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 tā men
they (female) 她们/她們 tā men
my 我的 wǒ de
your 你的, 你們的 nǐ de, nǐ men de
his 他的 tā de
her 她的 tā de
its 它的 tā de
their 他們的, 它們的 tā men de
NOUN
English Chinese (S/T) Pinyin
Body Parts
body 身体 / 身體 shēn tǐ
head 头 / 頭 tóu
face 脸 / 臉 liǎn
eye 眼睛 yǎn jīng
nose 鼻子 bí zi
mouth zuǐ
ear ěr
hand shǒu
leg tuǐ
foot 脚/腳 jiǎo
Time
time 时间/時間 shí jiān
year nián
month yuè
week 周/週 zhōu
day 日,天 rì, tiān
hour (小)时 / (小)時 (xiǎo) shí
minute 分(钟) / 分(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 门 / 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 猫 / 貓

māo

dog

gǒu

bird 鸟 / 鳥

niǎo

worm 虫 / 蟲 chóng
fish 鱼 / 魚

horse 马 / 馬

pig 猪 / 豬

zhū

cow niú
duck 鴨 (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 问 / 問 wèn
to think 想, 觉得 / 覺得 xiǎng, jué de
to eat chī
to drink
to take
to give 给 / 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 爱 / 愛 ài
ADJECTIVE
kind hǎo
good hǎo
pretty 漂亮 piào liang
big
small xiǎo
tall gāo
short ǎi
interesting 有趣 yǒuqù
hot 热 / 熱
cold lěng
tasty 好吃 hǎo chī
hard 难 / 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.

我是一名翻译。

My name is David.

我的名字是大卫。

I go to work.

我去工作。

You saw me.

你看见我了。

They are sitting on the chairs.

他们坐在椅子上。

She likes coffee.

她喜欢咖啡。

He wants to go to the gift shop.

他想要去礼品店。

 

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

Are you a translator?

你是一名翻译吗?

Is your name David?

你的名字是大卫吗?

Did you see me?

你看见我了吗?

Does she like coffee?

她喜欢咖啡吗?

Does he want to go to the gift shop?

他想要去礼品店吗?

 

 

Negation: Subject+不/没有 +Verb+Object

I am not a translator.

我不是一名翻译。

My name is not David.

我的名字不是大卫。

I don’t go to work.

我不去工作。

You didn’t see me.

你没有看见我。

They are not sitting on the chairs.

他们没有坐在椅子上。

She doesn’t like coffee.

不喜欢咖啡。

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

他不想要去礼品店。

 

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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