Stuff you might be hearing - Restaurants

First words

huānyíng guānglín 欢迎光临= welcome (*formal)

jǐ wèi? 几位？= how many people? [how many {polite measure word for people}]

Good bye

nín màn zǒu 您慢走= Go safely [you (*polite) slowly go]

xièxie guānglín màn zǒu 谢谢光临，慢走= Thanks for coming, go safely [thanks attend
slowly go]

zǒu hǎo 走好= good bye (*polite) / go well

xià cì zài lái 下次再来= come back and see us again [next time again come]

huānyíng zài lái 欢迎再来= you’re welcome to come

Restaurant/shop

• fúwùyuán 服务员 = waiter/waitress/worker

• lǎobǎn 老板 = boss/owner
• *xiǎojiě 小姐 / xiǎo gūniang 小姑娘 = girl
• *huǒji 伙计 = guy

Workers with specific skills (e.g. taxi driver, shoe shiner, etc)

• shīfu 师傅 = master

Young people talk

• *měinǚ 美女 = pretty girl

• *shuàigē 帅哥 = handsome guy

Walking down the street (not in a business)

• xiānsheng 先生 = sir, mister

• nǚshì 女士 = miss, ma’am
• xiǎo jiāhuo 小家伙 = child

Could also be used for friends of the family

• bóbo 伯伯/dàye 大爷 = uncle (man older than father)

• shūshu 叔叔 = unlce (man younger than father)
• dàniáng 大娘 / dàmā 大妈 = auntie (woman older than mother)
 • āyí 阿姨 = auntie (woman younger than mother)

General Family Terms

qīnqi 亲戚 = relative
zǔzōng 祖宗 / zǔxiān 祖先 = ancestor

qīn gēge 亲哥哥 = real older brother (same parents)

qīn jiějie 亲姐姐 = real older sister(same parents)

xiōngdì 兄弟 = brothers
jiěmèi 姐妹 = sisters
xiōngdì jiěmèi 兄弟姐妹 = siblings

fùmǔ 父母 = parents
zhàngfu hé qīzi 丈夫和妻子 = husband and wife
àiren 爱人/ pèi’ǒu 配偶= spouse / lover
nǚpéngyou 女朋友 = girlfriend
nánpéngyou 男朋友 = boyfriend

yīng’ér 婴儿 = infant / baby

xiǎoháir 小孩儿 / háizi 孩子 = child

shop
First words

nǐ xiǎng/yào mǎi diǎn shénme? 你想/要买点什么?

= What would you like to buy? [you want buy little what]

nǐ xiǎng/yào mǎi diǎn shá? 你想/要买点啥?

= What would you like to buy? [you want buy little what (*northern dialect)]

nǐ yào shénme? 你要什么?

= What would you like? [you want what]

mǎi shénme? 想什么?

= What would you like? [buy what]

Time to pay
shōu nǐ bā kuài qián 收你八块钱
= Received your 8 yuan
zhǎo nǐ yí kuài qián 找你一块钱
= Here’s your 1 yuan change [find you 1 yuan]

Please wait
(shāo) děng yíhuìr 稍等一会儿
= just a moment [(little) wait a moment]

(shāo) děng yíxià 稍等一下

= just a moment [(little) wait a moment]

Tā shì wǒ de _________ 他是我的 = he is my ________

At school
• tóngzhuō 同桌 = desk-mate, seat-mate
• tóngchuāng(hǎoyǒu) 同窗(好友) = close friend
• shìyǒu 室友 = roommate
• tóngxué 同学 = classmate (same study program)
• tóngbān 同班 = classmate (exact same class)
• xiàoyǒu 校友 = schoolmate

Graduate Students
All of the following have to do with graduate students and their “dǎoshī” 导师
(”academic adviser/teacher”). These terms apparently date back to “gōngfu” 功夫 (”kung
fu”) masters and their students. If the student had been studying gongfu longer, they were
referred to with the older brother/sister words, and vice versa. In English we really don’t
have translations for these. So, for convenience, I’ve coined the term “adviser-mate.”

