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Chinese Pinyin
http://www.zapchinese.com/

Chinese characters 1. Chinese characters - Introduction 2. Understanding four tones 3. Pinyin - vowels 4. Pinyin - consonants 5. Chinese Characters - Introduction 6. Chinese Characters - Strokes - I 7. Chinese Characters - Strokes - II 8. Chinese Characters - Radicals - I 9. Chinese Characters - Radicals - II 10. Chinese Characters - Writing Orders Grammar - introduction 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Introduction - I love China! You, I, he/she, it, this and that To be or not to be Noun + Be + adjective Noun + Verb + Noun Noun + Verb + Noun - Future Tense Noun + Verb + Noun - Present Perfect Tense "Can": How to express capability May, maybe - expressing possibility

Lesson 1: Chinese Characters - Introduction han4 zi4

The two characters above mean Chinese Characters. Chinese Characters are the founding block/unit of Chinese language, because one or more Chinese characters form words, phrases, and sentences, etc. The number of Chinese characters can be a little overwhelming, but it helps keep Chinese overall a simply structured language. We start by discussing the pronunciation of Chinese Characters. There are two aspects of Chinese characters pronunciation to learn about.

1. Phonics - Pinyin
Invariably, each Chinese character's pronunciation is either a consonant followed by one or two vowels (always in this order) or one or two vowels only. In an analogy, Chinese characters all sound a bit like "La", "Di", "Da". And generally the pronunciation of each Chinese character lasts about the same length in a sentence. So roughly, a Chinese sentence sounds like "he saw me", "I know you", or "who can sing?", if read flatly. The phonics system for Chinese characters is called Pinyin. We will introduce Pinyin in much detail starting from Class 3.

2. Four Tones
Each Chinese character has one vowel, and each vowel, in turn, has a tone with it. Many characters should have different tones for different meanings, but most have unique tones in all situations. There are 5 possible tones: 4 major tones and a "light" tone. Conventionally, the major tones are labeled as following. Tone 1: flat Tone 2: up Tone 3: curve Tone 4: down The 5th tone is called "light" tone, which has no number as label. Characters with light tone should be pronounced light and fast, the only exceptions to the previous rule that all characters in a sentence lasts about the same long. We will introduce how to pronounce the four tones in the next class. It is important to remember that Chinese characters tone has nothing to do with its meaning.

Lesson 2: Understanding Four Tones

The best way to explain tones is probably do so by using examples. Here, we can use English pronunciation of letter "i" as one example.

Tone 1: flat
In English, it is the default tone we use to pronounce 'i' emotionlessly as in saying "I am ....". The audio material will show flat tone 'i', and how 'i' would sound on other tones as if with strong emotions although you should keep in mind that in Chinese, tones have nothing to do with meanings or emotions.

Tone 2: up
This tone is a little like the tone used in English for questions. For example: "Is he right?" The tone of "i" used in word 'right' here is equivalent to the up tone used in Chinese.

Tone 3: curve
There is not exact equivalent for Tone 3 in English. However, Tone 3 can be delivered through a quick combination of tone 4 and tone 2 in a very quick way. Remember, tone 4 before tone 2. So maybe you want to learn to use tone 4 first.

Tone 4: down
The 4th tone is what you will use when saying "right" as in "Yes, he is right.

Four tones together:

All vowels can be pronounced in 4 tones. It can be a great practice to play it on your own language. Listen to this example that uses 4 four tones to pronounce English letters A, B, C, and D.

Lesson 3: Pinyin - Vowels pin1 yin1

Pinyin is a Roman-letter based system that China now uses to mark the pronunciation of Chinese characters. With four tones and pinyin, any Chinese characters can be pronounced precisely. In many cases, Pinyin is quite intuitive to English speakers with only a few exceptions. However, it can be a twist to render Pinyin in four tones for people who just start. Pinyin is made up of 2 tables: vowel table and consonant table, the latter of which will be discussed in Class 4.

