Rocket Chinese Lessons 1.0-1.9

1.
1 Introducing Yourself Interactive Audio Lessons
Moving on from the first track, you will be able to start conversations and meet local people by introducing yourself and
tell Chinese people where you come from.
Interactive Audio
Conversation Transcript
Lin Nǐ hǎoma?
你好吗?
How are you?
Dave Wǒ hěnhǎo。Xièxie。
我很好。谢谢。
I'm very well. Thank you.
Lin Nǐ xìng shénme?

你姓什么?
What is your surname?
Dave Wǒ xìng Lewis。

我姓Lewis。
My surname is Lewis.
Lin Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

你叫什么名字?
What are you called?
Dave Wǒ jiào Dave。Nǐne?

我叫Dave。你呢?
My name is Dave. And yours?
Lin Wǒ jiào Lín Píng。

我叫林萍。
My name is Lin Ping.
Nǐ shì nǎguórén?
你是哪国⼈?
Where are you from?
Dave Wǒ shì Měiguórén。Nǐne?

我是美国⼈。你呢?
I'm American. And you?
Lin Wǒ shì Zhōngguórén。

我是中国⼈。
I'm Chinese.
Jiàndào nǐ wǒ hěn gāoxìng。

见到你我很⾼兴。
Nice to meet you.
Dave Jiàndào nǐ wǒ yě hěn gāoxìng。

见到你我也很⾼兴。
Nice to meet you too.
Extra Vocabulary
huānyíng welcome
欢迎
xuéxí to study
学习
dìyī the first

第⼀
dānyuán chapter, unit

单元
kè lesson
课
Zàijiàn！ Goodbye!
再见！
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1.0 Greetings Interactive Audio Lessons
It's well known that the best way to learn something is by doing. The backbone of the Rocket Chinese course is the
repeatable Interactive Audio Lessons. These lessons prompt you to speak Mandarin out loud along with, and in response
to, the fun hosts Lin and David.
Using a scientific process called 'chunking', Rocket Chinese breaks down every day Chinese conversations into small
segments so your mind can more easily absorb and remember them. The chunking method means that you’ll be able to
work on your conversational Mandarin and overcome the fear of saying the wrong thing, in the privacy of your own
home.
Let's get started with your first Interactive Audio lesson. In this introductory lesson, Lin and David exchange hellos. Not
only will you learn how to greet someone in Mandarin you'll also find out how to ask them how they're doing.
If you are completely new to Mandarin then I recommend listening to this first lesson a few times to train your ear to
Mandarin. You can also test your own pronunciation with our fantastic voice comparison software, Rocket Record! And
when you're ready, try taking one of our tests on the Testing Tab.
REMEMBER; Chinese-speaking people just love it when tourists and travelers speak Chinese to them!
Interactive Audio
Dave Nǐ hǎoma?
你好吗？
How are you?
Lin Wǒ hěnhǎo。Xièxie。Nǐne?
我很好。谢谢。你呢？
I'm very good. Thanks. What about you?
Dave Wǒ yě hěnhǎo。Xièxie。
我也很好。谢谢。
I'm also very good. Thanks.
Lin Zàijiàn!
再见！
See you!
Dave Zàijiàn!
再见！
Bye!
Extra Vocabulary
Nǐhǎo! Hello!
你好！
huānyíng welcome
欢迎
xuéxí to study
学习
Nǐzǎo! Good morning!

你早！
zǎo early
早
bùhǎo not good

不好
Xièxie nǐ! Thank you!

谢谢你！
Wǒne? What about me?

我呢？
nín you (polite form)

您
Nínhǎo! Hello! (polite way)

您好!
Nín hǎoma？ How are you? (polite way)

您好吗？
再见！

1.2 Learning Chinese Interactive Audio Lessons
Got a problem with people talking too fast in Chinese? This lesson will teach you how to say "can you speak more slowly
please" and other useful phrases that are absolutely necessary when you are learning!
Interactive Audio
Lin Nǐ huì shuō Hànyǔ ma?
你会说汉语吗?
Can you speak Chinese?
Dave Huì, kěshì wǒ zhǐ huì shuō yìdiǎnr。

会，可是我只会说⼀点儿。
Yes, but I can only speak a little bit.
Lin Nǐ xuéxí Hànyǔ duōcháng shíjiān le?

你学习汉语多长时间了?
How long have you been studying Chinese for?
Dave Duìbuqǐ,
对不起，
Excuse me,
qǐng nǐ shuō màn yìdiǎnr, hǎo ma?

请你说慢⼀点儿，好吗?
can you speak a little bit more slowly please?
Lin Dāngrán kěyǐ。

当然可以。
Of course.
Nǐ xuéxí Hànyǔ duōcháng shíjiān le?

你学习汉语多长时间了?
How long have you been studying Chinese for?
Dave Xièxie。
谢谢。
Thanks.
Wǒ xuéxí Hànyǔ yǐjīng yīgeyuè le。

我学习汉语已经⼀个⽉了。
I have been studying Chinese for a month.
Lin Nǐde Hànyǔ hěnbàng!

你的汉语很棒!
Your Chinese is wonderful!
Dave Bùrú nǐde Hànyǔ bàng!

