Professional Documents
Culture Documents
(CHINESE MANDARIN)
PATACSIL, MARIA JUVYNE N.
H133TTM_CHN1
PRELIM
prelim
INTRODUCTION NEW WORDS
Wo = I/me
V
Xing = surname
Wo xing surname ming given name Wo xing Patacsil ming Maria Juvyne
V V
NOUNS
Wo de = my/mine
V
Example/s:
Xue sheng [shye sang] = student Teacher Sally Sally lao shi
V
Tong xue [tong shye] = classmate Friend Bianca Bianca peng you
Peng you [pang yow] = friend Lee is my classmate Lee shi wo de tong xue
RULE: Proper noun always comes first before their title, or anything that describes them.
RULE
GREETINGS
Huanying [hwanying] = Welcome NEW WORDS
Ni hao = Hello/Hi
V V
Ni = you/ikaw
V
an = greetings
Wan'an = Good Night
V
syllable
shi
tone
medial
final
是 Chinese character
Chinese Mandarin is a tone dependent language. This means that you can say the same word with a different tone,
and it will have a completely different meaning. Tone goes from a medium pitch to a low pitch to a high pitch.
ㄅ = B [soft 'pah'] ㄉ = D [soft 'tah'] ㄍ = G [soft 'kah'] ㄐ = J [jee] ㄓ = Zhi [dzr] ㄗ = Zi [dzii]
ㄆ = P [hard 'pah'] ㄊ = T [hard 'tah'] ㄎ = K [hard 'kah'] ㄑ = Q [chi] ㄔ = Chi [chr] ㄘ = Ci [tsii]
CONSONANTS
Time
TONE 1 TONE 2 TONE 3 TONE 4
FIRST TONE
High and level. It is important to keep one's voice even (almost monotone) across the whole syllable when pronouncing
the first tone. It is represented by a straight horizontal line above a letter in pinyin (or sometimes by a number "1"
written after the syllable).
SECOND TONE
Rises moderately. In English we sometimes associate this rise in pitch with a question. The second tone is represented
by a rising diagonal line above a letter in pinyin (or sometimes by a number "2" written after the syllable).
THIRD TONE
Falls and then rises again. When pronounced clearly, its tonal "dipping" is very distinctive. It is represented by a
curved "dipping" line above a letter in pinyin (or sometimes by a number "3" written after the syllable).
FOURTH TONE
Starts out high but drops sharply to the bottom of the tonal range. English-speakers often associate this tone with
an angry command. It is represented by a dropping diagonal line above a letter in pinyin (or sometimes by a number
"4" written after the syllable).
FIFTH TONE
It is not mapped on the tone chart because it differs from the other four tones in that it does not have a defined
pitch contour. The neutral tone is pronounced quickly and lightly without regard to pitch. Syllables with a neutral tone
have no tone mark (but are sometimes marked with a "5" or a "0" after the syllable).
This tone is usually very easy to pick up. NOTE that aside from grammatical particles, single syllable words cannot
have a neutral tone.
PRONOUNS
SINGULAR PRONOUN PLURAL PRONOUN POSSESSIVE PRONOUN CASES PRONOUN
Wo = I/me
V
Wo men = we/us
V
Wo de = my/mine
V
Wo men de = our/ours
V
Ni = you
V
Ni men = you (plural)
V
Ni de = your/yours
V
Ni men de = your (plural)
V
NOTE
NOTE: DE [tah] is used for possessive Maria's (possessive) = Maria de
MEN [mahn] for plural forms Mendozas (plural) = Mendoza men
COLORS / YAN SE
5 CHINESE TRADITIONAL COLORS
1. Yellow Huang se [khwang suh]
- highest color; imperial color/color of emperor in China that wears yellow clothes with dragon design
2. Red Hong se [hong suh]
- second to the highest but highest color for ordinary people; symbolizes happiness
3. Green Lu se [lwi suh]
- represents China as an agricultural country
4. Black Hei se [hey suh]
5. White Bai se [pay suh]
- use for in mourn; in special events, they add white with red color
RULE to remember:
When adding two basic colors...
Orange Cheng se [tshang suh] METAL COLORS Basic Color 1 (w/o se) + Basic Color 2 (w/ se)
Ex. Blue-Green = Lan Lu se
Blue Lan se [lan suh] Gold Jin se [jin suh] Black-White = Hei bai se
Bronze Tong se [tong suh] Metal Color (w/o se) + Basic Color (w/ se)
Ex. Golden Red = Jin hong se
Brown (Coffee) Ka fei se [ka fey suh] Qing tong [tsing tong] Pink Bronze = Tong fen hong se
V
FRUITS/GUOTZI/SHUI GUO
Apple ping guo [ping kwo]
V
:
Yao [yaw!] = Want I don't want to buy pineapple Wo bu yao mai feng li V V
Chi [tshi] = Eat Do you like to eat mango? Ni xi huan chi mang guo?
V V V
He [heuh] = Drink Don't you like to buy pineapple Ni bu yao mai feng li ma?
V V
Shi [shr] = is, are, was, were, am Do you love color black? Ni ai hei se ma?
V
TAKE NOTE...
When changing the sentence into
QUESTION WORD I don't like to eat strawberry question, just change the "wo" to "ni"
question.
Ma [mah] = Do/Does To show negation in the sentence or
[soft pay]
thousand 千 qian [chen] 70 = qi shi 59 = wu shi jiu
10,000 万 wan [wan] 90 = jiu shi 88 = ba shi pa
For hundreds: number + "bai" + same with first two rules... TAKE NOTE...
WHEN TO USE "ER" AND "LIANG"?
