Written Chinese

Epic List of Basic Chinese Phrases for Beginners – Part 1

This is the first part in our no frills series of vocabulary and phrase lists especially for beginners of the Chinese language.

Each Chinese character, bigram or phrase is linked to our Online Dictionary. Click on the red links to see more information about the character, including pronunciation audio and stroke animations to help you learn to write.

? (shéi) – who?

什么? (shén me) – what?

哪里? (nǎ lǐ) – where?

什么时候? (shén me shí hou) – When?

为什么? (wèi shén me) – Why?

怎么样? (zěn me yàng) – How?

这是谁的? (zhè shì shéi de) – Whose?

这个 (zhè ge) – This

那个 (nèi gè) – That

这里 (zhè lǐ) – Here

那里 (nà li) – There

如果 (rú guǒ) – If

但是 (dàn shì) – But

可是 (kě shì) – However

不过 (bù guò) – Nevertheless

因为 (yīn wèi) – Because

那么 (nà me) – Thus

所以 (suǒ yǐ) – So, therefore

是的 (shì de) – Yes

 (bù) – no

可能 (kě néng) – Maybe

不要 (bù yào) – Don’t…

我想 (wǒ xiǎng) – I would like to…

我不想 (wǒ bù xiǎng) – I don’t want

 (tīng) – listen

 (kàn) – Look

 (wén) – Smell

 (mō) – Touch

听我说 (tīng wǒ shuō) – Listen to me!

你看到麦克了吗?(nǐ kàn dào mài kè ma) –  Have you seen Mike?

我看到麦克了。(wǒ kàn dào mài kè le) – I saw Mike.

我想见你! (wǒ xiǎng jiàn nǐ) – I want to meet you!

我给你看。 (wǒ gěi nǐ kàn.) – I’ll show it to you.

 (qǐng) – Please

谢谢 (xiè xie) – Thank you

不客气 (bú kè qi) – Don’t mention it

厕所在哪儿? (cè suǒ zài nǎr) – Where is the toilet?

洗手间在哪儿?(xǐ shǒu jiān  zài nǎr) – Where is the washroom?

这是什么? (zhè shì shén me) – What is this?

….是什么意思? (shì shén me yì si) – What does… mean?

这个怎么念? (zhè ge zěn me niàn) How do you pronounce this?

我有一个问题。 (wǒ yǒu yī gè wèn tí) – I have a question.

懂了吗?(dǒng le ma) – Do you understand?

明白了吗? (míng bai le ma) Is it clear?

我不懂 (wǒ bù dǒng) – I don’t understand.

明白了 (míng bai le) – It’s clear

请解释 (qǐng jiě shì) – Please explain

复杂 (fù zá) – Complex

简单 (jiǎn dān) – Easy

困难 (kùn nan) – Difficult

怪不得! (guài bu de) – No wonder!

很明显 (hěn míng xiǎn) – It’s obvious

我知道 (wǒ zhī dao) – I know

我忘了 (wǒ wàng le) – I forgot

我记得 (wǒ jì de) – I remember

告诉我 (gào su wǒ) – Tell me

你说什么? (nǐ shuō shén me) What did you say?

好不好? (hǎo bu hǎo) Is it Ok?

可以吗? (kě yǐ ma) Is it acceptable?

行吗? (xíng ma) Can you do it?

不行! (bù xíng) Impossible!

 (xíng) – To have permission

都可以 (dōu kě yǐ) – Both is Ok

对不对? (duì bú duì)- Is this right?

 (duì) – right

顺便说一句 (shùn biàn shuō yī jù) – By the way

不对 (bú duì) – Wrong

成功 (chéng gōng)- Success

失败 (shī bài) – Failure

几乎 (jī hū) – Almost

一样 (yī yàng) – Same

差不多 (chà bu duō) – About the same

You can read the second part of our epic list of Chinese vocabulary for beginners here.


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