Vowel Table:
a ai ao ie an ang o ei ou ue en eng e ui iu er in ing i u

un ong

As you can see, most vowels are simply a combination of the 6 major vowels in the first row, which is obviously the most important part, and some special consonants. How can you remember all this? We are putting all these into English words with virtually the same sound for you to learn and remember in an easier way. *Note: letters in the following explanation in "..." are pronounced as in English, and those in '... ' are pronounced in Pinyin. Also, all samples are delivered in 4 tones. a - as the vowel in "star" without the "r" sound o - as the vowel in "law"

e - as the vowel in "stir" i - as the vowel in "bit" u - as the vowel in "food" - as "y" in "yellow" followed by the 'u' above

ai - as the vowel in "bike" ei - as the vowel in "lake" ui - combination of 'u' and 'i', the same as word "we" in English ao - as the vowel in "loud" ou - as the vowel in "flow" iu - combination of 'i' and 'u', the same as word "yew" in English ie - combination of 'i' and 'e', as the vowel in "sierra" ue - combination of 'u' and 'e', as the vowel in "buena" er - combination of 'e' and 'r', as the vowel in "early" an - as the vowel in "anchor": en - as the word "earn" without the "r" sound: in - as in the word "inn" un - as in the word "one": n - as "y" in "yellow" followed by the English word "one" ang - as the word "long" eng - as the vowel in "lung" ing - as the vowel in "England" ong - as 'u' followed by the 'ng' as above:

Lesson 4: Pinyin - Consonants

Consonant Table: bpmf dtnl gkh jqx zcsr zh ch sh yw For consonants, we also put all these into English words with the same sound for you to learn and remember in an easier way. *Note: We pronounce these consonants followed by some vowels that can help deliver the sound more clearly. Letters in the following explanation in "..." are pronounced as in English, and those in '... ' are pronounced in Pinyin.

b - as the "b" in "book" p - as the "p" in "pool" m - as the "m" in "moon" f - as the "f" in "food"

d - as the "d" in "door" t - as the "t" in "tom" n - as the "n" in "no" l - as the "l" in "love"

g - as the "g" in good" k - as the "k" in "kill" h- as the "h" in "high"

j- as the "j" in "jeep" q- as the "ch" in "cheese"

x- as the "sh" in "sharp"

z- as the "z" in "zero" c- as the "ts" in "tsunami" s- as the "s" in "sun" r- as the "r" in "red"

zh- start with 'j' in "jeep", but then end smoothly with "r" sound. The first 2 sounds in the sample voice show such move.

ch- start with 'q' in "cheese", but then end smoothly with "r" sound. The first 2 sounds in the sample voice show such move.

sh - start with 'x' in "sharp", but then end smoothly with "r" sound. The first 2 sounds in the sample voice show such move. ( 'zh, ch, sh' are similar to, but strictly different from 'j, q, x' respectively. However, mixing them is not a too big problem for you to be understood in China.)

y- as the "y" in "yes" w- as the "w" in "wood"

Lesson 5: Writing Chinese Characters An introduction

Chinese characters are all in square block shape like this one: (meaning mouth). Simple or complicated, they all take the same area on paper. To write Chinese, you should know 3 things to get ready:

1. Strokes
A stroke is a single brush of pen on the paper. All Chinese characters are made of one or more strokes such as the character: (meaning one). There are dozens of simple strokes which will be discussed in detail in Class 6. Please also remember that every stroke should be written in a specific way. For example, the horizontal stroke in character has to been written from left to right.

