Chinese phrasebook Voyage Tips and guide

Contents

This article is about Standard Mandarin Chinese. For Cantonese Chinese (official language in Hong Kong and Macau), see Cantonese phrasebook

Phrasebooks for other varieties of Chinese are listed at China#Talk.

Mandarin Chinese is the official language of mainland China, and one of the official languages of Taiwan and Singapore. Chinese is also one of the official languages in Hong Kong and Macau, although most local people speak Cantonese instead of Mandarin. In English, it is often just called "Mandarin" or "Chinese". While not an official language, it is also widely studied and spoken by the Chinese minorities in Malaysia, Brunei and Myanmar, and commonly heard in Chinatowns throughout the world. In China, it is called Pǔtōnghuà (普通话), meaning "common speech", while in Taiwan it is referred to as Guóyǔ (國語), "the national language." In Indonesia, it is widely known as Zhōnghuáyǔ (中华语), and in Singapore and Malaysia, it simply referred to as Huáyǔ (华语). It has been the main language of education in mainland China and Taiwan since the 1950s, so most non-elderly locals speak it regardless of what their native language or dialect is.

While the spoken Mandarin in the above places is more or less the same, the written characters are different. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau all still use traditional characters, whereas Mainland China and Singapore use a simplified derivative. In Indonesia, the older Chinese generations tend to use the traditional characters, but younger generations tend to use the simplified one, though most of the time, the usage of Latin script is way more commonly practiced.

China is host to a wide variety of related languages (often referred to as dialects), of which Standard Mandarin is just one. Within the Chinese language family, there are 7-10 major branches, each of which contain their own varieties of languages. Languages from different branches (such as Mandarin and Cantonese) are completely mutually unintelligible, whereas languages within the same branch (such as Standard Mandarin and Sichuanese) may have limited mutual intelligibility.

Despite the wide variance in Chinese languages, all speakers normally write the same standard form (using either traditional or simplified characters). This is possible because the Chinese writing system is logographic, meaning individual characters represent ideas as opposed to phonetic sounds. What this means is that one character that would be pronounced completely differently in any number of Chinese languages will be written identically and understood to mean the same thing. Therefore speakers of different Chinese languages who are completely unable to understand each others' speech can effectively communicate via writing. The challenge with a logographic writing system, however, is the huge number of characters required to adequately represent different words: the average Chinese dictionary indexes around 20,000 characters, with an educated Chinese person likely knowing around 8,000, while a typical newspaper requires the reader to know at least 3,000 characters.

Historically, there was no standard spoken Chinese, though a literary standard was established by Qin Shihuang, China's first emperor, in the 3rd century B.C., which we today call Classical Chinese (文言文 wényán wén). Classical Chinese was also adopted as the literary language in Japan, Korea and Vietnam, and was only abandoned in favour of their respective native languages with the rise of nationalism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Classical Chinese is notoriously difficult as it has diverged significantly from the modern varieties of vernacular Chinese, and for most of Chinese history, literacy was largely a privilege reserved for the rich elites. In the wake of what was perceived as a humiliation of China in the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, reforms pushed by protesters in the May Fourth Movement led to the establishment of Standard Mandarin as the first standardized spoken form of Chinese for the entire country, as well as a new literary standard based on vernacular Mandarin in an effort to increase literacy rates.

Following the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC), formal simplifications were made to a large number of common characters in order to reduce the number of strokes required to write them, with the aim of increasing literacy. This has led to two current standards for Chinese writing: Simplified and Traditional characters. Simplified characters are the standard for Singapore and mainland China, whereas Traditional characters are retained as the standard in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. The use of traditional or simplified characters can have controversial political connotations, particularly in Hong Kong. Traditional characters are generally preferred in calligraphy, even in mainland China, due to their superior aesthetic value and as a way of honoring the history of the art.

About one fifth of the world's population speak some form of Chinese as their native language. It is a tonal language that is related to Burmese and Tibetan. In addition, the Dungan language, which is spoken in some parts of the former Soviet Union, is considered to be a variant of Mandarin but uses the Cyrillic alphabet instead of Chinese characters.

The writing system is used by other countries as well, although the languages are not related. The Korean writing system historically used Chinese characters, but completely abandoned them in favor of its own 'hangul' alphabet since the mid 20th century. South Koreans still learn the basics of Chinese characters, and some basic Chinese characters are still occasionally used and widely understood; Japanese uses a mixed writing system comprising of Chinese characters and its own 'kana' syllabary, although over time the meaning of some characters has diverged significantly from those used in Chinese: see this Wiktionary page for a list of similar words with different meanings in Chinese and Japanese language. The Vietnamese language (which uses a distinctive version of the Latin alphabet) has borrowed many words from Chinese, and prior to the French colonisation used Chinese and Chinese-like characters as well.

Standard Mandarin is based on the Mandarin dialect of the Beijing area, and is almost universally understood and spoken (in conjunction with local languages) across mainland China and Taiwan as a result of being the primary language of education and the media. Travelers headed to the special administrative regions (SARs) of Hong Kong or Macau will largely encounter native Cantonese speakers. Mandarin is largely understood in the SARs, though speaking ability varies widely, and in Hong Kong, the use of Mandarin is a touchy political issue. Those heading for Taiwan or South Fujian may find the Minnan dialect useful as well. However, written Chinese in Hong Kong and Macau is still largely based on Standard Mandarin, though colloquial Cantonese may still be written down in informal settings such as tabloids and entertainment magazines.

In the West, Chinese has a reputation for difficulty. In fact, its difficulty to learn once led to calls to replace Chinese characters and grammar with Latin script and English grammar during the 1920s by some intellectuals and writers. These opinions eventually died out, but they certainly influenced the ruling communist party's policy on simplified Chinese characters.

The language is more dense than European languages, meaning considerably more can be said in a text message with the same number of characters. Each character corresponds to a syllable, and each syllable can have multiple meanings depending on the tone with which it is pronounced. Compared to, say, Japanese or Korean, Chinese contains many fewer loan words from European languages such as English, meaning that more effort will have to be made to acquire vocabulary. The grammar, however, may strike a Westerner as pretty simple. Verbs and adjectives are static regardless of subject and whether they are referring to the past, present or future. Nouns do not have genders like most European languages, and there is no separate form for plurals or separate cases. The main difficulties are the five tones, numerous consonants that are not found in European languages, and the numerous characters.

Mandarin, like Vietnamese and Thai, is a tonal language that uses different pitches in syllables and words to indicate different meanings. "Ma" could mean mother, horse, numb, or blame, depending on the tone. Homophones are also common; the same sound at the same pitch can have dozens of meanings. "Zhōng" ("Zhong" with the 1st tone) can mean China/central/centre (中), loyalty (忠), clock (钟), chime (钟), finish (终), a bowl (盅), etc. All of them come with different Chinese characters, just the same sound at the same pitch. While homophones are rarely a problem in most everyday conversations, it is common for Chinese to ask how to write someone's name by identifying the characters one by one. "My name is Wang Fei (王菲). Wang is the "wang" with four strokes, Fei is the "fei" in "shifei" (gossip), with the grass radical on top."

