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Basic Chinese Words & Phrases to Know

When traveling to China or planning an international meeting with Chinese representatives, it’s normal to get overwhelmed by the complicated Chinese characters used. Understanding and being able to speak Chinese may seem like a daunting task for Westerners. But once you get the hang of the basic Chinese words and phrases, making yourself heard in Chinese is not as challenging as it seems. 

Basic Chinese Vocabulary

Westerners refer to Chinese as one language. But the fact is that the Chinese languages are made up of hundreds of dialects and varieties spoken by Han Chinese and some other minority groups, accounting for 92% of the Chinese population. With the predominance of Standard Mandarin Chinese, many foreigners take it for granted that Mandarin is identified with Chinese. But to be exact, despite being the official language and lingua franca in China, Mandarin is a dialect of the Chinese language, which is unintelligible to many other dialects. You can continue reading more about all languages spoken in China if you are interested.

There are hundreds of thousands of Chinese characters in the Chinese vocabulary. But knowing a minimum of 2,500 characters allows you to read a Chinese newspaper.  Linguistic experts estimated that it would take a minimum of 2,200 class hours to become fluent in Mandarin Chinese. 

However, if your goal is to pick up some basic Chinese words or sentences to get around in a Chinese-speaking country or among Chinese speakers, you’ve come to the right place. 

 

Basic Chinese vocabulary

PRONOUN

English

Chinese (S/T)

Pinyin

I, me

we

我们/我們 

wŏ men

you

you (formal)

nín

You (plurals)

你们/你們 

nǐ men

he

she

it

they

他们/他們

 men

they (female)

她们/她們

 men

my

我的

 de

your

你的, 你們的

nǐ de, nǐ men de

his

他的

 de

her

她的

 de

its

它的

 de

their

他們的, 它們的

 men de

 

NOUN

English

Chinese (S/T)

Pinyin

Body Parts

body

身体 / 身體

shēn tǐ

head

/ 頭

tóu

face

/ 臉

liǎn

eye

眼睛

yǎn jīng

nose

鼻子

bí zi

mouth

zuǐ

ear

ěr

hand

shǒu

leg

tuǐ

foot

/腳

jiǎo

 

Time

time

时间/時間

shí jiān

year

nián

month

yuè

week

/週

zhōu

day

,天

rì, tiān

hour

(小) / (小)

(xiǎo) shí

minute

(钟) / (鐘)

fēn (zhōng)

second

miǎo

today

今天, 今日

jīn tiān, jīn rì

tomorrow

明天, 明日

míng tiān, míng rì

the day before yesterday

前天, 前日

qián tiān, qián

the day after tomorrow

后天 / 後天, 后日 / 後日

hòu tiān, hòu rì

Monday

周一 / 週一, 星期一

zhōu yī, xīng qīyī

Tuesday

周二 / 週二, 星期二

zhōu èr, xīng qī èr

Wednesday

周三 / 週三, 星期三

zhōu sān, xīng qī sān

Thursday

周四 / 週四, 星期四

zhōu sì, xīng qī sì

Friday

周五 / 週五, 星期五

zhōu wǔ, xīng qī wǔ

Saturday

周六 / 週六, 星期六

zhōu liù, xīng qī liù

Sunday

周日 / 週日, 星期日

zhōu rì, xīng qī rì

 

Family Members

family

家庭, 家人

jiā tíng, jiā rén

mom

妈妈 / 媽媽

mā ma

dad

爸爸

bà ba

grandma (from dad’s side)

奶奶

nǎi nai

grandma (from mom’s side)

外婆, 姥姥

wàipó, lǎo lao

grandpa (from dad’s side)

爷爷 / 爺爺

yé ye

grandpa (from mom’s side)

外公, 姥爷

wàigōng, lǎo ye

parents

父母

fù mǔ

son

儿子 / 兒子

ér zi

daughter

女儿 / 女兒

nǚ ér

husband

丈夫

zhàng fu

wife

妻子

qī zǐ

 

Home

 

 

door

/ 門

mén

window

chuāng

room

房间 / 房間

fáng jiān

kitchen

厨房 / 廚房

chú fáng

television

电视机 / 電視機

diàn shì jī

fan

风扇 / 風扇

fēng shàn

refrigerator

电冰箱 / 電冰箱

diàn bīng xiāng

air conditioner

空调/ 空調

kōng tiáo

washer

洗衣机 / 洗衣機

xǐ yī jī

microwave

微波炉 / 微波爐

wēi bō lú

hair dryer

吹风机 / 吹風機

chuī fēng jī

 

Animal

cat

/ 貓

māo

dog

gǒu

bird

/ 鳥

niǎo

worm

/ 蟲

chóng

fish

/ 魚

horse

/ 馬

pig

/ 豬

zhū

cow

niú

duck

(子)

deer

鹿

 

Occupation

doctor

医生 / 醫生

yī shēng

lawyer

律师 / 律師

lǜ shī

nurse

护士 / 護士

hù shi

chef

厨师 / 廚師

chú shī

police

警察

jǐng chá

teacher

教师 / 教師

jiào shī

 

Restaurant

table

桌子

zhuō zi

chair

椅子

yǐ zi

menu

菜单 / 菜單

cài dān

spoon

勺子

sháo zi

chopsticks

筷子

kuài zi

plate

盘子 / 盤子

pán zi

bowl

wǎn

water

shuǐ

tea

chá

waitor

服务员 / 服務員

fú wù yuán

bill

账单 / 賬單

zhàng dān

 

Transportation

 