2. Radicals
Radicals are the basic component of Chinese characters. Think of Chinese characters as molecules like water or salt and then the radicals as equivalents to element atoms such as sodium, hydrogen, or oxygen. The analogy can be demonstrated this way: Chinese characters - > molecules such as water, salt, sugar Radicals - > atoms such as sodium, hydrogen, or carbon Stroke - > subatomic particles such as proton, neutron, or electron Just like Chemical elements, many radicals can make single characters by themselves. The character(mouth), for example, is frequently used as radicals in characters related to mouth such as , meaning sing. Radicals are very important to the meaning and writing of Chinese characters. Here are two examples. First example, means man. It is made up of 2 radicals vertically. The upper part is , meaning farm land and the lower part is , meaning labor or force. Therefore, it is easy to remember the character because the labor at the land is often male people. Another example: the character means forest. Since means wood, it should seem obvious that doubling wood would make a forest. There are about 200 radicals in Chinese characters. Learning them all is a natural process that will not take too long.

3. Stroke and Radical orders

There is a certain order to write strokes and radicals in a Chinese character. The general rule is from above to below, from outside to inside, and from left to right.

We will use the next 3 lessons to show you the details of these 3 important aspects of writing Chinese characters so that you will be best prepared to start to write Chinese.

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Lesson 6: Writing Chinese Characters Strokes Part I

There are 31 fundamental strokes for Chinese characters. You just need to learn how to recognize and write them. To what extend should you know about strokes? You should be able to recognize the strokes in all Chinese characters as you see them no matter if you know the characters or not. However, you do not have to remember their official names at all. Most Chinese people do not know either. Please follow the demo to write the strokes. It is the sole, correct way to write them. After watching the demo, also try to find the stroke in the sample character. The first 16 strokes are shown here: 1. Horizontal
Video Sample Character

To play video again, right-click video and click "play"

2. Vertical
Video Sample Character

3. Left away
Video Sample Character

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4. Dot
Video Sample Character

5. Horizontal Turn
Video Sample Character

6. Right away
Video Sample Character

7. Rise
Video Sample Character

8. Horizontal Turn and Hook

Video Sample Character

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9. Vertical Hook
Video Sample Character

10. Horizontal Left Away

Video Sample Character

11. Horizontal Hook

Video Sample Character

12. Vertical Bend Hook

Video Sample Character

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13. Left Away and Turn

Video Sample Character

14. Vertical and Rise

Video Sample Character

15. Vertical and Turn

Video Sample Character

16. Left Away and Dot

Video Sample Character

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Lesson 7: Writing Chinese Characters Strokes Part II The more complicated 15 strokes are introduced in this section. They appear less frequently than the strokes in previous section. Again, you do not have to remember their name, but you should be able to recognize them in characters and use them proficiently. After watching the demo, also try to find the stroke in the sample character. The next 15 strokes are shown here:
1. Vertical turn and hook
Video Sample Character

To play video again, right-click video and click "play"

2. Slant hook
Video Sample Character

3. Horizontal, left away, bend and hook

Video Sample Character

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4. Horizontal turn and rise

Video Sample Character

5. Bend hook
Video Sample Character

6. Horizontal turn bend and hook

Video Sample Character

7. Vertical bend and hook

Video Sample Character

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8. Horizontal vertical and bend

Video Sample Character

9. Horizontal turn turn turn and hook

Video Sample Character

10. Horizontal slant hook

Video Sample Character

11. Horizontal turn turn and left away

Video Sample Character

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12. Vertical turn and left away

Video Sample Character

13. Vertical turn and turn

Video Sample Character

14. Horizontal turn and turn

Video Sample Character

15. Horizontal turn, turn and turn

Video Sample Character

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Lesson 8 Writing Chinese Characters Radicals Part I

Now that you are familiar with strokes, we can go to the atomic level of Chinese characters radicals. Almost all Chinese characters are made of one or several radicals. Radicals not only help you remember the graphic features of a character (making it easier for you to remember how to write it), but also provide you hints on pronunciation and meaning. Very often, a Chinese character has multiple radicals where one shows pronunciation and the other indicates meanings. Radicals can take different positions of a character: top-bottom, right-left, insideout. We will discuss more about this in the section on the internal layout of square Chinese characters. There are a lot of radicals so we choose to introduce about 30 most often used radicals at this entry level. For each radical, please make sure you internalize 3 things: writing, pinyin, and its meaning. Since some radicals cannot be used as a single character and so are impossible to display properly on the page, we will use a character containing that radical with a note like the left part of

1.