Written Chinese looks like a mysterious secret code to some, but if you can recognize so many commercial logos (usually not logically related), you will be impressed with your capacity to memorize so many characters - most of which are logically related and formed based on certain rules.

There are, in theory, more than 50,000 Chinese characters. The good news is that more than 85% have become obsolete, or are rarely used. Like native speakers of many languages, most Chinese couldn't tell you how many characters are required to read a book and never bother to count how many characters they know. One may argue that junior students are supposed to learn at least 2000 characters and university graduates 5000 characters.

To bridge the gap between recognizing characters and reading out loud, Hanyu pinyin was developed, which uses Latin script as an aid to teaching Chinese. Pronouncing pinyin is not intuitive as certain letters and consonant clusters are used to represent sounds not present in European languages and are thus not pronounced as an English speaker would expect. Nonetheless, learning pinyin at even a basic level has enormous practical value for the traveller. Written pinyin is less useful as most Chinese will not recognize place names or addresses in pinyin, and the same pinyin can be shared by different Chinese characters; it is always better to use characters for written communication.

The pronunciation guide below uses Hanyu pinyin, which is the official romanization of the People's Republic of China and Taiwan. Mainland China uses Hanyu pinyin almost universally, though a few older transliterations remain in names like Tsingtao Beer and Peking University. Taiwan used to use the Wade-Giles system, which is quite different, then in 2002 switched to Tongyong pinyin, only slightly different from Hanyu pinyin, and since 2009 uses Hanyu pinyin just like the People's Republic. However, many older transliterations remain in use in Taiwan, and you may well encounter multiple spellings of the same name (like Tamsui, Tamshui, and Danshui for the town in New Taipei).

Pinyin allows very accurate pronunciation of Mandarin for those who understand it, although the way that it uses letters like q, x, c, z and even i is not at all intuitive to the English speaker since some of these sounds do not exist in English or many other languages. Thus, studying the pronunciation guide below carefully is essential. After you master the pronunciation you will need to move on to the next challenge: using accurate tones whilst speaking.

Some pinyin vowels (especially "e", "i", "ü") can be tricky, so it is best to get a native speaker to demonstrate. Also, beware of the spelling rules listed in the exceptions below.

a

as in father; otherwise

a in ian and yan

as "e" in "bet" or "text" (just the English short "e" sound)

e

unrounded back vowel (IPA [ɤ]), similar to duh; in unstressed syllables, a schwa (IPA [ə]), like idea

i

as in see or key;
after ch, sh, zh, c, s, z or r, not really a vowel at all but just a stretched-out consonant sound

o

as in more
after b, p, m, or f, as in war

u

as in soon; but read ü in ju, qu, yu and xu

ü

as in French lune or German grün; pronounced like "ee" but with rounded lips

These are the most important vowel combinations in Chinese:

ai

as in pie

ao

as in pouch

ei

as in pay

ia

as in ya

ia in ian (but not iang)

as in 'yes

iao

as in meow

ie

as in yes

iong

as in Pyongyang

iu

as in yodel

ou

as in mow

ua

as in want

uo

as in war

Chinese stops distinguish between aspirated and unaspirated, not unvoiced and voiced as in English, and Chinese lacks voiced stops. Aspirated sounds are pronounced with a distinctive puff of air as they are pronounced in English when at the beginning of a word, while unaspirated sounds are pronounced without the puff, as in English when found in clusters.

Place a hand in front of your mouth and compare pit (aspirated) with spit (unaspirated) to see the difference. Note that the list below only gives approximate pronunciations, as many of these consonants have no equivalent in English. As Mandarin does not have voiced stops or affricates, all the consonants listed in the "unaspirated" column should be pronounced unvoiced.

Here are the other consonants in Chinese:

m

as in mow

f

as in fun

n

as in none or none

l

as in lease

h

a throaty h sound as in Scottish loch/Spanish jefe (IPA: [x])

x

as in sheep, but softer than sh

sh

as in shoot

r

as in fair

s

as in sag

ng

as in sing

w

as in wing but silent in wu. Before a, ai, ang, eng, and/or o

y

as in yet but silent in yi, yu

If you think that is a fairly intimidating repertoire, rest assured that many Chinese people, particularly those who are not native Mandarin speakers, will merge many of the sounds above (especially c with ch and z with zh). Other sounds that you may hear merged, depending on the region, include s with sh, f with h, l with n, l with r, i with ü, and n with ng. These are particularly common in southern China, Taiwan and overseas Chinese communities.

There are a fairly large number of niggling exceptions to the basic rules above, based on the position of the sound:

wu-

as u-, so 五百 (五百) wubai is pronounced "ubai"

yi-

as i-, so 一个 (一個) yige is pronounced "ige"

yu-

as ü-, so 豫园 (豫園) Yuyuan is pronounced "ü-üan"

There are five tones in Mandarin that must be followed for proper pronunciation. Never underestimate the importance of these tones. Consider a vowel with a different tone as simply a different vowel altogether, and you will realize why Chinese will not understand you if you use the wrong tone — mǎ is to mā as "I want a cake" is to "I want a coke". Be especially wary of questions that have a falling tone, or conversely exclamations that have an "asking" tone (eg jǐngchá, police). In other words, pronounced like does not imply meaning. While Mandarin speakers also vary their tone just like English speakers do to differentiate a statement from a question and convey emotion, it is much more subtle. Do not try it until you have mastered the basic tones.

1. first tone ( ā )

"high tone": flat, high pitch that is more sung instead of spoken.

2. second tone ( á )

"rising tone": low to middle, rising pitch that is pronounced like the end of a question phrase (Whát?).

3. third tone ( ǎ )

"low tone" or "falling-rising": mid-low to low. For two consecutive syllables in the third tone, the first syllable is pronounced as if it is in the second tone. For example, 打扰 dǎrǎo is pronounced as dárǎo. (When stressed, the third tone is sometimes pronounced mid-low to low to high, dipping pitch.)

4. fourth tone ( à )

"falling tone": high to low, rapidly falling pitch that is pronounced like a command (Stop!).

5. neutral tone ( a )

"toneless": short, unstressed syllable; rarely used by itself (except for phrase particles) but frequently occurs as the second part of a phrase.

While standard Mandarin in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong/Macau is fundamentally similar, and speakers from these regions can generally communicate with each other with no major issues, there are several terms which differ. These differences mainly stem from stronger influences from southern Chinese dialects and Japanese in Taiwanese Mandarin, as well as differing translations for some post-1949 modern concepts.

These differences are generally understandable to Chinese speakers from different places, if not serving as a hint of the speaker's background. Some Taiwanese and Hongkongers shun mainland Chinese words and view them as attempts at cultural assimilation. This is particularly true for translations in arts and entertainment.

The following is a list of some common terms that differ among different areas.

