
further complicated by the amount of dialectal variation
associated with in some regions, like Taiwan, neutral
tone is relatively uncommon. Despite many examples of
minimal pairs, it is sometimes described as something
other than a full fledged tone for technical reasons:
namely because some linguists have historically felt that
the tonality of a syllable carrying the neutral tone results
from a spreading out of the tone on the syllable before it.
This idea is appealing intuitively because without it, the
neutral tone requires relatively complex tone indeed; it
would have 4 separate allotones, one for each of the
four tones that could precede it. Despite this, however, it
has been shown that the spreading theory inadequately
characterizes the neutral tone, especially in sequences
where more than one neutrally toned syllable are found
adjacent.

The tone of first syllable has a pitch of neutral tone.

Example: Pinyin-English meaning.

1. bōli – glass

2. bóbo – uncle

3. lăba – horn

4. tùzi – rabbit

The most prominent phenomenon of this kind is when

there are two third tones in immediate sequence, in
which case the first of them changes to a rising tone.
This tone contour is sometimes described incorrectly as
being equivalent to second tone; while the two are very
similar, many native speakers can distinguish them. In
the literature, this contour is often called two-thirds tone
or half-third tone. If there are three third tones in series,
the tone sandhi rules become more complex, and
depend on word boundaries, stress, and dialectal
variations.

In Mandarin Chinese, there are four basic tones and a

fifth neutral tone. Each syllable in each word has one of
these tones. You can tell which tone to give a syllable
from by the marks above the vowels in pinyin.

First tone ( - )

Second tone ( ˊ )

Third tone ( ˇ )

Forth tone ( ˋ )

Numbers

 0: 〇 líng

 1: 一 yī

 2: 二 èr

 3: 三 sān

 4: 四 sì
  5: 五 wǔ

 6: 六 liù

 7: 七 qī

 8: 八 bā

 9: 九 jiǔ

 10: 十 shí

 100: 百 bǎi

 1,000: 千 qiān

 10,000: 万 wàn (1'0000)

 100,000: 十万 shíwàn (10'0000)

 1,000,000: 一百万 yībǎi wàn (100'0000)

 100,000,000: 一亿 (億) yīyì (1'0000'0000)

 1,000,000,000,000: 一兆 yīzhào
(1'0000'0000'0000)

The parenthesized entries are the complex and formal

forms, which are used mainly in notarized, official
documents, and when writing checks. An exception is
zero; the complex form is much more widely used than a
casual circle. The complex forms are known in English
as banker's anti-fraud numerals, in Chinese as daxie.
They are necessary because, since normal Chinese
characters are so simple, a former could easily change
with just three strokes.

Chinese Alphabet

1. Each syllable is composed of three parts: initial, final

and tone. There are 21 initials, 36 finals, 4 tones and a
neutral tone.

* The syllables in this line have no initial, only

formed by final.

** The syllables in this line have no initial, "i" is

substituted by "y" and "ü" is substituted by "yu" in the
compound finals.
*** The syllables in this line has no initial, "u" is
substituted by "w" in the compound finals.

**** "yo" is a special syllable. The pronunciation is

similar to "io."

2. An empty cell on the table indicates that the

corresponding syllable does not exist in standard
Mandarin.

3. The chart displays only the tone variations that exist

in standard Mandarin.

For example, for the syllable "ca," we only provided an

audio demonstration for "cā" and "că," as there are no
Chinese characters with the second tone and the fourth
tone for "ca" in standard Mandarin.

Basic Words
Hāi – Hi Wǒ Shi — I am
Zàijiàn — bye, good bye Nín — You
Zǎoshang hǎo — good Hǎo — fine, good, nice
morning Bù — not
Xiàwǔ — afternoon Wǒ — me
Zhōngwǔ — noon Jiao — to be called
Wǎnjiān — evening Míngzì — name
Yù dào — meet Hǎo de — okay
Tā Shì — It is Zǒu — go
Chī — eat Shì — yes, is, am, are
Hē — drink Nǐ ne? — how about
Chúshī — cook you?
Fàng — put Ma — an integrative
Yǒu — have word
Xiǎng — want Fēilǜbīn — Filipino
Xǐhuāg — like Zhōngwén — Chinese
Yě — also Fàguó — France
Ràng women — lets Dāngrán — sure
Zhì — to Rén — people, person
Chī — eat
In Chinese, names for days of the week are based on a
simple numerical sequence.
The word for ‘week’ is followed by a number indicating
the day: ‘Monday’ is literally ‘week one’, ‘Tuesday’ is
‘week two’, and etc.

