Following on from our previous vocabulary lists for beginners, this list of questions and answers will help you get started making Chinese friends. Amongst the Q&As you will also find useful phrases to ask someone to speaker slower, or to repeat a sentence. These dialogues are invaluable when first learning Chinese, as they will teach you some of the basic sentence patterns and grammar structures that you can use to construct your own questions and answers with your Chinese friends!
Q. 您贵姓？ (nín guì xìng) What’s your family name?
A.我姓。。。(wǒ xìng…) My family name is…
Q. 你叫什么名字？(nǐ jiào shén me míng zi) What’s your name?
A. 我叫。。。(wǒ jiào…) My name is…(I’m called…)
Q. 最近。。。怎么样？(zuì jìn…zěn me yàng) How are you?
最近工作怎么样？(zuì jìn gōng zuò zěn me yàng) How’s work been recently?
最近生活怎么样？ (zuì jìn shēng huó zěn me yàng) How’s life?
最近学习怎么样？(zuì jìn xué xí zěn me yàng) How’re your studies going?
Q. 你最近怎么样？(nǐ zuì jìn zěn me yàng) How have you been lately?
A. 还不错。(hái bù cuò) I’m fine.
A. 挺好的。(tǐng hǎo de) I’m good.
A. 我很难过。(wǒ hěn nán guò) I feel sad.
A. 我很累。(wǒ hěn lèi) I feel tired.
A. 我头痛。(wǒ tóu tòng) I have a headache.
A. 我不太舒服。(wǒ bù tài shū fu) I feel sick.
A. 我想睡觉。(wǒ xiǎng shuì jiào) I’m sleepy.
Q 最近忙什么？ (zuì jìn máng shén me) What have you been up to recently?
好久不见。(hǎo jiǔ bu jiàn) Long time no see.
我的中文/英文不太好。(wǒ de zhōng wén / yīng wén bú tài hǎo) My Chinese/English is poor.
请讲英语/中文。 (qǐng jiǎng yīng yǔ/zhōng wén Please speak in English/Chinese.
请说慢一点。(qǐng shuō màn yī diǎn) Please speaker slower.
TOP PHRASE: 请再说一遍。(qǐng zài shuō yī biàn) Please say it again.
Q. 您的意思是什么? (nín de shì yì si shén me) What do you mean?
请进。(qǐng jìn) Please come in.
请坐。(qǐng zuò) Please sit down.
Q. 我可以坐吗？(wǒ kě yǐ zuò ma?) May I sit down?
A. 这个位置有人了。(zhè ge wèi zhi yǒu rén le) Someone is sitting here.
Q. 你从哪来的？ (nǐ cóng nǎ lái de) Where are you from?
A. 我来自英国。(wǒ lái zì yīng guó) I’m from the United Kingdom.
Q. 你做什么工作？(nǐ zuò shén me gōng zuò) What do you do for a living?
A. 我是老师。(wǒ shì lǎo shī) I’m a teacher.
Q. 你几岁了？(nǐ jǐ suì le) How old are you? (For children)
Q. 您多大了？(nín duō dà le) How old are you? (For adults)
Q. 您贵庚？(nín guì gēng) How old are you? (for elders)
Q. 您高寿？(nín gāo shòu) How old are you? (for elders)
A 我。。。岁了。(wǒ suì le) I’m…years old.
Instead of asking an older Chinese friend their age, you might ask what ‘year’ or 属 (shǔ) they are. From this you can work out which year they were born, without being rude.
You can find out more about the Chinese zodiac here.
Q. 你属什么？(nǐ shǔ shén me.) What’s your year sign?
A. 我属。。。(wǒ shǔ…) My year sign is…
鼠 (shǔ) Mouse
牛 (niú) Ox
虎 (hǔ) Tiger
兔 (tù) Rabbit
龙 (lóng) Dragon
蛇 (shé) Snake
马 (mǎ) Horse
羊 (yáng) Sheep
猴 (hóu) Monkey
鸡 (jī) Rooster
狗 (gǒu) Dog
猪 (zhū) Pig
Q. 你什么星座？(nǐ shén me xīng zuò) What’s your astrological sign?
白羊座 (bái yáng zuò) Aries
金牛座 (jīn niú zuò) Taurus
双子座 (shuāng zǐ zuò) Gemini
巨蟹座 (jù xiè zuò) Cancer
狮子座 (shī zi zuò) Leo
处女座 (chǔ nǚ zuò) Virgo
天秤座 (tiān chèng zuò) Libra
天蝎座 (tiān xiē zuò) Scorpio
射手座 (shè shǒu zuò) Sagittarius
摩蟹座 (mó xiè zuò) Capricorn
水瓶座 (shuǐ píng zuò) Aquarius
双鱼座 (shuāng yú zuò) Pisces
Q. 你在这多久了？(nǐ zài zhè duō jiǔ le) How long have you been here?
Q. 你有什么兴趣爱好？(nǐ yǒu shén me yǒu xìng qù ài hào) What are your interests and hobbies?
A. 我的爱好是。。。(wǒ de ài hào shì…) My hobbies are…
我对。。。比较感兴趣。(wǒ duì…bǐ jiào gǎn xìng qù) I’m interested in it.
我没兴趣。(wǒ méi xìng qu) I’m not interested.
不算什么。(bù suàn shén me) It means nothing to me.
A. 我喜欢。。。(wǒ xǐ huan…) I like…
A. 我不喜欢。。。(wǒ bù xǐ huan…) I don’t like…
A. 我讨厌。。。(wǒ tǎo yàn…) I hate…
A. 我恨。。。(wǒ hèn…) I loathe…
Q. 你以前做。。。过吗？(nǐ yǐ qián zuò…guò ma) Have you done…before?
Q. 你信什么教？(nǐ xìn shén me jiào) What is your religion?
佛教 (fó jiào) Buddhist
道教 (dào jiào) Taoist
基督教 (jī dū jiào) Christian
天主教 (tiān zhǔ jiào) Catholic
穆斯林 (mù sī lín) Muslim
无神论者 (wú shén lùn zhě) Atheist
不信教 (bù xìn jiào) No religion
你是什么血型？(nǐ shì shén me xuè xíng) What’s your blood type?
In Asia, blood type is strongly connected to personality.
Type A: Tender, neat and kind.
Type B: Loving, cute, active and humorous.
Type 0: Bad tempered, good decision makers, typical leaders and are wise.
Type AB: Weird geniuses and emotional.
我是A型。(wǒ shì A xíng) I’m type A.