不如你的汉语棒!
Not as good as yours!
Extra Vocabulary
huānyíng welcome
欢迎
dìyī the first

第⼀

单元
dì'èr the second

第⼆
kè lesson
课
búhuì can not

不会
wǒde my, mine

我的
zhōngguórén Chinese people

中国⼈
再见！

1.3 Meeting For Coffee Interactive Audio Lessons
Do you want to catch up with a friend? Learn how to arrange a meeting in Chinese.
Interactive Audio
Lin Dàwéi, jīntiān jǐyuè jǐhào?
⼤为,今天几⽉几号?
Dave, what is today’s date?
Dave Jīntiān shíyuè

今天⼗⽉
It’s October
shísìhào xīngqīèr。
⼗四号星期⼆。
Tuesday the 14th.
Zhège xīngqī nǐ máng ma?

这个星期你忙吗?
Are you busy this week?
Lin Bú tài máng。

不太忙。
Not too busy.
Wǒ xīngqīwǔ xiūxì。
我星期五休息。
I have a day off on Friday.
Wǒmen yìqǐ hē kāfēi, hǎoma?

我们⼀起喝咖啡，好吗?
Shall we have coffee together?
Dave Hǎo。Wǒmen shénme shíhòu jiàn?

好。我们什么时候见?
Ok, what time shall we meet?
Lin Xiàwǔ sāndiǎn zěnmeyàng?

下午三点怎么样?
How about 3pm (in the afternoon)?
Dave Hǎo。Xīngqīwǔ xiàwǔ sāndiǎn wǒ jiē nǐ!

好。星期五下午三点我接你!
Ok, I'll pick you up at 3pm on Friday!
Lin Zàijiàn!
再见!
See you then!
Extra Vocabulary
huānyíng welcome
欢迎
dìyī the first

第⼀
单元
dìsān the third

第三
kè lesson
课
yuē to make an appointment

约
shíjiān time
时间
yī one
⼀
Yīyuè January
⼀⽉
Yīyuè shíhào 10th January

⼀⽉⼗号
Èryuè èrhào 2nd February

⼆⽉⼆号
Sìyuè yīhào 1st April

四⽉⼀号
Xīngqīyī Monday
星期⼀
Xīngqīsì Thursday
星期四
yīdiǎn one o'clock

⼀点
sìdiǎn four o'clock

四点
wǔdiǎn five o'clock

五点
shídiǎn ten o'clock

⼗点

1.4 Ordering Drinks Interactive Audio Lessons
This lesson will help you to improve your ordering skills by getting you to ask for a hot drink — in Chinese! Learn how to
ask for prices as well.
Interactive Audio
Dave Qǐngwèn, wǒ kěyǐ diǎn yǐnliào ma?
请问，我可以点饮料吗?
Excuse me, could I have something to drink?
Lin Wǒmen yǒu kāfēi,

我们有咖啡、
We have coffee,
Yīngguó chá hé Zhōngguó chá。

英国茶和中国茶。
English tea, and Chinese tea.
Dave Wǒ yào yībēi Zhōngguó chá。

我要⼀杯中国茶。
I would like a cup of Chinese tea.
Duōshǎoqián?
多少钱?
How much is it?
Lin Èrshí yuán。

⼆⼗元。
It’s twenty yuan.
Dave Gěinǐ wǔshí yuán。

给你五⼗元。
Here you are, fifty yuan.
Lin Zhǎo nín sānshí yuán。Xièxie。

找您三⼗元。谢谢。
Thirty yuan change, thank you very much.
Extra Vocabulary
huānyíng welcome
欢迎
dìyī the first

第⼀

单元
dìsì the fourth

第四
kè lesson
课
Xiàcì jiàn! See you next time!

下次见！
1.5 Greetings - Formal & Informal Language & Culture Lessons
Ok, moving right along to the Language and Culture lessons. Yes they are "grammar" lessons, but they are so very much
more than that. Along with the grammar you're also getting a great insight into Chinese culture. You'll be way ahead of
the pack if or when you decide to visit my wonderful home country.
I've designed these lessons to ease you into the mechanics behind the Chinese language. You'll notice that many of the
topics correspond to the ones in the Interactive Audio Course. The lessons give you a chance to take a closer look at many
of the words and phrases you learned in those audio lessons.
Like the Interactive Audio Lessons, all of the Language and Culture lessons have a testing tab. This is the absolute best
way to power up your understanding of Chinese. I really recommend that you use the testing activities for each and every
lesson!
In this first lesson, you'll learn some of the grammatical concepts behind the conversation that you heard in the
introductory lesson of the audio course on basic greetings, including: the difference between formal and informal modes
of address; how to ask someone how they are doing; and how to assemble a variety of responses that express how you
are doing in turn.
You'll also get a gentle introduction to Mandarin Chinese pronunciation and tones.
Are you ready to get started? Here we go then…
Language Lesson
Greetings - Formal & Informal
It is important to exchange greetings when you see people in China. And it is equally important to greet people in a
proper way, depending on the relationship of the two parties.
Nǐhǎo! It is normally used between people who have just gotten

你好! to know each other or even between strangers. It is
always replied to with "Nǐh ǎo!".
For people with a closer relationship, use:
Nǐ hǎo ma? How are you?

你好吗?
It's the preferred greeting of the two and is replied to with some more detailed information:
Hǎo! Good!
好!
Búcuò! Not bad!

不错!
Hái kěyǐ。 Just ok.

还可以。
Bùhǎo。 Not good.