- also a single character - pinyin: ri4

- meaning: related to sun, bright, warmth, positive etc. - sample characters: (sun, Yang as in Yinyang) , (spring), (sunbathing)

2.

- also a single character - pinyin: yue4

- meaning: related to moon, bright, chill, negative, etc.

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- sample characters: (moon, bright) (negative, cool, Yin as in Yinyang)

3.

- also a single character - pingyin: he2

- meaing: grain, related to agriculture, farming, crops, etc. - sample characters: (rice plant), (ear, spike)

4.

- not single character, derived from (hand) - pinyin: shou3

- meaning: hand, related to manual action, operation, etc. - sample characters: (hit) (carry) (touch)

5. left part of

- not a single character, derived from (foot) - pinyin: zu2

- meaning: foot

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- sample characters: (run) (jump) (leap) (follow)

6.

- not a single character, derived from (gold, metal), usually at the left side - pinyin: jin1

- meaning: everything related metal or metal processing - sample characters: (iron) (aluminum) (copper) (silver) (steel) (casting)

7.

- can be a single character - pinyin: mu4

- meaning: wood, and every thing related to wood, forest - sample characters: (tree) (forest) (forest) (materials)

8.

- can be a single character - pinyin: shui3

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- meaning: water, everything related to water - sample characters: (ice) (spring) (urine, means body)

- can be a single character - pinyin: huo3

- meaning: fire everything related to burning, fire, flame - sample characters: (burn) (stir fry) (explode) (bomb) (fir, burn)

10

- can be a single character - pinyin: tu3

- meaning: earth, mud, clay, everything related to land, ground - sample characters: (land) (levee), (venue, ground), (rural village)

11.

- can be a single character - pinyin: zhou1

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- meaning: boat, ship, everything related to shipping - sample characters: (ship) (chamber) (plate)

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- can be a single character - pinyin: you2

- meaning: wine, everything related to alcohols, fermentation, ceremony, festivity, etc. - sample characters: (alcohols) (drunk) (wake up) (chief, leader get to hold the wine in ancient ceremony)

13.

- can be a single character - pinyin: shi2

- meaning: stone, everything related to stone, brick, hard, etc. - sample characters: (brick) (landmine) (pump) (rock)

14.

- can be a single character, or as the left part of many characters - pinyin: ren2

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- meaning: human, everything related to people, human being, body - sample characters: (crowd) (prisoner) (body) (health)

15.

- can be a single character - pinyin: shan1

- meaning: hill, mountain, everything related to mountain, hill, - sample characters: (mountain range) (celestial beings, who live up in mountains )

The other 15 common radicals will be introduced in the Part II.

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Lesson 9 - Writing Chinese Characters Radicals Part II

Here are the other 15 frequently used radicals.

1.

- also a single character - pinyin: xin1

- meaning: heart, related to heart, thinking, feeling, mental etc. - sample characters: (think, miss) , (think) (read) (forget)

2.

- NOT a single character - meaning: related to thread, textile, clothing, materials etc. - sample characters: (silk) (paper) (spin) (yarn)

3.

- also a single character - pingyin: n3

- meaing: female, related to female, lady, etc. - sample characters: (good), (mother), (sister)

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4.

- can be a single character - pinyin: wang2

- meaning: king, related to king, authority, etc. - sample characters: (play) (theory)

5.

- can be a single character - pinyin: mu4

- meaning: eye - sample characters: (eye) (look) (sleep)

6.

- can be a single character - pinyin: yu2

- meaning: everything related to fish - sample characters: (iron) (shark) (whale)

7.