Also note that while the term 小姐 (小姐) xiǎo jiě is often used to address young women and waitresses in Taiwan (and in Singapore and Malaysia), it is a euphemism for "prostitute" in mainland China, and thus would be considered an insult. In mainland China, the corresponding word for addressing a young woman would be 女士 (女士) nǚ shì (which can be used for women of all ages), while the word for addressing a waitress would be 服务员 (服務員) fú wù yuán (which is used for waitstaff of both sexes). Similarly, while 台妹 (臺妹) tái mèi is used in mainland China to refer to any young Taiwanese woman, in Taiwan it is a derogatory term referring to an uncultured young woman from the countryside.

Another term that can cause confusion is 冲凉 (沖涼) chōng liáng, which means "to take a cold shower" in China, but refers to taking any kind of shower in Malaysia and Singapore. Similarly 做工 (做工) zuò gōng means "to work", but it refers specifically to doing manual labour in mainland China and Taiwan, while it refers to doing any kind of work in Malaysia and Singapore.

The Chinese names for several countries and locations also differ between Mainland China and Taiwan, as shown in the table below. Hong Kong uses a blend of Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese names, plus indigenous place names (especially for UK place names) derived from Cantonese.

All phrases show both the simplified characters (used in mainland China, Singapore, and Indonesia) and the traditional characters (used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau) in the following format:

English phrase

Simplified characters (Traditional characters) Hanyu Pinyin

Hello.

你好。 (你好。) Nǐ hǎo.

Hello. (only on the telephone)

喂。 (喂。) Wéi. (In Malaysia and Singapore, the English "hello" is typically used instead)

How are you?

你好吗？ (你好嗎？) Nǐ hǎo ma? (In Indonesia, it is often shortened as Nǐ hăo?)

Not bad

还不错。 (還不錯。) Hái búcuò.

Fine, thank you.

很好, 谢谢。 (很好，謝謝。) Hěn hǎo, xièxie.

May I please ask, what is your name?

请问你叫什么名字？ (請問你叫什麼名字？) Qǐngwèn nǐjiào shěnme míngzì?

What is your name?

你叫什么名字？ (你叫什麼名字？) Nǐ jiào shénme míngzì?

My name is ______ .

我叫 _____ 。 (我叫 _____ 。) Wǒ jiào ______ .

Nice to meet you.

很高兴认识你。 (很高興認識你。) Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ. / 幸会。 (幸會。) Xìng huì.

Please.

请。 (請。) Qǐng.

Thank you.

谢谢。 (謝謝。) Xièxie.

You're welcome.

不客气。 (不客氣。) Bú kèqi.

Excuse me. (getting attention)

请问。 (請問。) qǐng wèn.

Excuse me. (begging pardon)

打扰一下。 (打擾一下。) Dǎrǎo yixià / 麻烦您一下。 (麻煩您一下。) Máfan nín yíxià.

Excuse me. (coming through)

对不起。 (對不起。) ‘’Duìbùqǐ’’ / 请让一下。 (請讓一下。) Qǐng ràng yixià

I'm sorry.

对不起。 (對不起。) Duìbuqǐ.

It's okay. (polite response to "I'm sorry")

没关系。 (沒關系。) méiguānxi.

Goodbye

再见。 (再見。) Zàijiàn

Goodbye (informal)

拜拜。 (拜拜。) Bai-bai (Byebye) (In Indonesia, the more common phrase is Dà-dà)

I can't speak Chinese.

我不会说汉语。 (我不會說漢語。) Wǒ bú huì shuō hànyǔ.

Do you speak English?

你会说英语吗？ (你會說英語嗎？) Nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma?

Is there someone here who speaks English?

这里有人会说英语吗？ (這裏有人會說英語嗎？) Zhèlĭ yǒu rén hùi shuō Yīngyǔ ma?

Help! (in emergencies)

救命！ (救命!) Jiùmìng!

Good morning.

早安。 (早安。) Zǎo'ān.

Good evening.

晚上好。 (晚上好。) Wǎnshàng hǎo.

Good night.

晚安。 (晚安。) Wǎn'ān.

I don't understand.

我听不懂。 (我聽不懂。) Wǒ tīng bu dǒng. (when listening) / 我看不懂。 (我看不懂。) Wǒ kàn bu dǒng. (when reading) (In Indonesia, the more common phrase is 我不知道 Wǒ bù zhī dào)

Where is the toilet?

厕所在哪里？ (廁所在哪裡？) Cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ?

Where is the bathroom（polite)?

洗手间在哪里？ (洗手間在哪裡？) Xǐshǒujiān zài nǎlǐ?

How do you say ____?

____ 怎么说？ (____ 怎麼說？) ____ zěnme shuō?

Leave me alone.

不要打扰我。 (不要打擾我。) búyào dǎrǎo wǒ

I don't want it! (useful for people who come up trying to sell you something)

我不要！ (我不要！) wǒ búyào!

Don't touch me!

不要碰我！ (不要碰我！) búyào pèng wǒ!

I'll call the police.

我要叫警察了。 (我要叫警察了。) wǒ yào jiào jǐngchá le

Police!

警察！ (警察！) jǐngchá!

Stop! Thief!

住手！小偷！ (住手！小偷！) zhùshǒu! xiǎotōu!

I need your help.

我需要你的帮助。 (我需要你的幫助。) wǒ xūyào nǐde bāngzhù

It's an emergency.

这是紧急情况。 (這是緊急情況。) zhèshì jǐnjí qíngkuàng

I'm lost.

我迷路了。 (我迷路了。) wǒ mílù le

I lost my bag.

我的包丢了。 (我的包丟了。) wǒ de bāo diūle

I lost my wallet.

我的钱包丢了。 (我的錢包丟了。) wǒ de qiánbāo diūle

I'm sick.

我生病了。 (我生病了。) wǒ shēngbìng le

I've been injured.

我受伤了。 (我受傷了。) wǒ shòushāng le

I need a doctor.

我需要医生。 (我需要醫生。) wǒ xūyào yīshēng

Can I use your phone?

我可以打个电话吗？ (我可以打個電話嗎？) wǒ kěyǐ dǎ ge diànhuà ma?

Doctor

医生 (醫生) yīshēng

Nurse

护士 (護士) hùshi

Hospital

医院 (醫院) yīyuàn

Chinese medicine

中药 (中藥) zhōngyào

Western medicine

西药 (西藥) xīyào

I am sick.

我生病了。 (我生病了。) wǒ shēngbìng le

My _____ hurts.