不好。
It is polite to ask the other party the same question in return!
That's how we can greet people in Chinese at any time of the day.
Let's look at the picture below. Can you tell what they're saying?
The boy would likely be saying: Nínhǎo!

Nính o! (您好!) because the person he's speaking to is much older than him and he
needs to pay respect to older generations.
Note that the older man will reply by saying, Nǐh

h ǎo!
o! (你好!). He can use the informal form because he is much older
than the boy.
Sometimes, we can have different alternatives at different times of the day. For example, if we see people early in the
morning,
morning instead of "n
n ǐh
h ǎo
o (你好)", we can also say:
Nǐzǎo! Good morning!

你早！
Or
Zǎoshàng hǎo! Good morning!

早上好！
You reply to this with nǐz

n z ǎo
o (你早) or z ǎoshàng
oshàng hǎo
h o (早上好), good morning.
If it is in the afternoon,
afternoon we can use xiàwǔ
xiàw hǎo
h o (下午好), good afternoon.
And if we want to greet people in the evening at night, we say w ǎnshàng

nshàng hǎo
h o (晚上好), good evening.
In return, we can use:
Xiàwǔ hǎo! Good afternoon!

下午好!
Wǎnshàng hǎo! Good evening!

晚上好!
to reply.
When we say goodbye to people in Chinese, you can always use:
Zàijiàn! Goodbye!
再见!
This phrase can be used at any time of the day, to any people — strangers or close friends, people younger or older
than us. And if it is at night, we can have another option for goodbye:
Wǎn'ān! Good night!

晚安!
Bear in mind these greetings can be used between strangers, acquaintances, friends, colleagues, etc... They are not
normally used between family members, where the relationship is close enough to make those polite and formal
greetings unnecessary.
The "to be" Verb in Chinese

The word shì (是) is the Chinese translation of "to be" in English. Yet it is not necessarily used whenever "be" appears
in English sentences. Whether we use it or not depends on the nature of the words or phrase after it in the Chinese
sentences.
a) If the word that follows is a noun, we use shì (是).
Wǒ shì xuéshēng。 I am a student.

我是学⽣。
In this sentence, "am" is followed by "student", a noun, so we translate every single part of it.
b) If the word that follows is a description word, we omit it.
Tā hěn hǎo。 She is very well.

她很好。
In this sentence, "is" is followed by "well", a description word, so we only need to translate "she" and "well". The word
shì (是) is not used.
Note: if more than one word follows "is" then we need to look carefully to see whether the main word is a noun or
description word.
Tā shì hǎo xuéshēng。 She is a good student.

她是好学⽣。
In this sentence, "is" is closely followed by the description word "good" but this is telling us more about "student"
which is a noun. Therefore the main word is "student", so we keep shì (是) in the Chinese translation.
The use of hěn (很)

The word h ěn n (很) is what we use to translate "very". In a sentence such as "be + description word", it is common
practice to add h ěn
n (很) in front of the description word when we translate the sentence.
We can use the previous example to explain:
Tā hěn hǎo。 She is well.

她很好。
When we translate the sentence into tā hěnhh nhǎo

o (她很好), it doesn't really mean "she is VERY well" — it still means
"she is well" — it's just that tā hěnh
h nhǎo
o (她很好) sounds nicer than tāh
h ǎo
o (她好). So here, h ěn
n (很) doesn't really add any
extra meaning, we still understand the sentence tā hěnh
h nhǎo o (她很好) to mean: "she is well," rather than "she is very
well."
Moreover, in this kind of sentence, if h ěn

n (很) is not used before the description word, the sentence implies some
kind of comparison with someone else.
Tā máng, wǒ bù máng。 She is busy, I am not.

她忙，我不忙。
Pronouncing Modern Chinese

Chinese is different from alphabetic languages in that its written form is not directly related to its pronunciation.
The audible units of modern Chinese are "syllables". Syllables are made up of three parts:
1) an "initial" component (which is like a consonant in English)

2) a "final" component (which is like a vowel in English), and
3) a tone
Chinese is a "tonal language", which means that the way a sound is pronounced directly affects the meaning of what
is said. Other languages use tone but in a different manner, for example in English, tone can used to convey the
attitude or feeling of a speaker or whether what someone says is a statement, question, warning or command.
There are four tones in Chinese altogether:
First Tone = Flat or High Level

Second Tone = Rising or High Rising
Third Tone = Falling-Rising or Low
Fourth Tone = Falling or High-Falling
In writing, we use the accent marks on the main vowel to indicate tone.
For the first tone we use a macron:

[ˉ]āēīōū
For the second tone we use an acute accent:

[ˊ]áéíóú
For the third we use a caron/háček:

[ˇ]ǎěǐǒǔ
For the fourth we use a grave accent:

[ˋ]àèìòù
For example:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
mā 妈 má ⿇ mǎ 马 mà 骂 (mother, hemp, horse,

to curse)
āii 埃 ái 癌 ǎii 矮 ài 爱 (dust, cancer, dwarf,
love)
qi ng 枪
qiāng qiáng 墙 qi ng 抢
qiǎng qiàng 呛 (pistol, wall, to snatch,
to choke)
tuī
tu 推 tuí 颓 tuǐ
tu 腿 tuì 退 (to push, dispirited,
leg, to retreat)
OR we can also use numbers directly after the tonal vowel.
For example:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th