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- not a single character, from (talk, words) - pinyin - meaning: speak, talk, voice - sample characters: (talk) (comment) (speak) (ironize)

8.

- Not a single character - pinyin: - meaning: cover, being covered - sample characters: (safe) (prison) (treasure)

9.

- Not a single character, from (grass) - pinyin: - meaning: grass, everything related to grass, lawn - sample characters: (flower) (dish, entree) (vegetable)

10.
- Not a single character, from (bamboo) - pinyin: - meaning: everything related bamboo (a very important plant in China) - sample characters: (basket) (pen)

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11.

- can be a single character - pinyin: chong2

- meaning: bug, worm, everything related to bug, insects - sample characters: (shrimp) (snake) (mosquito)

12.

- can be a single character - pinyin: er3

- meaning: ear, everything related to ear, sound, hearing, etc. - sample characters: (sharp, smart) (deaf)

13.

- not a single character, from (cloth) - pinyin - meaning: everything related to clothing materials, etc. - sample characters: (patch) (quilt) (robe)

14.

- can be a single character,

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- pinyin: kou3

- meaning: mouth, everything related to mouth, or circled structure - sample characters: (prisoner) (country) (spit)

15.

- not a single character - meaning: related to body, health, disease, - sample characters: (disease) (pain) (itch)

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Lesson 10 Writing Chinese Characters Writing orders

For a character, the order of writing is normally from top to bottom, from left to right, and from outside to inside.

top to bottom:

1.

san1 three

2.

zhong4 crowd

left to right:

3.

ren2 mercy

4.

li3

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courtesy

outside to inside:
*Please notice the bottom horizontal line is always the last stroke in this structure.

5.

guo2 country

6.

qiu2 prisoner In a paragraph, modern Chinese is written the same way as English, where you write from left to right in each line horizontal and from top to bottom vertically. Ancient Chinese, however, is written in vertical lines and lines are arranged from right to left.

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Lesson 11 Grammar Introduction I love China!

Lesson 1 to 10 should give you a fundamental framework of learning Chinese characters and it is about time to put characters and words together into sentences. Lets start by the first sentence you should learn:

!
I love China!

wo3
I, me

ai4
love

zhong1 guo2
China

Explanation:
This sentence is of a typical structure: noun (subject) + verb + noun (object) Since Chinese does not have different forms of nouns serving as a subject or object, the order of words has to be in this particular order. Reversing I and China will mean China loves me. Here is another example using similar words of the same structure:

!
We like Europe!

Wo3men2
we

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xi3huan1
like

ou1zhou1
Europe

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Lesson 12. Grammars You, I, he/she, it, and this/that

In this class, we will show you some most important pronouns in Chinese. The general principle is, unlike English, Chinese do not change form for pronouns based on their role in sentence (as subjective or objective).

Section A. General 1. you 2.

ni3

wo3 ta1 ta1 ta1

I/me

3.

He/him

4.

She/her

5.
It

Section B. Plural 6.

men ni3 men

Equivalent to the plural forms to put behind other pronounces as shown below.

7.

You (in plural)

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8.

wo3men ta1men ta1men ta1men

We

9.

They (male, or mix of male and female)

10.

They (female)

11.

They (it in plural)

Section C. Ownership 12.

ni3de ni3men2de

Equivalent to -s in English to demonstration ownership

13.

Your/yours

14.

Your/yours in plural *As you can see here, is always before and has a second tone when followed by , which still has light tone.

15.

wo3de wo3men2de

my/mine

16.

Our/ours

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17.

//

ta1de

his /her(s) /its We put these 3 words together to emphasize that they have the same pronunciation.

18.

/ /

ta1 men de

their(s) for male, female, and non-human references These three words also sound the same. Section D. This/That

19.
This

zhe4 na4 xie zhe4 xie na4 xie

20.
That

21.

Equivalent to the plural forms to put behind this/that for these/those as shown below.

22.