Example Sentence:
A: Dàjiā zǎoshang hǎo, wǒ jiào Avelle, nǐ ne?
(Hi good morning, my name is Avelle, how
about you?)
B: Zǎoshang hǎo, wǒ shì Kirsha
(Good morning, i am Kirsha)
A: Wǒ láizì fěi lǜ bīn, nǐ ne?
 (I am from Philippines, how about you?)
B: Wǒ láizì fàguó
(I’m from France)
A: Jiàn dào nǐ hěn gāoxìng
(It is nice to meet you)
B: Hěn gāoxìng rènshì nǐ
(It is nice to meet you too)
A: Wǒ xiànzài bìxū zǒule, zàijiàn
(I have to go now, bye)
B: Zàijiàn
(Good bye)
 bō luó — pineapple

cǎo méi — strawberry

hā mì guā — Hami
melon (a variety of
muskmelon)

jīn jú — kumquat

mí hóu táo — Kiwi fruit

lí — pear

lì zhī — litchi fruit

máng guǒ — mango

shì zi — persimmon

mù guā — papaya

táo zi — peach

píng guǒ — apple

pú tao — grape
shí liú — pomegranate

xiāng jiāo — banana

yòu zi — pomelo

yīng táo — cherry

xī guā — watermelon

xìng — apricot
 xiāng guā —
muskmelon

yē zi — coconut

zǎo — jujube

Jī ròu — Chicken

Xiā — Shrimp

Xiè — Crab
Yáng ròu — Mutton

Yú — Fish

Dòufu — Tofu

Lóngxiā — Lobster

Qiézi — Eggplant

Tǔdòu — Potato
Cōng — Scallion/Onion

Mógu — Mushroom

Yùmǐ — Corn

Xīhóngshì/ Fān qié —

Tomato

Chǎo fàn — Fried rice

Mǐfàn — White rice

Jiǎozi — Dumplings

Húntún — Wonton

Bāozi — Stuffed
steamed bun

Mántou — Plain
steamed bun
 Chǎomiàn — Fried
noodles

Tāngmiàn — Noodle
soup

Cháyè dàn — Tea-

soaked egg

Sìchuān Huǒguō —
Sichuan hot pot

Pídàn — Century-old
egg

Chāshāo — Cantonese
barbeque pork
Běijīng kǎoyā — Beijing
roast duck

Lánzhōu lāmiàn —
Lanzhou hand-pulled
noodles

Xiǎolóng bāo —
Shanghai small
steamed buns

Yángròu chuan —
Chinese Muslim
barbeque mutton
skewers

Dōng pō zhū ròu —

Hangzhou braised pork
belly
 Hézǐ jiān — Fujian
oyster omelet

Chǎngshā chòu dòufu

— Changsha-style
stinky tofu

Xiān — umami

Jiàngyóu — Soy sauce

Cù — Vinegar

Dàsuàn — Garlic
Huājiāo — Sichuan
peppercorn

Làjiāo — Hot pepper

Píjiǔ — Beer

Shàoxīngjiǔ —
Shaoxing fermented
rice wine

Hóng pútáojiǔ — Red

wine
Guǒzhī — Fruit juice

Bīng shuǐ — Ice water

Kāfēi — Coffee

Hóngchá — Black tea

Lǜchá — Green tea

 Niúnǎi — cow’s milk

Mòlìhuāchá — Jasmine
tea

Wūlóngchá — Oolong
tea

Júhuā chá —
Chrysanthemum tea

Kuàizi —Chopsticks

Chā — Fork
 Càidān — Menu

Fúwùyuán —
Waiter/waitress

Wǒ chī sù — I am vegetarian.

Wǒ yào zhège — I would like this one.

Yǒu shénme hào chī de — what’s good to eat?

Zhè shì shénme — what is this?

Gè rén — Number of people

Diǎn cài — to order

Chī fàn — to eat

Duōshǎo qián — how much?

Hěn hào chī — Delicious

Zhēn bang — Awesome

Gānbēi — Cheers!

Wǎncān/Wǎnfàn — Dinner
Wǔcān/Wǔfàn — Lunch

Zǎocān — Breakfast

Là — Spicy

Má là — numbing spicy

Xián — Salty

Kǔ — Bitter

Suān — Sour

Tián — Sweet

Chòu — Smelly or pungent

Wèidào — Taste/smell

Examples:

A. Wǒ xiǎng chī píngguǒ

(I want to eat apple)

B. Wǒ yě xiǎng chī píngguǒ

(I also want to eat apple)

A: Wǒmen chī zǎocān ba

(Let’s eat breakfast)

B. Hǎo de

(Okay)

A. Yǒu shénme hào chī de

(What’s good to eat?)

B. Wǒ xiǎng chī xiā, nǐ ne?

(I would like to eat shrimp, how about you?)

A. Wǒ xiǎng chī chǎofàn

(I would like to eat fried rice)

B. Hǎo de

(Okay)
 CHINESE
LANGUAGE

ANGEL MAE TABUENA