(mother, hemp, horse,
ma1 妈 ma2 ⿇ ma3 马 ma4 骂
to curse)
(dust, cancer, dwarf,
a1i 埃 a2i 癌 a3i 矮 a4i 爱
love)
(pistol, wall, to snatch,
qia1ng 枪 qia2ng 墙 qia3ng 抢 qia4ng 呛
to choke)
(to push, dispirited,
tui1 推 tui2 颓 tui3 腿 tui4 退
leg, to retreat)
As you can see, in Chinese, tone directly affects meaning.

meaning In other words, for a given sound if we make a mistake with
the tone, then we totally change the meaning of what we are saying, and it's not just a small change, the new word can
be completely unrelated from the one we intended to say!
With only about 400 sounds in total, the Chinese language is fairly limited in this regard. Given that there are over
4000 characters in every day use then it follows that for every sound there are on average at least 10 characters. This
could clearly lead to mistakes and misunderstandings were it not for tones!
Culture
II. Culture
Hànyǔ 汉语 and Pǔtōnghuà 普通话
China has fifty-six recognized ethnic groups, using as many as eighty different languages. Hànyǔ
Hàny (汉语), literally
"language of the Han", refers to the standard Chinese language, and is spoken by Han, Hui, Manchu and other ethnic
groups that constitute 94 percent of the population of China.
Chinese includes variants from seven main dialect groups. The northern or Mandarin dialect covers 75 percent of
China's territory, includes two thirds of its population and is the language spoken for example in Beijing. Standard
Chinese is also known by its official designation, Pǔttōnghuà
nghuà (普通话), which literally means "common speech". This is
the dialect of Chinese that is taught in our Rocket Chinese Interactive Audio Course.
Pinyin & Romanization

Also, as you go through these lessons, you'll notice that the written conversations are in fact written with familiar
letters that are relatively easy to sound out.
Without having studied Chinese it is impossible to know the pronunciation of a character. In order to standardize
pronunciation, the Chinese came up with the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet more commonly known as Pinyin. Pinyin
literally means "spelling sounds" and uses the Latin alphabet to spell out the speech sounds of Chinese characters so
we can then read them. This process is called romanization.
The English equivalent to pinyin would be the "phonemic" alphabet which is used in dictionaries to show how a
word is pronounced. Many native English speakers are unaware of the phonemic alphabet but it is used extensively
in the teaching of English as a foreign language to help standardize students' pronunciation. Bear in mind that Pinyin
sometimes may not appear to be phonetic, this is because it was developed not just for English speakers but for all
nationalities!

1.6 What’s Your Name and Where are You Language & Culture Lessons
From?
In this part, you'll get to more closely examine the components of the dialogue you heard last time, where we learned
how to exchange basic introductions in Chinese. You'll learn how to introduce yourself, say where you are from, and be
able to respond to the same questions in turn.
Language Lesson
What Nationality Are You?
Before we get into the more grammatical side of today's lesson, let's look at the following country names and see if
you can recognize them. Some of them you can sound out and guess what they are.
Zhōngguó China
中国
Měiguó America
美国
Jiānádà Canada
加拿⼤
Yīngguó England
英国
Fǎguó France
法国
Déguó Germany
德国
Yìndù India
印度
Hánguó Korea
韩国
Rìběn Japan
⽇本
Just add rén (⼈) after each of these country names, and then you have a "person from that country".
Zhōngguórén a Chinese person, Chinese people

中国⼈
shì (是) [...] is the most basic sentence in Chinese language.
… shì Zhōngguórén。 ... to be Chinese.

... 是中国⼈。
This may mean: I am Chinese. / You are Chinese. / He/She is Chinese. / We are Chinese. / They are Chinese, depending
on the subject.
That is what you can say when you introduce yourself to people. Or if you put different subjects in the front, you can
use this pattern to introduce your friends.
The basic sentence structure is this:

[ A ] shì
shì (是) [ B ]。
[ A ] = [ B ].
Wǒ shì Zhōngguórén。 I am Chinese.

我是中国⼈。
Dàwéi shì Yīngguórén。 Dave is English.

⼤为是英国⼈。
Wǒ shì Lín。 I am Lin

我是林。
One thing you need to bear in mind is that we only use shì
shì (是) if it is followed by a noun. Like in the examples shown
above, shì
shì (是) is followed by Zhōngguórén
Zh ngguórén (中国⼈), a Chinese person, Yīngguórén
Y ngguórén (英国⼈), a British person and Lin
(林), a name, which are all nouns.
Sometimes description words are used after it. For example, instead of "she is American", you want to say "she is
nice". In that kind of sentence, we always have to omit shì
shì (是). And besides that, we always put h ěn n (很) in front of
the description words. So the sentence “she is nice” should be translated into: tā (她), she, h ěn
nh ǎo
o (很好), nice.
As you learned, h ěn
n (很) literally means "very", but in these sentences, it functions more to balance the sentence than
to add additional meaning.
In summary, when description words are used after shì

shì (是), the sentence pattern goes like this:
[ A ] hěn
h n (很) [ C ]。
[A]=[C]
Tā hěn hǎo。 He is well.

他很好。
Dàwéi hěn gāo。 Dave is tall.

⼤为很⾼。
Jīntiān hěn lěng。 Today is cold.