These

23.

Those

Section E. Examples
Lets first learn 3 new words before going to 2 examples.

24.

shi4

be/is/am/are

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We will have more explanation on this word in the next class.

25.
book

shu1 xue2sheng1

26.

student 27. Samples sentence 1:

. zhe4 shi4 shu1

This is a book. (Chinese does not use articles a/an/the.)

28. Sample sentence 2:

. wo3 shi4 xue3 sheng1

I am a student.

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Lesson 13. Grammars to BE or NOT to Be

One of the simplest and yet the most important structure in Chinese language is the following: Noun + Verb + noun It is the same as English. The first noun is subject, the verb describes action, and the last noun serves either as object or complement. For example: I love books. He hates math. Similar to that of English, the most frequently used verb of such structure in Chinese is also verb BE, the emphasis of this class.

1.

shi4 bu4 bu2 shi4

This is only form of verb Be in Chinese, independent of tense, subjects, or single/plural forms.

2.

means no. It is used to present negative.

3.

Please notice that the tone of changes to 2 instead of 4 when used as not in front of . Again, unlike English where not follows verb Be, precedes in Chinese. Examples:

4.

wo3 shi4 zhong1 guo2 ren2 ta1 men bu2 shi4 xue2 sheng1

I am Chinese.

5.

They are not students.

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Lesson 14 Noun + Be. + adj.

In last class, we gave a detailed introduction about verb Be and how it is used in Chinese both in positive and negative way for noun + verb + noun structure. In addition to noun, Becan also be followed by adj. to describe the noun as subject. In this case, the adj. is often followed by a word , which, like a/an/the in English, does not have any specific meaning but to complete a sentence.

1.

de

auxiliary word with various structure usages to complete a sentence or link two words So the complete structure of Noun + Be. + adj. in Chinese should be: Noun + ()+ adj. + Here are some samples to learn both the structure and some important new words.

2.

Hua1 shi4 hong2 de. Cao3 shi4 lu4 de. Tou2fa4 shi4 hei1 de. Xue3 bu2shi4 hei1 de. Xue3 shi4 bai2 de.

Flower is red

3.

Grass is green.

4.

Hair is black.

5.

Snow is not black.

6.

Snow is white. When you want to use an adverb to describe the adj. to express the extent, please remember to omit both and.

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7.

zhen1 hen3
(can replace each other)

Very

8.

Very, the same as

9.

! cao3 zhen1 lu4 wo3 de lao3shi1 zhen1 hao3 ni3 de zhong1wen2 hen3 liu2li4

The grass is so green!

10.

My teacher is very good!

11.

Your Chinese is very fluent!

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Lesson 15 Noun + verb + noun

In this class, we introduce a very common structure: noun + verb + noun. This structure is used to make very general statement. Without the help of many structural adverbs, which we will introduce in later classes, this structure in its simplest form can express the following two meanings.

Section A: Express feelings such as love, hate, etc.

1.
We like

wuo3men2xi3huan1yin1yue4

music.

2.
I hate

.
math.

wuo3tao3yan4shu4xue2

3.
He

fears his

ta1 hai4pa4 ta1de fu4qin

father

Section B: Deliver statement, description, and relationship 4.

lang2 chi1 mian2 yang2

Wolf eats sheep.

5.
Sheep

eats

grass.

mian2yang2 chi1 cao3

6.

water.

cao3 xu1yao4 shui3

Grass needs

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7.
Water

stops fire.

shui3 mie4 huo3

8.
Fire

burns

wood.

huo3 shao1 mu4tou

In later classes, we will introduce more verbs and adverbs to built upon noun + verb + noun for more functions.