我的 ____ 疼/痛。 ( 我的 ____ 疼/痛。) wŏde ____ téng/tòng

Painful

疼/痛 (疼/痛) téng/tòng

Sick/Uncomfortable

不舒服 (不舒服) bù shūfu

Itchy/ticklish

痒 (痒) yǎng

Sore (In muscle strains)

酸 (酸) suān

Fever

发热 (發熱) fārè / 发烧 (發燒) fāshāo

Cough

咳嗽 (咳嗽) késòu

Sneeze

打喷嚏 (打噴嚏) dǎ pēntì

Diarrhoea

拉肚子 (拉肚子) lā dùzi / 泻肚子 (瀉肚子) xiè dùzi

Vomiting

呕吐 (嘔吐) ŏu tù

Running nose

流鼻涕 (流鼻涕) liú bítì

Phlegm

痰 (痰) tán

Cut/wound

割伤 (割傷) gēshāng / 伤口 (傷口) shāngkǒu

Burn

烧伤 (燒傷) shāoshāng

Hands

手 (手) shǒu

Arms

手臂 (手臂) shǒubì / 胳膊 (胳膊) gēbo

Fingers

手指 (手指) shǒuzhǐ

Wrist

手腕 (手腕) shǒuwàn

Shoulder

肩膀 (肩膀) jiānbǎng

Feet

脚 (腳) jiǎo

Toes

脚趾 (腳趾) jiáozhǐ

Legs

腿 (腿) tuǐ

Nails

指甲 (指甲) zhǐjia

Body

身体 (身體) shēntǐ

Eyes

眼睛 (眼睛) yǎnjīng

Ears

耳朵 (耳朵) ěrduo

Nose

鼻子 (鼻子) bízi

Face

脸 (臉) liǎn

Hair

头发 (頭髮) tóufa

Head

头 (頭) tóu

Neck

脖子 (脖子) bózi / 颈项 (頸項) jǐngxiàng

Throat

喉咙 (喉嚨) hóulóng

Chest

胸 (胸) xiōng

Abdomen

肚子 (肚子) dùzi / 腹 (腹) fù

Hip/Waist

腰 (腰) yāo

Buttocks

屁股 (屁股) pìgu

Back

背 (背) bèi

Medical Insurance

医疗保险 (醫療保險) yīliáo bǎoxiǎn

Doctor's fees

医生费 (醫生費) yīshēng fèi

Prescription

处方 (處方) chǔfāng / 药方 (藥方) yàofāng

Medicine

药 (藥) yào

Pharmacy

药店 (藥店) yàodiàn

Chinese numbers are very regular. While Western numerals have become more common and are universally understood, the Chinese numerals shown below are still used, particularly in informal contexts like markets.

0

〇 (〇) / 零 (零) líng

1

一 (一) yī (pronounced yāo when reading numbers like ID card or telephone numbers)

2

二 (二) èr (两 (兩) liǎng is used when specifying quantities)

3

三 (三) sān

4

四 (四) sì

5

五 (五) wǔ

6

六 (六) liù

7

七 (七) qī

8

八 (八) bā

9

九 (九) jiǔ

10

十 (十) shí

11

十一 (十一) shí-yī

12

十二 (十二) shí-èr

13

十三 (十三) shí-sān

14

十四 (十四) shí-sì

15

十五 (十五) shí-wǔ

16

十六 (十六) shí-liù

17

十七 (十七) shí-qī

18

十八 (十八) shí-bā

19

十九 (十九) shí-jiǔ

20

二十 (二十) èr-shí

21

二十一 (二十一) èr-shí-yī

22

二十二 (二十二) èr-shí-èr

23

二十三 (二十三) èr-shí-sān

30

三十 (三十) sān-shí

40

四十 (四十) sì-shí

50

五十 (五十) wǔ-shí

60

六十 (六十) liù-shí

70

七十 (七十) qī-shí

80

八十 (八十) bā-shí

90

九十 (九十) jiǔ-shí

For numbers above 100, any "gaps" must be filled in with 零 líng, as e.g. 一百一 yībǎiyī would otherwise be taken as shorthand for "110". A single unit of tens may be written and pronounced either 一十 yīshí or just 十 shí.

100

一百 (一百) yī-bǎi

101

一百零一 (一百零一) yī-bǎi-líng-yī

110

一百一十 (一百一十) yī-bǎi-yī-shí

111

一百一十一 (一百一十一) yī-bǎi-yī-shí-yī

200

二百 (二百) èr-bǎi (written) or 两百 (兩百) liǎng-bǎi (colloquial)

300

三百 (三百) sān-bǎi

500

五百 (五百) wǔ-bǎi

1000

一千 (一千) yī-qiān

2000

二千 (二千) èr-qiān (written) or 两千 (兩千) liǎng-qiān (colloquial)

Numbers starting from 10,000 are grouped by in units of four digits starting with 万 (萬) wàn (ten thousand). "One million" in Chinese is thus "hundred ten-thousands" 一百万 (一百萬), and "one billion" is "ten hundred-millions" 十亿 (十億).

10,000

一万 (一萬) yī-wàn

10,001

一万零一 (一萬零一) yī-wàn-líng-yī

10,002

一万零二 (一萬零二) yī-wàn-líng-èr

20,000

二万 (二萬) èr-wàn (written) or 两万 (兩萬) liǎng-wàn (colloquial)

50,000

五万 (五萬) wǔ-wàn

100,000

十万 (十萬) shí-wàn

200,000

二十万 (二十萬) èr-shí-wàn

1,000,000

一百万 (一百萬) yī-bǎi-wàn

10,000,000

一千万 (一千萬) yī-qiān-wàn

100,000,000

一亿 (一億) yī-yì

1,000,000,000

十亿 (十億) shí-yì

1,000,000,000,000

一万亿 (一萬億) yī-wàn-yì or 一兆 (一兆) yī-zhào

number _____ (train, bus, etc.)

number measure word (路(路) lù, 号(號) hào, ...) _____ (火车 (火車) huǒ chē, 公共汽车 (公共汽車) gōng gòng qì chē, etc.)

Measure words are used in combination with a number to indicate an amount of something, similar to how English requires "two pieces of furniture" rather than just "two furniture". However, unlike in English, Chinese requires counter words for all nouns, whether countable or uncountable.

When unsure, use 个 (個) ge; even though it may not be correct, you will probably be understood because it is the generic and most common measure word.

one person

一个人 (一個人) yí ge rén

two apples

两个苹果 (兩個蘋果) liǎng ge píngguǒ

one slice of bread

一片面包 (一片麵包) yí piàn miàn bāo

one piece of cake

一块蛋糕 (一塊蛋糕) yí kuài dàn gāo

Be careful about using the right counter words for the latter two. 一个面包 (一個麵包) yí ge miàn bāo and 一个蛋糕 (一個蛋糕) yí ge dàn gāo refer to a whole loaf of bread and a whole cake respectively.

Note that two of something always uses 两 (兩) liǎng rather than 二 (二) èr).

half

半 (半) bàn

less than

少于 (少於) shǎoyú

more than

多于 (多於) duōyú

There are also more complex forms of these characters, used in financial contexts to prevent fraud by adding strokes on characters. Most travellers are unlikely to need to recognize them, but they are used in situations such as writing cheques and printing banknotes.

now

现在 (現在) xiànzài

later

以后 (以後) yǐhòu / 稍后(稍後) shāohòu

before

以前 (以前) yǐqián

morning

早上 (早上) zǎoshang / 上午 (上午) shàngwǔ

noon

中午 (中午) zhōngwǔ

afternoon

下午 (下午) xiàwǔ

evening

傍晚 (傍晚) bàngwǎn

night

晚上 (晚上) wǎnshang

midnight

半夜 (半夜) bànyè / 午夜 (午夜) wǔyè

What time is it?

现在几点？ (現在幾點？) Xiànzài jǐ diǎn?

It is nine in the morning.