今天很冷。
Zhōngguó hěn dà。 China is big.

中国很⼤。
Asking Questions
To make these into questions, we simply put ma (吗) at the end of the sentences. Remember to change w ǒ (我) into n ǐ
(你).
Nǐ shì Zhōngguórén ma? Are you Chinese?

你是中国⼈吗？
Dàwéi shì Yīngguórén ma? Is Dave from UK?

⼤为是英国⼈吗？
Nǐ shì Lín ma? Are you Lin?

你是林吗？
For sentences with description words, we also put ma (吗) at the end to make them into questions. One thing to bear
in mind is that, we need to omit h ěn
n (很) when it is changed into a question.
Tā hǎo ma? How is he? (literally: is he well?)
他好吗？
Dàwéi gāo ma? Is Dave tall?

⼤为⾼吗？
Jīntiān lěng ma? Is it cold today?

今天冷吗？
Zhōngguó dà ma? Is China big?

中国⼤吗？
Where Are You From?

The English sentence pattern "A comes from B" goes like "[ A ] láizì 来⾃ [ B ]".
Wǒ láizì Zhōngguó。 I come from China.

我来⾃中国。
As usual, you can always change the person at the beginning to talk about where other people come from.
Dàwéi láizì Yīngguó。 Dave comes from England.

⼤为来⾃英国。
Tā láizì Jiānádà。 She comes from Canada.

她来⾃加拿⼤。
Wǒde péngyou láizì Déguó。 My friend comes from Germany.

我的朋友来⾃德国。
Let's replace the country names with another question word n ǎr

r (哪儿), which means "where".
Dàwéi láizì nǎr? Where is Dave from?

⼤为来⾃哪儿？
Dàwéi láizì Yīngguó。 Dave is from the UK.

⼤为来⾃英国。
Extra Vocabulary
xībānyá Spain
西班⽛
pútáoyá Portugal
葡萄⽛
àodàlìyà Australia
澳⼤利亚
mòxīgē Mexico
墨西哥
āijí Egypt
埃及
bāxī Brazil
巴西
yìndùníxīyà Indonesia
印度尼西亚
éguó Russia
俄国
yìdàlì Italy
意⼤利
āgēntíng Argentina
阿根廷
Culture
Volume of Voice
Some people find that Chinese people talk quite loudly, even though most Asians speak quietly.
When you hear Chinese people talk and you are not yet familiar with the language, you might even think that they
are arguing!
The reason for that is that the 4th tone in the Chinese language (falling or high-falling) is quite similar to the same
tone English speakers use when arguing. The 4th tone is used when you say: Tài bàng le! (太棒了! )
So it might sound like you are upset, but in fact you are saying that something is great!! It is important for Chinese
people to pronounce the tones very clearly and therefore speak loudly.
Besides that, when Chinese people talk to each other, especially between close friends, they tend to talk loud to show
that they are happy to have the chance to see and chat with each other. Greeting people loudly and talking to them
loudly can be a very important way to convey your excitement and enhance your relationship. To put it this way, the
louder people talk, the closer the relationship might be!
On the other hand, if you greet people and talk to them quiet and calm, that might make the other people feel you are
trying to keep certain distance from them. As a result, next time when you see them, they will respond to you in the
same quiet and calm way as well, which will make the two parties remain as ordinary acquaintances. So even when
you are just starting out, just clear your throat and let her rip!

1.7 Neutral Tones Language & Culture Lessons
In this lesson, we'll be doing more on tones, and find out what happens when tones combine. We learn about sentence
structure in Chinese, and we'll also give you an overview of Chinese Characters and Simplified Script.
Language Lesson
Neutral Tones
In the common speech of modern Chinese, there are a number of syllables that are not stressed. They lose the tonal
value and become short and weak. These are known as the "neutral tone" and are indicated by the absence of a tone
mark.
Hǎoba! Alright!
好吧!
Wǒde My
我的
Shīzi Lion
狮⼦
Nǐ ne? What about you?

你呢？
Tāmen They, them

他们
When Tones Come Together

In modern Chinese, when two (or more) syllables are pronounced in succession, often the tones that they contain
come together. When this happens, the tones themselves can change.
These changes make the syllables sound different from what they do when they stand alone.
Here are two important instances:
a) When two 3rd tones come together, the first 3rd tone changes to the 2nd tone (which = a rising tone).
Nǐh
h ǎo!
o! → Níhǎo!
Níh o! 你好! Hello!
W ǒ hěn
h n hǎo
h o。 → W ǒ hén hǎo
h o。我很好。 I am well.
h ěn
n lěng
l ng → hén lěng
l ng 很冷 very cold
w ǒ yě
y hěn
h n gāoxìng
g oxìng。 → W ǒ yé hěn
h n gāoxìng
g oxìng。我也很⾼兴。 I am also happy.
b) When two 4th tones come together, the first one doesn't fall to the lowest level but instead falls to about half way.
zàijiàn Goodbye
再见
xièxie Thanks
谢谢
àihào Hobby
爱好
Chinese Characters and Simplified Script