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Lesson 16 Noun + verb + noun - Future Tense

We have said that, in Chinese, the verb does not change to express tense. Instead, we use structural adverbs to express tense whenever necessary. By necessary, I mean many times it does not have to have such adverbs if the context is clear enough. In this class, we introduce a few adverbs that express future tense and show you how to use them. In the next few classes, we will explain more tenses using the structure of Noun + verb + noun. Usually, the adverbs presenting future tense are put between the subject noun and verb as following: Noun + adverb + verb + noun

1.
jiang1 Adverb. means will and is a little formal.

2.
yao4 Adverb. means will. In many other cases, can also mean want to or plan to, depending on the context.

3.
jiang1yao4, adverb. It is also common for people to put these two words together to mean future tense. It can avoid the other meaning the single character may carry as want to.

4.
hui4 Adverb. means will. In many other cases, can also mean can, depending on the specific context. The following are examples:

5.

Bei3jing1 jiang1 ju3xing2 ao4yun4hui4 Beijing will hold Olympic Games.

6.

Ta1 yao4 hui2 mei3guo2. He will return to USA.

7.

Ta1 he2 ta1de zhang4fu jiang1yao4 gou4mai3 gong1yu4 She and her husband will buy an apartment

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8.

Wuo3 hui4 jie4 yan1 I will quit smoking (cigarettes)

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Lesson 17 Noun + verb + noun Present perfect tense

Most of time, you speak Chinese without having to clarify the time frame you are referring to because people can understand through the context. However, there are some situations where you would emphasize that the action or event has already taken place. Such cases are referred to as present perfect tense in English. In Chinese, it means putting some other structural adverbs at proper positions in the sentence. Knowing the use of following adverb structures will help you learn how to use express present perfect tense in Chinese. Similar to future tense, the adverbs presenting present perfect tense are often put between the subject noun and verb as following: Noun + adverb + verb + noun

1. le
Adverb. is always put at the end of sentence and means already and help indicates perfect tense of the verb. See the following example:

2. hua1 kai1 le
The flower has blossomed. is only a slight indication of present perfect tense. To emphasize the perfect tense, you need to use some other adverbs in addition.

3. yi3 jing1
Adverb. Also means already. is always put right before the verbs. See the next 2 example:

4. dian4 ying3 yi3 jing1 kai1 shi3 le

The movie has already started

5. xiang4 mu4 yi3 jing1 wan2 cheng2 le

The project has finished. Another adverb similar to is introduced below:

6. guo4
Adverb. Also means already. Unlike , has to be put after the verbs and used together with . Two more examples using:

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7. wo3 chi1 guo4 wu3 fan4 le

I have already had lunch.

8. ta1 du2 guo4 zhe4 ben3 shu1 le

He has already read the book. Sometimes the three adverbs are used altogether to give a strong emphasis on the perfect tense. See the next example:

9. wo3 yi3 jing1 fu2 guo4 yao4 le

I have already taken the medicine, (meaning that I do not have to take it again)

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Lesson 18 Can How to express capability in Chinese

Through previous introduction section of grammar, we learn the basic structure of a Chinese sentence and how to express simple tenses. In this section, we will show you some of the most frequently used structure to express yourself. To start with, let us discuss the word can in the sense of capability.

1. hui4
Verb. is Chinese equivalent to can to express ones capability to do something. As a noun, also means meeting or conference. This is not related to its meaning as a verb. Please be sure not to be confused. In a sentence, is often put ahead of verb + noun structure, just like can in English. See the following example:

2.
ta1 hui4 He can

kai1 che1 drive a car. (=he can drive)

3.
wo3men2 We

hui4 shuo1 yin1wen2 can speak English.

4.
bu2hui4 can not. As you may know from previous classes, means not. Note in Chinese, no or not is most of time put before rather than after the verb to express negative sense such as in this case. More examples for cannot:

5.

bu2hui4 cannot

wuo3de fu4mu3 My parents

yong4 dian4nao3 use computer.

6.

da2 play

wang3qiu2 tennis.

ta1 bu2hui4 She cannot

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Lesson 19 May, Maybe how to express possibility

In lesson 18, we show you how to express that you are able (and often allowed) to do something. Here, we will give a simple introduction on how you describe a possible situation and/or action.