早上9点钟。 (早上9點鐘。) Zǎoshàng jǐu diǎn zhōng.

3:30 PM

下午3点半 (下午3點半) Xiàwǔ sān diǎn bàn / 下午3点30分 (下午3點30分) Xiàwǔ sāndiǎn sānshí fēn

3:38 PM

下午3点38分 (下午3點38分) Xiàwǔ sāndiǎn sānshíbā fēn

In formal writing, 时 (時) shí is used instead of 点 (點) diǎn to indicate hours when telling time. Therefore, the time 3:30 PM would be written as 下午3时30分 (下午3時30分) in formal writing. This form is, however, not used in speech.

_____ minute(s)

_____ 分钟 (分鐘) fēnzhōng

_____ hour(s)

_____ 个小时 (個小時) ge xiǎoshí / _____ 个钟头 (個鍾頭) ge zhōngtóu

_____ day(s)

_____ 天 (天) tiān (colloquial) / _____ 日 (日) rì (formal)

_____ week(s)

_____ 个礼拜 (個禮拜) ge lǐbài (colloquial) / _____ 个星期 (個星期) ge xīngqī / _____ 周 (週) zhōu

_____ month(s)

_____ 个月 (個月) ge yùe

_____ year(s)

_____ 年 (年) nián

today

今天 (今天) jīntiān

yesterday

昨天 (昨天) zuótiān

the day before yesterday

前天 (前天) qiántiān

tomorrow

明天 (明天) míngtiān

the day after tomorrow

后天 (後天) hòutiān

this week

这个星期 (這個星期) zhège xīngqī / 这个礼拜 (這個禮拜) zhège lǐbài (colloquial) / 这周 （這週） zhè zhōu

last week

上个星期 (上個星期) shàngge xīngqī / 上个礼拜 (上個禮拜) shàngge lǐbài (colloquial) / 上周 (上週) shàng zhōu

next week

下个星期 (下個星期) xiàge xīngqī / 下个礼拜 (下個禮拜) xiàge lǐbài (colloquial) / 下周 (下週) xià zhōu

Weekdays in Chinese are easy: starting with 1 for Monday, just add the number after 星期 (星期) xīngqī. In Taiwan and Singapore, 星期 (星期) is pronounced xīngqí (second tone on the second syllable).

Sunday

星期天 (星期天) xīngqītiān / 星期日 (星期日) xīngqīrì

Monday

星期一 (星期一) xīngqīyī

Tuesday

星期二 (星期二) xīngqī'èr

Wednesday

星期三 (星期三) xīngqīsān

Thursday

星期四 (星期四) xīngqīsì

Friday

星期五 (星期五) xīngqīwǔ

Saturday

星期六 (星期六) xīngqīliù

In colloquial usage, 星期 (星期) can also be replaced with 礼拜 (禮拜) lǐbài or just 拜 (拜) bài, and 周 (週) zhōu, but only 礼拜天 (禮拜天) lǐbàitiān and 周日 (週日) zhōurì are used, while 礼拜日 (禮拜日) or 周天 (週天) are not used. 礼拜 (禮拜) lǐbài on its own without a suffix can also be used to refer to Sunday. A common way to refer to Saturday and Sunday collectively is 拜六礼拜 (拜六禮拜) bài lìu lǐ bài.

Months in Chinese are also easy: starting with 1 for January, just add the number before 月 (月) yuè.

January

一月 (一月) yī yuè

February

二月 (二月) èr yuè

March

三月 (三月) sān yuè

April

四月 (四月) sì yuè

May

五月 (五月) wŭ yuè

June

六月 (六月) liù yuè

July

七月 (七月) qī yuè

August

八月 (八月) bā yuè

September

九月 (九月) jiŭ yuè

October

十月 (十月) shí yuè

November

十一月 (十一月) shí yī yuè

December

十二月 (十二月) shí èr yuè

In Chinese, years of the Gregorian calendars are generally read as individual digits. For instance, the year 1945 (the last year of World War II) is read as yī jǐu sì wǔ nián. The exception is the last year of each millennium, an example being the year 2000, which is read liǎng qiān nián as if it were an ordinary number.

15th day of the 8th lunar month (the mid-autumn festival)

(农历)八月十五 ((農曆)八月十五) (nónglì) bāyuè shí-wǔ.

1st day of the 1st lunar month

(农历)正月初一 ((農曆)正月初一) (nónglì) zhèngyuè chūyī.

23rd day of the 9th lunar month

(农历)九月廿三 ((農曆)九月廿三) (nónglì) jiŭ yuè niànsān. }}

When writing the date, you name the month (number (1-12) + 月 (月) yuè), before inserting the day (number (1-31) + 日(日) rì/ 号(號) hào). Note that the usage of 号(號) hào is more colloquial than that of 日(日) rì, the latter of which is used in writing and formal speech.

6th January

一月六号 (一月六號) yī yuè liù hào or 一月六日 (一月六日) yī yuè liù rì

25th December

十二月二十五号 (十二月二十五號) shí-èr yuè èr-shí-wǔ hào

In Taiwan, Minguo calendar (民國紀年/民国纪年) is also frequently used. 2023 in the Gregorian calendar corresponds to Minguo 112 nian (民國112年/民国112年). If you see some dates like "112/12/25" (Minguo 112, December 25) in Taiwan, they are probably using the Minguo calendar to address the year. To convert Minguo year into the Gregorian calendar, add 1911 (The last year before the Republic of China was established) in Minguo year. Therefore, Minguo 100 nian (民國100年/民国100年) is 2012 in the Gregorian calendar. Years before 1912 (i.e. You will get zero or a negative number when subtracting 1911) will add the "前" prefix before ther year. So Minguo qian 2 nian (民國前2年/民国前2年) is 1910 in the Gregorian calendar.

black

黑色 (黑色) hēi sè

white

白色 (白色) bái sè

grey

灰色 (灰色) huī sè

red

红色 (紅色) hóng sè

blue

蓝色 (藍色) lán sè

yellow

黄色 (黄色) huáng sè

green

绿色 (綠色) lǜ sè / 青色 (青色) qīng sè

orange

橙色 (橙色) chéng sè

purple

紫色 (紫色) zǐ sè

brown

褐色 (褐色) hè sè / 棕色 (棕色) zōng sè

gold

金色 (金色) jīn se

Do you have it in another colour?

你们有没有其他颜色? (你們有沒有其他顏色?) nǐmen yǒu méiyǒu qítā yánsè ?

Sè means 'colour' so hóng sè is literally 'red colour'. More common for brown and easier to remember is 'coffee colour': 咖啡色 (咖啡色) kā fēi sè

How much is a ticket to _____?

去______的票多少钱? (去______的票多少錢?) qù _____ de piào duō shǎo qián?

Do you go to... (the central station)?