You can think of Chinese, in one sense, as writing with pictures. The characters used to make up classical Chinese
writing are indeed pictures in the sense that they carry meaning on their own. This differs from the English alphabet,
because the English language combines letters (which are symbols) to make up words. Words have meaning, but
letters on their own don't. In fact, Chinese is the only language that works this way — using "pictures" to convey
meaning in the written language.
But Chinese characters are more than simply meaningful pictures! The majority of characters, in addition to
containing information about what they MEAN, also contains information about how they SOUND. That's right, the
same "picture" can contain pronunciation instructions as well.
More specifically, many characters tell you both 1) how they sound and 2) what "category of meaning" they belong to.
to
Example How it sounds What it means
马 mǎ
m ⼥ female 马 mǎ
m
A large number of Chinese characters are made up of numerous strokes, which makes them complicated to write. In
order to make writing easier, continuous attempts have been made to simplify the writing system. That is how the
"simplified characters" have been created. These "simplified characters" are easier to learn, memorize, and write.
Compare the simplified and traditional forms of the following words:
Simplified Traditional
zàijiàn 再见再⾒ goodbye
māma 妈妈媽媽 mom
xièxie 谢谢謝謝 thanks
Chinese ... Period.

Punctuation marks in Chinese are very similar to those in English, except that the Chinese period is not a dot, but a
small circle instead.
Wǒ hěn hǎo。 I am well.

我很好。
Xièxie。 Thanks.
谢谢。
Zàijiàn。 Goodbye.
再见。
Ordering Sentences
In Mandarin Chinese, don't expect to be able to make sense of too much by trying to translate sentences word for
word. That's because the order of sentences in Chinese — the way they are put together — is fundamentally different
from the way you put together sentences in English.
Let's look at a basic sentence structure in English, and see how it changes in Chinese:
A is not as ... as B
Wǒde hànyǔ bùrú nǐde hànyǔ bàng。 My Chinese is not as good as your Chinese.
我的汉语不如你的汉语棒。
When we are translating the sentence pattern of "A is not as [description word] as B," we say:
"A bùrú 不如 B [description word]。"
Just as in the sentence of the dialogue, "my Chinese is not as good as your Chinese", we say ( Wǒde
W de hànyǔ)
hàny bùrú nǐde
n de
hànyǔ
hàny bàng (我的汉语) 不如你的汉语棒. Here are some more examples:
Wǒ bù rú nǐ máng。 I am not as busy as you are.

我不如你忙。
Tā de xué xiào bù rú wǒ de xué xiào dà。 His school is not as big as mine.
他的学校不如我的学校⼤。
You'll just have to retrain your brain to think in terms of the different structure!
Extra Vocabulary & Examples
Nǐmende Yīngyǔ bùrú wǒde bàng! Your (plural) English isn't as good as mine!
你们的英语不如我的棒！
Nǐ bùrú tā lǎn。 You are not as lazy as her.

你不如她懒。
Lǎn Lazy
懒
Gāo Tall/high
⾼
Wǒ bùrú nǐ gāo。 I am not as tall as you.

我不如你⾼。
Jīn tiān bù rú zuó tiān lěng。 Today is not as cold as yesterday.

今天不如昨天冷。
Gāoxìng Happy
⾼兴
Tā bùrú nǐ gāoxìng。 He is not as happy as you.

他不如你⾼兴。
Culture
Being Modest
In Chinese culture, it is regarded as a good virtue to be modest at all times. When people receive some compliments,
they can say:
Xièxie nǐ! Thank you!

谢谢你!
But it is also considered an appropriate response to say:
Nǎli nǎli! Not at all!

哪⾥哪⾥!
or
Shìma? Really?
是吗?
In the dialogue you learned when I told David that his Chinese is wonderful, he replied by using yet another
alternative:
Bùrú nǐde
n de Hànyǔ
Hàny bàng!
bàng 不如你的汉语棒!
Not as good as yours!

1.8 What Time is it? Language & Culture Lessons
Lesson 1.8 of our Rocket Chinese Interactive Audio Course is all about meeting up for a drink and arranging a meeting
time. But first you will need to know how to tell the time in Chinese and today's lesson will teach you exactly that. We
will also introduce a very useful building block or "letter character" that is most widely found in other characters. In fact
it appears in about 1 in every 6 characters.
Language Lesson
What time is it?
It's important to know how to ask for the time, for example you might want to know when the party starts or you
need to find out when the next bus leaves. Luckily asking for the time is very simple in Chinese. All you need to ask
is:
Jǐ diǎn le? What time is it?

几点了？
The first word jǐ 几 means "how many", the second word diǎn
di n 点 is the equivalent to "o'clock".
The last word you see in this question helps to soften the tone of the question as there is no tone mark on the e of le
了. Also this little word is often used in Chinese to convey the idea that something is complete or has happened in the
past, so here we could really spell out the translation as being: "how much time has passed?"
You could also ask:
Xiànzài jǐ diǎn le? What time is it now?

现在几点了？
This literally means: "Now how much time has passed?" But we would translate it as: "What's the time now?"
If we wish to ask a stranger for the time we can make our question a little more polite:
Qǐngwèn, xiànzài jǐ diǎn le? Excuse me, what's the time please?
请问, 现在几点了？
The Chinese tend to use an equivalent to the English "am" and "pm" when telling the time. For am we use:
shàngwǔ morning
上午
For pm while the sun is still shining and it's daytime we use:
xiàwǔ afternoon
下午
For pm once the day has become night we use:
wǎnshàng evening
晚上
Yet these words are put in front of the time! You'll see examples of that in the chart below.
Talking about Quarters and Halves!

