Matt Ryall, July 2008

Mandarin cheat sheet (中文)

Location words

Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
zhè this
that
Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
zhèlǐ 这里 here
nàlǐ 那里 there

Pronouns

Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
I, me
you
他, 她, 它 he, she, it
shuí who
Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
wǒde 我的 my
nĭde 你的 your
tāde 他的, 她的, 它的 his, hers, its
shuíde 谁的 whose
Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
wǒmen 我们 we, us
nĭmen 你们 you (pl.)
tāmen 他们, 她们, 它们 they

Prepositions

Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
zài at, in
gēn with, after
dào to
with, between

Particles

Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
ma question
suggestion
le to finish, completed, softer tone
a relaxed tone
de ownership, adjectival noun
ne question

Question words

Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
shénme what
wèishénme why
zěnme how
nǎr where
which
shuí who
duōshǎo 多少 how much

Verbs

Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
wèn to ask
shì to be
huí can, be able to
lái to come
jìn to come in
zuò to do
zhǎodào to find
wán to finish
to go
yǒu to have
méiyǒu to have not
rèn to identify
rènshi 认识 to know somebody, to recognise
jièshào to introduce
zhīdào to know
kàn to look at
dǎkāi to open
qĭng to please
niàn to read aloud, to say
xiūxi to rest
zuò to sit down
shuō to speak
shàng to start something
xuéxí to study
dǒng to understand
gōngzuò to work

Adverbs

Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
zài again
dōu both, all
màn slowly
hěn very
fēicháng 非常 extremely

Nouns

Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
shū book
guó country
mén door
nǚ’ér 女儿 daughter
jiā family
lesson, class
rén man, person, people
xiǎojie Miss
xiānsheng Mister
page
dì wǔ yè the fifth page
fùmǔ parents
ér son
xuésheng student
lǎoshī teacher
cēsuǒ toilet

Adjectives

Pinyin Simplified Chinese English
xiǎo small, little
big, large
nán difficult
róngyì easy
hǎo good
xīn new
jiù old
xíng all right, okay