去不去... (火车站)? (去不去... (火車站)?) qù bu qù... (huǒ chē zhàn)

bus

公交车 (公交車) gōng jiāo chē (China) / 公车 (公車) gōng chē (Taiwan) / 巴士 (巴士) bā shì (Singapore)

slow train

火车 (火車) huǒ chē

high-speed train

高铁 (高鐵) gāo tiě

metro / subway

地铁 (地鐵) dì tiě (China & Singapore) / 捷运 (捷運) jié yùn (Taiwan)

tram / streetcar

电车 (電車) diàn chē

light rail

轻轨 (輕軌) qīng guǐ / 轻铁 (輕鐵) (in Hong Kong)

How do I get to _____ ?

怎么去_____? (怎麼去_____?) zěnme qù _____?

...the train station?

...火车站? (...火車站?) ...huǒchēzhàn?

...the bus station?

...汽车站? (汽車站?) ..qìchēzhàn? (China) / ...巴士站? (..巴士站?) ...bāshìzhàn? (Singapore)

...the airport?

...飞机场? (...飛機場?) ...fēi jī chǎng? / ...机场? ( ...機場?) ... jī chǎng?

street

街 (街) jiē

road

路 (路) lù

Turn left.

左转 (左轉) zuǒ zhuǎn

Turn right.

右转 (右轉) yòu zhuǎn

Go straight

直走 (直走) zhízŏu

I've reached my destination

到了 (到了) dàole

U-turn

掉头 (掉頭) diàotóu

Taxi driver

师傅 (師傅) shīfu

Please use the meter machine

请打表 (請打表) qǐng dǎbiǎo

Please turn up the aircon/heater

请把空调开大点。 (請把空調開大點。) qǐng bǎ kōngtiáo kāi dàdiǎn (China) / 请把冷气开大一点。 (請把冷氣開大一點。) qǐng bǎ lěngqì kāi dà yīdiǎn (Singapore)

left

左 (左) zuǒ

right

右 (右) yòu

in front of the _____

_____前面 (_____前面) _____ qiánmiàn

behind the _____

_____后面 (_____後面) _____ hòumiàn

straight ahead

往前走 (往前走) wǎngqián zǒu / 直走 (直走) zhí zǒu

inside

里面 (裡面) lǐ miàn

outside

外面 (外面) wài miàn

north

北 (北) bĕi

south

南 (南) nán

east

东 (東) dōng

west

西 (西) xī

Taxi

出租车 (出租車) chū zū chē (in China) / 计程车 (計程車) jìchéngchē (in Taiwan) / 德士 (德士) dé shì (in Singapore)

Take me to _____, please.

请开到_____。 (請開到_____。) qǐng kāidào _____。

Do you have any rooms available?

你们有房间吗？ (你們有房間嗎？) Nǐmen yǒu fángjiān ma?

Does the room come with...

有没有... (有沒有...) Yǒu méiyǒu…

...bedsheets?

...床单？ (...床單？) ...chuángdān?

...a bathroom?

...浴室？ (浴室？) ...yùshì? (in China) / ...冲凉房？ (...沖涼房？) ...chōngliángfáng? (in Singapore)

...a telephone?

...电话？ (...電話？) ...diànhuà?

...a TV?

...电视机？ (...電視機？) …diànshìjī?

I will stay for _____ night(s).

我打算住_____晚。 (我打算住_____晚。) Wǒ dǎsuàn zhù _____ wǎn.

Do you have a safe?

你们有没有保险箱？ (你們有沒有保險箱？) Nǐmen yǒu méiyǒu bǎoxiǎn xiāng?

Can you wake me at _____?

请明天早上_____叫醒我。 (請明天早上_____叫醒我。) Qǐng míngtiān zǎoshàng _____ jiàoxǐng wǒ.

I want to check out.

我想退房。 (我想退房。) Wǒ xiǎng tuìfáng.

The base unit of currency in Chinese is the 元 (yuán), which could be translated as "dollar", or simply transliterated as "yuan", depending on what currency you are referring to. In financial contexts, such as when writing cheques and printing banknotes, 元 is written as 圆 (圓). One yuan is divided into 10 角 (jiǎo), which is in turn divided into 10 分 (fēn). Colloquially, the yuan is often referred to as the 块 (塊) (kuài), while the jiao is referred to as the 毛 (máo).

pay

付 (付) fù

cash

现金 (現金) xiàn jīn / 现钱 (現錢) xiàn qián

credit card

信用卡 (信用卡) xìn yòng kǎ

debit card

借记卡 (借記卡) jiè jì kǎ

check

支票 (支票) zhīpiào

foreign exchange

外汇 (外匯) wài huì

to change money

换钱 (換錢) huàn qián

exchange rate

汇率 (匯率) huìlǜ

Chinese yuan

人民币 (人民幣) rénmínbì

New Taiwan dollar

新台币 (新臺幣) xīn tái bì / 台币 (臺幣) tái bì

Hong Kong dollar

港元 (港元) gǎng yuán / 港币 (港幣) gǎng bì

Macau pataca

葡币 (葡幣) pú bì / 澳门元 (澳門元) ào mén yuán

Singapore dollar

新加坡元 (新加坡元) xīnjiāpō yuán / 新币 (新幣) xīn bì

Malaysian ringgit

马来西亚令吉 (馬來西亞令吉) mǎláixīyà lìngjí / 马币 (馬幣) mǎ bì

Japanese yen

日元 (日元) rìyuán / 日币 (日幣) rìbì

South Korean won

韩元 (韓元) hányuán / 韩币 (韓幣) hánbì

Vietnamese dong

越南盾 (越南盾) yuènán dùn

Thai baht

泰铢 (泰銖) tàizhū

Indonesian rupiah

印尼盾 (印尼盾) yìnní dùn

US dollar

美元 (美元) měi yuán / 美金 (美金) měi jīn

Euros

欧元 (歐元) ōu yuán

British pounds

英镑 (英鎊) yīng bàng

Can I look at the menu, please?

请给我看看菜单。 (請給我看看菜單。) qǐng gěi wǒ kànkan càidān.

Do you have an English menu?

你有没有英文菜单？ (你有沒有英文菜單？) nǐ yŏu méi yǒu yīngwén càidān?

(Listen for...

Yes, we have one.

有(有) yǒu

No, we don't.

没有 (沒有) méi yǒu

Takeout / take away

打包 (打包) dǎ bāo / 外带 (外帶) wài dài'

Eat here

这边吃 (這邊吃) zhèbiān chī / 内用 (內用) nèi yòng

Dine in

堂吃 (堂吃) tángchī / 堂食 (堂食) tángshí

I'm a vegetarian

我吃素 (我吃素) wǒ chī sù

I only eat Halal food.