As with English, there are Chinese equivalents to "a quarter past", "half past" and "a quarter to".
A quarter past the hour = the hour + yīkè

kè = the hour + ⼀刻
For "a quarter to" the Chinese say "less a quarter".
A quarter to the hour = chàyīkè

chày kè + the hour = 差⼀刻 + the hour
For "half past" the Chinese say "and a half".
Half past the hour = the hour + half = the hour + bàn = the hour + 半
Talking about Minutes

When we want to specify the number of minutes past the hour, not only do we mention the number but also we say
the Chinese word for "minute" which is f ēnzh
nzhōng
ng or 分钟 using characters.
Examples:
Shàngwǔ shídiǎnbàn。 It's ten-thirty in the morning or 10:30 am.
上午⼗点半。
Xiàwǔ sìdiǎn。 It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon or 4 pm.

下午四点。
Xiàwǔ chàyīkè sāndiǎn。 It's a quarter to three in the afternoon or 2:45 pm.
下午差⼀刻三点。
Wǎnshàng jiǔdiǎn yīkè。 It's a quarter past nine in the evening or 9:15 pm.
晚上九点⼀刻。
Shàngwǔ bādiǎn yīfēn。 It's one minute past eight in the morning or 8:01 am.
上午⼋点⼀分。
Shàngwǔ bādiǎn sānshíqīfēn。 It's thirty-seven minutes past eight in the morning 8:37
上午⼋点三⼗七分。 am.
We are surrounded by clocks in our everyday lives and so we have plenty of opportunities to practice our new
timing-telling skills. Make a decision right now to practice when you have the odd moment and if you can practice
right now to reaffirm your commitment to yourself! Hey, it's fun and we're learning something new, go for it!
Extra Vocabulary & Examples
Xiànzài xiàwǔ liǎng diǎn。 Now it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

现在下午两点。
Xiàwǔ liǎng diǎn yīkè。 It's a quarter past 2 in the afternoon.

下午两点⼀刻。
Wǎnshang bā diǎn sìshísān fēn。 It's 8:43 in the evening.

晚上⼋点四⼗三分。
Zǎoshang Early morning
早上
Zǎoshang liù diǎn bàn。 It's half past six in the (early) morning.
早上六点半。
Zhōngwǔ Noon
中午
Bànyè Midnight
半夜
Culture
How do you do?
In the past, Chinese people used to socialize and catch up with friends by inviting them to their own houses for a
meal. Of course it works both ways: the invited people usually will invite the hosts back to their place some time later
to show their gratitude. However, in most cases this practice only applies to close friends.
In recent years, especially after China opened up to the outside world, people started to meet new acquaintances or
ordinary friends in public places. On one hand, they are not close enough to introduce each other into their family
life and on the other hand, going out puts less pressure on people to prepare meals and drinks.
Young people tend to meet each other in cafés, as they are more open to western culture and customs. Middle-aged,
conservative people and business men tend to meet each other in tea houses, as Chinese tea is forever the first choice
among them.

1.9 Out for Dinner and Drinks! Language & Culture Lessons
In this action-packed lesson, we'll be doing all the necessary tasks with regard to numbers and counting. Then we'll be
showing you the money in our culture section, and you'll get to check out the peculiarities of Chinese currency.
Language Lesson
Out for Dinner and Drinks!
What's happening in this exciting issue of grammar? Well, we've got ordering food and drink for a start and then in
our culture section we're going to look at money! So let's get started.
Ordering food and drinks. Diǎn (点)

Diǎn
Di n (点) literally means "point at" but it can also mean "to order" either food or drink.
Wǒ kěyǐ diǎn yǐnliào ma? Can I order drinks?

我可以点饮料吗？
Nǐ xiǎng diǎn shénme cài？ What dishes do you want to order?

你想点什么菜？
To Have and To Have Not. Yǒu / Méiyǒu (有 / 没有)

Yǒu
u (有) is usually used to talk about possessions, in which case, the word before yǒu u (有) is usually a person or
people. It is translated into "have/has". If we do not have something then we can use méiyǒu
méiy u (没有) to refer to "doesn't
have/don't have".
Tā yǒu yígè jiějie。 He has an elder sister.

他有⼀个姐姐。
Tāmen méiyǒu chē。 They don't have cars.

他们没有车。
If the word before yǒu

u (有) is a place or location, yǒu
u (有) is more easily understood as "there is/there are". We use
méiyǒu
méiy u (没有) to refer to "there isn't/there aren't".
Zhuōzi shàng yǒu yīběn shū。 There is a book on the table.

桌⼦上有⼀本书。
Fángjiān lǐ méiyǒu rén。 There is nobody in the room.

房间⾥没有⼈。
And. Hé(和)
Hé (和) stands for "and", yet in Chinese hé (和) is used in much fewer cases than "and" in English where "and" can be
used to connect nouns, description words, action words, or even two sentences. In Chinese, hé (和) is only used to
connect two nouns. Let's listen to some examples:
jiějie hé wǒ elder sister and me

姐姐和我
If three or more nouns are listed, hé (和) is used only between the last two, the same as in English.
Wǒmen yǒu kāfēi, Yīngguó chá hé Zhōngguó chá。 We have coffee, English tea and Chinese tea.
我们有咖啡，英国茶和中国茶。
Here's 30 dollars change. Zhǎo nín sānshí yuán。 (找您三⼗元。)

zhǎo
zh o (找) stands for "to give change". It is used either in the pattern zhǎo
zh o (找) + somebody + money, or zhǎo
zh o (找) +
money. Let's look at an example:
Nín gěi wǒ wǔshí yuán, wǒ zhǎo nín sānshí yuán。 You gave me 50 yuan, and I'll give you change of 30
您给我五⼗元，我找您三⼗元。 yuan.
Extra Examples
Nǐmen xiǎng diǎn yǐnliào ma？ Would you (plural) like to order some drinks?
你们想点饮料吗？
Wǒ xiǎng diǎn zhège cài。 I want to order this dish.