 

airplane

飞机 / 飛機

fēi jī

airport

机场 / 機場

jī chǎng

train

火车 / 火車

huǒ chē

train station

火车站 / 火車站

huǒ chē zhàn

subway

地铁 / 地鐵

dì tiě

bus

公交车 / 公交車

gōng jiāo chē

bus stop

公交车站 / 公交車站

gōng jiāo chē zhàn

taxi

出租车 / 出租車

chū zū chē

bike

自行车 / 自行車

zì xíng chē

traffic light

红绿灯 / 紅綠燈

hóng lǜ dēng

intersection

十字路口

shí zì lù kǒu

 

Technology

computer

电脑 / 電腦

diàn nǎo

laptop

笔记本电脑 / 筆記本電腦

bǐ jì běn diàn nǎo

tablet

平板电脑 / 平板電腦

píng bǎn diàn nǎo

cellphone

手机 / 手機

shǒu jī

headphones

耳机 / 耳機

ěr jī

charger

充电器 / 充電器

chōng diàn qì

Wifi

无线网络 / 無線網絡

wú xiàn wǎng luò

application

软件 / 軟件

ruǎn jiàn

website

网站 / 網站

wǎng zhàn

photo

照片

zhào piàn

account

账号 / 賬號

zhàng hào

password

密码 / 密碼

mì mǎ

 

 

 

VERB

English

Chinese (S/T)

Pinyin

to be (is, am, are)

shì

to become

成为 / 成為

chéng wéi

to want

yào

to see

kàn

to sit

zuò

to go

to use

yòng

to do/make

zuò

to find

zhǎo

to tell

告诉 / 告訴

gào su

to ask

/ 問

wèn

to think

, 觉得 / 覺得

xiǎng, jué de

to eat

chī

to drink

to take

to give

/ 給

gěi

to open

打开 / 打開, 开 / 開

dǎ kāi , kāi

to have

yǒu

to know

知道

zhī dao

to like

喜欢 / 喜歡

xǐ huan

to love

/ 愛

ài

 

 

 

ADJECTIVE

kind

hǎo

good

hǎo

pretty

漂亮

piào liang

big

small

xiǎo

tall

gāo

short

ǎi

interesting

有趣

yǒuqù

hot

/ 熱

cold

lěng

tasty

好吃

hǎo chī

hard

/ 難

nán

soft

柔软 / 柔軟

róu ruǎn

 

Basic Chinese Language Grammar

Despite Chinese and English belong to different language families with distinct writing systems, their grammar rules are surprisingly similar to each other. Like English, Chinese sentence structure also follows the order of subject-verb-object. After you get the hang of the rule of the Chinese sentence structure, you can make some basic Chinese sentences out of the basic Chinese words listed above or with the help of an English-Chinese dictionary. 

English

Chinese

Statement: Subject-Verb-Object

I am a translator.

一名翻译

My name is David.

我的名字大卫

I go to work.

工作

You saw me.

看见

They are sitting on the chairs.

他们坐在椅子上

She likes coffee.

喜欢咖啡

He wants to go to the gift shop.

想要去礼品店

 

Yes/No Question: Subject-Verb-Object +(ma)

Are you a translator?

一名翻译

Is your name David?

你的名字大卫

Did you see me?

看见?

Does she like coffee?

喜欢咖啡?

Does he want to go to the gift shop?

想要去礼品店?

 

 

Negation: Subject+/没有 +Verb+Object

I am not a translator.

一名翻译

My name is not David.

我的名字大卫

I don’t go to work.

工作

You didn’t see me.

没有看见

They are not sitting on the chairs.

他们没有坐在椅子上

She doesn’t like coffee.

喜欢咖啡

He doesn’t want to go to the gift shop.

想要去礼品店

 

Basic Mandarin Chinese Phrases

When traveling to China or having a language barrier with Chinese speakers, you can either turn to your translator App for help or simply put your knowledge of common Chinese words and phrases to the test. Here we have aggregated some basic Chinese phrases to help you get around.

English

Chinese

Pinyin

What’s your name?

你叫什么名字?

nǐ jiào shén me míng zì?

Where are you from?

你来自那里?

nǐ lái zì nǎ li?

What is this?

这是什么?

zhè shì shén me?

I’d like to buy_____.

我想买_____。

wǒ xiǎng mǎi_____.

How much is it?

多少钱?

duō shǎo qián?

What time is it?

现在几点?

xiàn zài jǐ diǎn?

Where do you want to go?

你想去哪里?

nǐ xiǎng qù nǎ li?

How do I get to the ____?

____怎么走?

___ zěn me zǒu?

How is the weather in ____?

____的天气怎么样?

___ de tiān qì zěn me yàng?

Writing Basic Chinese Characters

Learning the basic Chinese language isn’t as daunting as it seems. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with the basic words in Chinese Mandarin and the rules of making them into sentences, you will get the hang of it and be ready to communicate with Chinese speakers in no time. However, writing basic Chinese characters may require a lot of learning and practice since each character has its order of strokes to follow. You can learn more about the knowledge of Chinese characters in this article.

Translating Basic Chinese Words

Artificial intelligence has enhanced the quality of living in many aspects, including making international travel much easier. Thanks to technological advancements, machine translation can accurately translate basic words in a jiffy and facilitate effective communication between speakers of different languages. If you are looking for an App that recognizes basic Mandarin words with English translation, feel free to read more about the best translation App for iPhone or Android in our blog.

To Wrap Up

Acquainting yourself with the basic Chinese words and phrases can be useful when dealing with Chinese people. However, suppose you’re visiting China for business or other official purposes. In that case, it’s best to add a professional Chinese interpreter to your team to ensure everything said is linguistically accurate and culturally appropriate. If you need such a service, don’t hesitate to hit the button and contact us for more information.

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