Examples: ER - used when any number ends with number
300 = san bai 402 = si bai ling er 2
- used in the beginning for numbers 20-29
900 = jiu bai 896 = ba bai jiu shi liu LIANG - used in hundreds and thousands, when
200 = liang bai 303 = san bai ling san it begins with number 2.
120 = yi bai er shi 222 = liang bai er shi er
In hundreds and thousands. don't skip instead
Example/s:
Year 2000 Year 2005
= liang qian nian = liang qian ling wu nian (Formal/Long cut)
Year 2022 = er ling ling wu nian (Shortcut)
= liang qian ling er shi er nian (Formal/Long cut) Year 1521
= er ling er er nian (Shortcut) = yi qian wu bai er shi yi nian (Formal/Long cut)
= yi wu er yi nian (Shortcut)
For months: number + yue...
January = yi yue Example/s:
February = er yue February 10, 2004
March = san yue = liang qian ling si nian er yue shi ri
April = si yue April 22, 2003 (bday)
May = wu yue = er ling ling san nian si yue er shi eri ri
June = liu yue July 16, 1819
July = qi yue = yi ba yi jiu nian qi yue shi liu ri
August = ba yue February 14, 2025
September = jiu yue = er ling er wu nian er yue shi si ri
October = shi yue September 11, 1979
November = shi yi yue = yi jiu qi jiu nian jiu yue shi yi ri
December = shi er yue
For days of the week: xingqi + number... Monday = xingqi yi
Tuesday = xingqi er
- "Qing" means star; "qi" means length of time
Wednesday = xingqi san
- Other terms for weeks are libai (religious belief), zhou (formal use)
Thursday = xingqi si
- "Li" mean event; "bai" means bowing
Friday = xingqi wu
- "Tian" means day/sky; "Ri" means day/sun
Saturday = xingqi liu
Sunday = xingqi ri/xingqi tian
Example/s: = libai ri/libai tian
Monday and Tuesday = xingqi yi he xingqi er
Sunday and Saturday = xingqi ri han xingqi liu
2 months = liang ge yue WORDS FOR SENTENCES
He [heuh]/hand = and
7 weeks = qi ge xingqi Ji [gee] = asking word/which or what
how many?
10 years = shi nian Duoshao [to saw] = how many?
Example/s:
Ji yue? = What month?
Ji ge yue? = How many months?
ADVERB OF TIME
DAY = tian [tyen] WEEK = xingqi [sing chi]
Today = jin tian [jin tyen] This week = zhe ge xingqi [tsuh kah sing chi]
Yesterday = zuo tian [zwo tyen] Last week = shang ge xingqi [sang kah sing chi]
Tomorrow = ming tian [ming tyen] Next week = xia ge xingqi [sha kah sing chi]
Everyday = meitian/meiri/tian tian Every week = mei ge xingqi [mey kah sing chi]
TAKE NOTE: In converting sentence to question, always put "ji" or "duoshao" in the sentence that you want to get an answer.
FINALS
FAMILY NEW WORDS
Yeye [yehyeh] Nainai [naynay] Waipo [waypwo] Waigong [waykong] Shoti = younger bro (Fukien)
Shobe = younger sis (Fukien)
(Grandfather) (Grandmother) (Grandmother) (Grandfather)
Qin = dear
Fu mu qin = parents
Wai = outside
baba [papa]/fu qin [pu chin] mama /mu qin [mu chin]
(father) (mother)
:
Live in/at/on = zhu zai [tsu tsay] English language = ying yu [ing wi]
:
Cellphone number = shou ji hao [sow gi haw] Chinese language = hua yu [hwa wi]
:
Telephone number:= duan hua hao [tyen hwa hao] Japanese language = re yu [reuh wi]
:
ID number = zheng hao [tseng haw] Filipino nationality = fei lu bin ren [fey lwi pin reuhn]
:
Province = sheng [shang] Chinese nationality = zhong guo ren [tsong kwo reuhn]
Hobbies = ai hao [ay haw] Japanese nationality = re pen ren [reuh peuhn reuhn]
LPU = fei lu bin de lyceum da xue [fey lwi pin tah layseum ta shye] English (US) nationality = mei guo ren [mey kwo reuhn]
:
Breakfast = zao can [tsaw tsan] Go home = hui jia [hwey tya]
Lunch = wu can [u tsan] Watch movie = kan dian ying [kan tyen ing]
Dinner = wan can [wan tsan] Watch TV = kan dian shi [kan tyen shr]
Take a bath = xi zao [si tsaw] Read book= kan shu [kan su]
Sleep = shui jiao [swey tyiaw] Language = hua [hwa]
Wake up = qi chuang [chi chwang]
Study = du shu [tu su] Sheng [shang] = birth
School = xue xao [she shaw] Zhu [tsu] = Live
Go to = qu [chu] Sheng fen [tsan fan] = ID
Go to school = qu xue xiao [chu she shaw] Zheng [tsang] = document
Start of class = shang ke [shang keuh] Yi dian dian [i tyen tyen] = a little
Dismissal = xia ke [sya keuh] Can [tsan] = meal
Do assignment = zuo gong ke [two kong keuh]
PERSONAL INFO
NEW WORDS
Wo xing surname ming given name = My surname ____ name ____ Nali = where
Wo jin nian number sui = I am ____ yrs old Nayi = which
Ni jia = your family/house
Wo de sheng rì zài year nián month yuè day rì = My birthday is on ____ Nu = girl
Nan = boy
Wo shi province sheng ren = My province is in ____
Wo zhu zai city shi = I live in ____ city Use "hua" in the end for