我想点这个菜。
Yǒu méi yǒu cài dān？ Is there a menu?

有没有菜单？
Kěyǐ kàn càidān ma？ Can I see the menu?

可以看菜单吗？
Nǐmen yǒu shénme chá？ What tea do you have?

你们有什么茶？
Wǒ yào yībēi shuǐ。 I would like a glass of water.

我要⼀杯⽔。
Wǒ yào yībēi kāfēi。 I would like a cup coffee.

我要⼀杯咖啡。
Culture
Money Matters
The currency of the People's Republic of China is Rénmínbì (⼈民币), which literally means "people's currency". Its
formal ISO 4217 abbreviation is CNY (China Yuan), however, it is also abbreviated as RMB, which is more commonly
used internationally. The basic unit of RMB is yuán 元 or, more colloquially, kuài 块. In terms of writing, "¥" is put in
front of numbers, for example, RMB¥35.
Chinese currency is issued as bills as well as coins. After the People's Bank of China was established in 1948, five
different versions of Rénmínbì ⼈民币 bills and coins were issued and circulated in 1948, 1955, 1962, 1987 and 1999.
Currently, the first three versions have been taken out of circulation, while the fourth and fifth versions are still in
use. In the fifth version, the currency is issued in eight different denominations:
Bills: 100 yuán 元, 50 yuán 元, 20 yuán 元, 10 yuán 元, 5 yuán 元, 1 yuán 元, 5 jiǎo

ji o ⾓ (=0.5 yuán 元), 1 jiǎo ⾓ (= 0.1 yuán
元)
Coins: 1 yuán 元, 5 jiǎo

ji o ⾓, 1 jiǎo
ji o ⾓
100 yuán 元
50 yuán 元
20 yuán 元
10 yuán 元
5 yuán 元
1 jiǎo ⾓


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1.

1 Introducing Yourself Interactive Audio Lessons

Lin Nǐ xìng shénme?

Dave Wǒ xìng Lewis。

Lin Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

Dave Wǒ jiào Dave。Nǐne?

Lin Wǒ jiào Lín Píng。

Dave Wǒ shì Měiguórén。Nǐne?

Lin Wǒ shì Zhōngguórén。

Jiàndào nǐ wǒ hěn gāoxìng。

Dave Jiàndào nǐ wǒ yě hěn gāoxìng。

dìyī the first

dānyuán chapter, unit

Libros Media Ltd. - Copyright 2004-2014

Nǐzǎo! Good morning!

bùhǎo not good

Xièxie nǐ! Thank you!

Wǒne? What about me?

nín you (polite form)

Nínhǎo! Hello! (polite way)

Nín hǎoma？ How are you? (polite way)

Libros Media Ltd. - Copyright 2004-2014

Dave Huì, kěshì wǒ zhǐ huì shuō yìdiǎnr。

Lin Nǐ xuéxí Hànyǔ duōcháng shíjiān le?

qǐng nǐ shuō màn yìdiǎnr, hǎo ma?

Lin Dāngrán kěyǐ。

Nǐ xuéxí Hànyǔ duōcháng shíjiān le?

Wǒ xuéxí Hànyǔ yǐjīng yīgeyuè le。

Lin Nǐde Hànyǔ hěnbàng!

Dave Bùrú nǐde Hànyǔ bàng!

dìyī the first

dānyuán chapter, unit

dì'èr the second

búhuì can not

wǒde my, mine

zhōngguórén Chinese people

Libros Media Ltd. - Copyright 2004-2014

Dave Jīntiān shíyuè

Zhège xīngqī nǐ máng ma?

Lin Bú tài máng。

Wǒmen yìqǐ hē kāfēi, hǎoma?

Dave Hǎo。Wǒmen shénme shíhòu jiàn?

Lin Xiàwǔ sāndiǎn zěnmeyàng?

Dave Hǎo。Xīngqīwǔ xiàwǔ sāndiǎn wǒ jiē nǐ!

dìyī the first

dìsān the third

yuē to make an appointment

Yīyuè shíhào 10th January

Èryuè èrhào 2nd February

Sìyuè yīhào 1st April

yīdiǎn one o'clock

sìdiǎn four o'clock

wǔdiǎn five o'clock

shídiǎn ten o'clock

Libros Media Ltd. - Copyright 2004-2014

Lin Wǒmen yǒu kāfēi,

Yīngguó chá hé Zhōngguó chá。

Dave Wǒ yào yībēi Zhōngguó chá。

Lin Èrshí yuán。

Dave Gěinǐ wǔshí yuán。

Lin Zhǎo nín sānshí yuán。Xièxie。

dìyī the first

dānyuán chapter, unit

dìsì the fourth