1.

kei3 neng2 Adv. From previous classes, you may have already known the characters and . Both characters can mean capability and possibility individually. When put together, the word they make up of always means probability/chance/possibility. In a sentence, is put ahead of verb (+ noun) structure, just like May in English. See the following example:

2.

ta1 He

kei3neng2 xi3huan1 shu4xue2 perhaps/may likes math.

3.

wo3 I

kei3neng2 hen3kuai4 ci2zhi2 may soon quit (my job).

4.

bu2kei3neng2 cannot, improbable to, unlikely to. Here, is put ahead of. It means the situation/action that follows is very unlikely happen. The negative sense is used toward to likelihood. This is different from the case whenis put behind , which will be explain later in this class.

5.

ta1 bu2kei3neng2 you3 san1shi2sui4 She cannot be 30 years old.

6.

wuo3men2 bu2kei3neng2 wang4ji4 zhe4channg3 bi3sai4 We can never forget this game.

7.

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kei3neng2 bu2 May not, perhaps not Compared with in point 4, is put behind. It means the situation/action that follows is likely to happen in negative sens. The negative sense is used toward to the situation/action rather than likelihood.

8.

ta1 kei3neng2 mei2you3 san1shi2sui4 She may not be 30 years old. *Compared with point 5., it shows a less degree of certainty because, again, negative sense is used toward not .

9.

wuo3men2 kei3neng2 bu2hui4 wang4ji4 zhe4channg3 bi3sai4 We may not forget this game.

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CHINESE / MANDARIN VOCABULARY - BUSINESS English

accounting administration cash company cost customer demand discount dividend employee employer finance inventory manager market marketing price product profit production revenue sales shareholder stock / shares supply

Chinese

Pinyin
kuai4 ji4 xing2 zhen4 xian4 jin1 gong1 si1 cheng2 ben3 ke4 hu4 xu1 qiu2 zhe2 kou4 hong2 li4 gu4 zhu3 gu4 yuan2 cai2 wu4 ku4 cun2 jing1 li3 shi4 chang3 ying2 xiao1 jia4 ge2 chan2 ping3 li4 run4 sheng1 chan3 shou1 run4 xiao1 shou4 gu3 dong1 gu3 piao4 gong1 ying4

Listen

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CHINESE / MANDARIN VOCABULARY - FINANCE English Chinese asset bankruptcy benefit bonus commodity corruption currency debt demand discount dividend dollar economics export finance fixed-income free trade fund gold goods gross profit import income statement interest interest rate investment investment bank liability loss money net profit
inflation

Pinyin
zi1 chan3 po4 chan3 shou1 yi4 jiang3 jing1 shang1 pin3 fu3 pai4 huo4 bi4 zhai4 wu4 xu1 qiu2 zhe2 ko4 hong2 li4 mei3yuan2 jing1 ji4 xue2 chu1 ko3 jing1 rong2 gu4 ding4 shou1 ru4 zi4 you2 mao4 yi4 ji1 jing1 huang2 jing1 huo4 wu4 mao2 li4 jing4 ko3 shou1 yi4 biao3 tong1 huo4 peng2 zhang4 li4 xi1 li4 lu4 tou2 zi1 tou2 zi1 yin2 hang2 zhai4 wu4 sun3 shi1 huo4 bi4 jing4 li4 run4

Listen

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price profit risk sales salary stock stock exchange stockholder supplier supply tax to invest trade wage wealth working capital

jia4 ge2 li4 run4 feng1 xian3 xiao1 shou4 xin1 jing1 gu3 piao4 gu3 piao4 shi4 chang3 gu3 dong1 gong1 ying4 shang1 gong1 ying4 shui4 tou2 zi1 mao4 yi4 gong1 zi1 cai2 fu4 yun4 ying2 zi1 beng3