我只吃清真食品 (我只吃清真食品) wǒ zhǐ chī qīngzhēn shípǐn

breakfast

早饭 (早飯) zǎofàn / 早餐 (早餐) zǎocān

lunch

午饭 (午飯) wǔfàn / 中饭 (中飯) zhōngfàn / 午餐 (午餐) wǔcān

supper

晚饭 (晚飯) wǎnfàn / 晚餐 (晚餐) wǎncān

beef

牛肉 (牛肉) niúròu

pork

猪肉 (豬肉) zhūròu，or sometimes simply 肉 (肉) ròu.

mutton

羊肉 (羊肉) yángròu

chicken

鸡肉 (雞肉) jīròu

duck

鸭 (鴨) yā

goose

鹅 (鵝) é

fish

鱼 (魚) yú

cheese

奶酪 (奶酪) nǎilào

eggs

鸡蛋 (雞蛋) jīdàn / 蛋 (蛋) dàn (the former specifically refers to chicken eggs, the latter can be used generally for any type of egg)

fresh

新鲜 (新鮮) xīnxiān

fruit

水果 (水果) shuĭguǒ

vegetables

蔬菜 (蔬菜) shūcài / 青菜 (青菜) qīngcài

bread

面包 (麵包) miànbāo

noodles

面条 (麵條) miàntiáo

fried rice

炒饭 (炒飯) chǎofàn

dumpling

饺子 (餃子) jiǎozi

cooked rice

米饭 (米飯) mĭfàn (China) / 饭 (飯) fàn (Singapore)

raw rice

米 (米) mĭ

congee / rice porridge

粥 (粥) zhōu / 稀饭 (稀飯) xīfàn

coffee

咖啡 (咖啡) kāfēi

black coffee

黑咖啡 (黑咖啡) hēi kāfēi

milk

奶 (奶) nǎi / 牛奶 (牛奶) niúnǎi (The former is more general, while the latter specifically refers to cow's milk.)

butter

奶油 (奶油) nǎiyóu (in China and Taiwan) / 牛油 (牛油) niúyóu (in Singapore)

sugar

糖 (糖) táng (Also means "candy".)

salt

盐 (鹽) yán

ground pepper

胡椒粉（胡椒粉）hújiāo fěn

soy sauce

酱油 (醬油) jiàngyóu

fish sauce

鱼露 (魚露) yúlù

oyster sauce

蚝油 (蠔油) háoyóu

tea (drink)

茶 (茶) chá

green tea

绿茶 (綠茶) lǜ chá

scented tea

花茶 (花茶) huāchá

black tea

红茶 (紅茶) hóngchá

juice

果汁 (果汁) guǒzhī

water

水 (水) shuĭ

natural mineral water

矿泉水 (礦泉水) kuàngquán shuǐ

beer

啤酒 (啤酒) píjiŭ

red/white wine

红/白 葡萄酒 (紅/白 葡萄酒) hóng/bái pútáojiŭ

Excuse me, waiter? (getting attention of server)

服务员！ (服務員！) fúwùyuán
In Taiwan and Singapore, it is common to call a waitress using the term 小姐 xiǎojiě, but this is a euphemism for "prostitute" in mainland China and would thus be highly offensive.

It was delicious.

很好吃。(很好吃。) hěn hǎochī (eating) / 很好喝。（很好喝。） hěn hǎohē (drinking)

The check, please.

买单 (買單) mǎidān

Do you serve alcohol?

卖不卖酒？ (賣不賣酒？) mài búmài jiǔ?

Is there table service?

有没有餐桌服务？ (有沒有餐桌服務？) yǒu méiyǒu cānzhuō fúwù?

A beer/two beers, please.

请给我一杯/两杯啤酒。 (請給我一杯/兩杯啤酒。) qǐng gěiwǒ yìbēi/liǎngbēi píjiǔ

A glass of red/white wine, please.

请给我一杯红/白葡萄酒。 (請給我一杯紅/白葡萄酒。) qǐng gěi wǒ yìbēi hóng/bái pútáojiǔ

A pint, please.

请给我一品脱。(請給我一品脫。) qǐng gěi wǒ yìpǐntuō

A bottle, please.

请给我一瓶。 (請給我一瓶。) qǐng gěi wǒ yìpíng

_____ (hard liquor) and _____ (mixer), please.

请给我_____和_____。 (請給我_____和_____。) qǐng gěi wǒ _____ hé _____

baijiu (Chinese hard liquor)

白酒 (白酒) báijiǔ

whiskey

威士忌 (威士忌) wēishìjì

vodka

伏特加 (伏特加) fútèjiā

rum

兰姆酒 (蘭姆酒) lánmǔjiǔ

water

水 (水) shuǐ

mineral spring (i.e. bottled) water

矿泉水 (礦泉水) kuàngquánshuǐ

boiled water

开水 (開水) kāishuǐ

club soda

苏打水 (蘇打水) sūdǎshuǐ

tonic water

通宁水 (通寧水) tōngníngshuǐ

orange juice

橙汁 (橙汁) chéngzhī

Coke (soda)

可乐 (可樂) kělè

Do you have any bar snacks?

有没有吧台点心？ (有沒有吧臺點心？) yǒu méiyǒu bātái diǎnxīn?

One more, please.

请再给我一个。 (請再給我一個。) qǐng zài gěi wǒ yíge

Another round, please.

请再来一轮。 (請再來一輪。) qǐng zàilái yìlún

When is closing time?

几点打烊/关门？ (幾點打烊/關門？) jǐdiǎn dǎyáng/guānmén?

Where is the toilet?

厕所在哪里？ (廁所在那裏？) cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ?

Where is the washroom?

洗手间在哪里？ (洗手間在哪裡？) xǐshǒujiān zài nǎlǐ?

You're handsome.

你好帅。 (你好帥。) nǐ hǎo shuài

You're pretty.

你好漂亮。 (你好漂亮。) nǐ hǎo piàoliang

Bargaining (还价 (還價) huán jià) is possible (and expected) in markets and many small shops. The first price you are given will usually be hugely inflated - it's up to you to haggle it down to something more acceptable. This will probably feel awkward if you aren't used to it, and you may worry about ending up cheating the seller. Don't worry - sellers won't take a price that's too low, and you will usually end up agreeing on a price that's considerably lower than the starting one but still allows the seller to make a profit. Try starting at around 20-30% of the original price; you can always work up from there. The exceptions to the rule are supermarkets, large department stores, bookshops and some of the higher end boutiques, most of which will have signs letting you know that haggling is unacceptable in these stores.

Do you have this in my size?

有没有我的尺码？ (有沒有我的尺碼？) yǒu méiyǒu wǒde chǐmǎ?

How much is this?

这个多少钱？ (這個多少錢？) zhège duōshǎo qián?

That's too expensive.

太贵了。 (太貴了。) tài guì le

Would you take _____?

_____元可以吗？ (_____元可以嗎？) _____ yuán kěyǐ ma?

expensive

贵 (貴) guì

cheap

便宜 (便宜) piányi

I can't afford it.

我带的钱不够。 (我帶的錢不夠。) wǒ dài de qián búgòu

I don't want it.

我不要。 (我不要。) wǒ bú yào

You're cheating me.

你欺骗我。 (你欺騙我。) nǐ qīpiàn wǒ Use with caution!

I'm not interested.

我没有兴趣。 ( 我沒有興趣。) wǒ méiyǒu xìngqù

OK, I'll take it.

我要买这个。 (我要買這個。) wǒ yào mǎi zhège

Do you need a carrier-bag? / Yes / No

你要不要袋子？ nǐ yào bu yào dàizi? / 要 yào / 不要 bú yào

Please provide me with a carrier-bag.