• tóngmén 同门 = have/had the same academic adviser (”adviser-mate”)

• shījiě 师姐 = “adviser-mate” (studied longer, girl)
• shīxiōng 师兄 = shīgē 师哥 = “adviser-mate” (studied longer, boy)
• shīmèi 师妹 = “adviser-mate” (studied shorter, girl)
• shīdì 师弟 = “adviser-mate” (studied shorter, boy)

NOTE: tóngmén 同门 is the generic term and can be used independently or in

conjunction with the other 4 like this: tóngménshījiě 同门师姐

Anywhere
• tóngshì 同事 = colleague, coworker
 • lǎoxiāng 老乡 = someone from the same hometown
• tóngchuáng 同床 = bedfellow, bedmate

Friends
• mìyǒu 密友 = close friend
• lǎo péngyou 老朋友 = old friend
• hǎo péngyou 好朋友 = good friend

Top 10 measure words to know

Besides “gè 个,” there are the ones I use most frequently in my daily life (I’m a teacher):

1. jié 节 > for 1 hour class periods

2. běn 本 > for bound stuff (books, magazines)
3. zhāng 张 > flat stuff (pieces of paper, tables, CDs)
4. fèn 份 > for bundles/batches (servings of food, multi-page documents)
5. wèi 位 > for people (polite)
6. zhī 只 > 1 of a pair (1 chopstick, 1 shoe, 1 eye)
zhī 支 > stick-like things (pen)
7. shuāng 双 > pairs (2 chopsticks, 2 shoes, 2 eyes)
8. liàng 辆 > vehicles with wheels (but not trains)
9. shǒu 首 > songs, poems
10. tiáo 条 > for roads, long pieces of clothing (pants)

Some good news

Even though you’re supposed to swap out the “ge 个” in “zhè̀ge 这个” and “nàge 那个
” when saying “this” and “that,” respectively, they often seem to just keep the old “ge
个” in there. I’ve heard “zhè̀ge chē 这个车” (instead of “zhè̀liàng chē 这辆车“) and
“zhè̀ge CD 这个 CD” (instead of zhè̀zhāng CD 这张 CD). But, unfortunately, when
counting real stuff, and especially those “jǐ 几” questions they absolutely use the
measure words…so we gotta know ‘em.

Money
I guess I lied. These two are probably the most common ones in my life. But, even
though these are the first words everyone in China learns, I thought I’d list them hear to
show that they really are measure words.

1. kuài 块 > for “big” money (Chinese yuán 元, US dollars, British pounds)
2. máo 毛 > for 1/10 of the “big” money (Chinese jiǎo 角, US dimes)
NOTE: “1 kuài qián 一块钱” is oral Chinese. It would be expressed as “1 yuán qián 一
元钱“ in formal or written Chinese.

Number Markers
These aren’t necessarily measure words because you don’t have to count these things, but
you add them after numbers just the same, and they follow “jǐ 几” in questions that
require a number for an answer. So I think of them in the same category. These are also
super frequent words in my daily vocabulary, so I thought I’d list them with the context I
most often hear them in.

1. dòng 栋 > building

2. dānyuán 单元 > staircase, unit
3. lóu 楼 > floor
4. hào 号 > number, date of the year
5. lù 路 > bus route

• wǒ zhù zài shísì lóu, èr dānyuán, sān líng yāo (hào). 我住在十四楼，二单元，
三零一（号）
= I live in building 14, 2nd staircase/unit, (number) 301.
• dào shìzhōngxīn wǒ yào zuò jǐ lù chē? 到市中心我要坐几路车?
= To go to the city center I need to take which {bus route number} bus?

Times
Ok, so I fudged a little on the title of this post. There is also this special category of
measure words for “times” which have slightly different nuances. These are the only ones
I’ve heard used in daily life:

1. cì 次 > times (generic)

o zhè shì wǒ dì èr cì lái zhōngguó 这是我第二次来中国
= this is my second time to come to China [this is my 2nd time come
China]
*often “wǒ 我” = “wǒ de 我的” = “my”
2. biàn 遍 > times (start to finish)
o qǐng zài shuō yí biàn 请再说一遍
= please say that again (one time) [please again say one time]
*meaning the whole sentence
3. xià 下 > short periods of time (a moment, a sec)
o děng yí xià 等一下
= just a second [wait one time]
4. huìr 会儿 > short periods of time (a while, longer than xià 下)
o děng yí huìr 等一会儿
= just a minute [wait one time]
Words that ARE their own measure words
Since I’m on a roll here, I just thought I’d mention there are some words that don’t need a
measure word because they are, in a sense, their own measure word.

1. bēi 杯 = cup*
o yì bēi shuǐ 一杯水
= 1 cup of water
2. tiān 天 = day
o liǎng tiān yǐqián 两天以前
= 2 days ago
3. nián 年 = year
o wǒ dāi le sān nián 我待了三年
= I’ve stayed/been (here) for 3 years

Strangely enough, “yuè 月” (month) is the exception to the rule. Look:

• yī yuè 一月 = January
• yí ge yuè 一个月 = 1 month

*NOTE: the same rules apply to any of the container words like “tǒng 桶”
(barrel/bucket), “wǎn 碗” (bowl), “pán 盘” (plate/tray), etc.