请给我个袋子。 (請給我個袋子。) qǐng gěi wǒ ge dàizi

Do you ship (overseas)?

可以邮寄到海外吗？ (可以郵寄到海外嗎？) kěyǐ yóujì dào hǎiwài ma?

I need...

我要_____ (我要_____) wǒ yào _____

...toothpaste.

牙膏 (牙膏) yágāo

...a toothbrush.

牙刷 (牙刷) yáshuā

...sanitary napkins.

卫生巾 (衛生巾) wèishēngjīn

...tampons.

卫生棉条 (衛生棉條) wèishēng miántiáo

...soap.

肥皂 (肥皂) féizào

...shampoo.

洗发精 (洗髮精) xǐfàjīng

...pain reliever. e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen

止疼药 (止疼藥) zhǐténg yào

...cold medicine.

感冒药 (感冒藥) gǎnmào yào

...stomach medicine.

胃肠药 (胃腸藥) wèicháng yào

...a razor.

剃须刀 (剃鬚刀) tìxūdāo

...an umbrella.

雨伞 (雨傘 ) yǔsǎn

...sunblock lotion.

防晒霜 (防晒霜) fángshàishuāng

...a postcard.

明信片 (明信片) míngxìnpiàn

...postage stamps.

邮票 (郵票) yóupiào

...batteries.

电池 (電池) diànchí

...writing paper.

纸 (紙) zhǐ

...a pen.

笔 (筆) bǐ

...a pencil.

铅笔 (鉛筆) qiānbǐ

...glasses.

眼镜 (眼鏡) yǎnjìng

...English-language books.

英文书 (英文書) Yīngwén shū

...English-language magazines.

英文杂志 (英文雜誌) Yīngwén zázhì

...an English-language newspaper.

英文报纸 (英文報紙) Yīngwén bàozhǐ

...a Chinese-English dictionary.

汉英词典 (漢英詞典) Hàn-Yīng cídiǎn

...an English-Chinese dictionary.

英汉词典 (英漢詞典) Yīng-Hàn cídiǎn

I want to rent a car.

我想要租车。 (我想要租車。) wǒ xiǎngyào zūchē

Can I get insurance?

我可以买保险吗？ (我可以買保險嗎？) wǒ kěyǐ mǎi bǎoxiǎn ma?

stop (on a street sign)

停 (停) tíng

one way

单行道 (單行道 ) dānxíngdào

yield

让路 (讓路) rànglù

no parking

禁止停车 (禁止停車) jìnzhǐ tíngchē

speed limit

速度限制 (速度限制) sùdù xiànzhì

gas (petrol) station

加油站 (加油站) jiāyóuzhàn

petrol

汽油 (汽油) qìyóu

diesel

柴油 (柴油) cháiyóu

I haven't done anything wrong.

我没有做错事。 (我沒有做錯事。) wǒ méiyǒu zuòcuò shì

It was a misunderstanding.

这是误会。 (這是誤會。) zhè shì wùhuì

Where are you taking me?

你带我去哪里？ (你帶我去哪里？) nǐ dài wǒ qù nǎlǐ?

Am I under arrest?

我被捕了吗？ (我被捕了嗎？) wǒ bèibǔle ma?

I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen.

我是 美国/澳洲/英国/加拿大 公民。 (我是 美國/澳洲/英國/加拿大 公民。) wǒ shì měiguó/àozhōu/yīngguó/jiānádà gōngmín

I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate.

我希望跟 美国/澳洲/英国/加拿大 的 大使馆/领事馆 联系。 (我希望跟 美國/澳洲/英國/加拿大 的 大使館/領事館 聯繫。) wǒ xīwàng gēn měiguó/àozhōu/yīngguó/jiānádà de dàshǐguǎn/lǐngshìguǎn liánxì

I want to talk to a lawyer.

我希望跟律师联系。 (我希望跟律師聯繫。) wǒ xīwàng gēn lǜshī liánxì

Can I just pay a fine now?

我可以现在支付罚款吗？ (我可以現在支付罰款嗎？) wǒ kěyǐ xiànzài zhīfù fákuǎn ma?

mobile phone

手机 （手機） shǒujī (China and Taiwan) / 手提电话 （手提電話）shǒutí diànhuà (Singapore)

Can I make international calls here?

可以打国际电话吗? (可以打國際電話嗎?) kěyǐ dǎ guójì diànhuà ma?

How much is it to America/Australia/Britain/Canada?

打到 美国/澳洲/英国/加拿大 是多少钱? (打到 美國/澳洲/英國/加拿大 是多少錢?) dǎdào měiguó/àozhōu/yīngguó/jiānádà shì duōshǎo qián?

Where can I find an Internet cafe?

哪里有网吧? (哪裏有網吧?) nǎlǐ yǒu wǎng bā?

How much is it per hour?

一小时是多少钱? (一小時是多少錢?) yī xiǎoshí shì duōshǎo qián?

"Pain" and "no pain"

痛 tòng and 不痛 bú tòng

"Good" and "not good"

好 hǎo and 不好 bù hǎo

"Very good" or "great"

很好 hěn hǎo

"Want" and "don't want"

要 yào and 不要 bú yào

"That tickles"

痒 yǎng

"Does this hurt?"

痛不痛？ tòng bú tòng? or tòng ma?. For either, answer tòng or bú tòng.

Chinese language learning is flourishing as foreigners recognize the importance of gaining the ability to effectively communicate with a population of 1.3+ billion people. Due to the rapid rise of the Chinese teaching industry however, finding consistent quality instruction can be difficult. Many Chinese language schools and institutes have opened up over the past decade both abroad as well as within China, though before enrolling it is definitely recommended to thoroughly research and speak with current or former students to ensure that effective education is being provided.

For independent learners, it is imperative that one first master tones and the pinyin system before beginning to build vocabulary. The Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK, 汉语水平考试) or Chinese Proficiency Test is China's standardized test for Chinese language proficiency (equivalent to the English TOEFL or IELTS). The HSK provides detailed guides for essential vocabulary and grammatical concepts in increasing level of fluency up to Level VI, which represents full written and oral abilities in the language. A good idea for practicing is to make Chinese friends online since millions of young people in China also look for somebody to practice English with. In Taiwan, the equivalent of the HSK is the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL, 華語文能力測驗), though it is not as widely available or recognised internationally as the HSK.

• Chinese (Wikibooks.org): Free lessons providing detailed grammar explanations, audio samples and stroke order animations.
• Digital Dialects Chinese: Interactive games for learning Chinese in both Pinyin and simplified characters.
• Chinese Flashcards: Annotated Texts, Flashcards, Multiple choice tests
• Dear Dim Sum, daily small bites Chinese lessons
• Chinese Reading Practice: Annotated stories for learners at varying levels

English-Chinese and Chinese-English dictionaries are often disappointingly incomplete and have surprisingly many errors, at least once you get past the basics. Some decent digital dictionaries include:

• Pleco (possibly the most complete Chinese-English dictionary app aimed at learners)
• Youdao (有道词典, popular with Chinese students learning English)
• Wiktionary

The first two can be downloaded as apps, and Pleco can be used offline.