Mandarin Chinese for Beginners. Yi Ren
mao.” “Mao” is a noun here, and “Máo mao” as a nickname has a cute ring to it. The Chinese version of Lily is “Lì li” which is a very popular first name among Chinese women.
These sentences from the dialog are good ones to remember. They are especially handy during your social or business activities in China.
Zhè shì wǒ de míng piàn.
这 是我的 名 片。(This is my business card.)
Nǐ zài hé zī gōng sī gōng zuò?
你 在 合资 公 司 工 作?
(Do you work for a joint venture company?)
Zhè shì jiā ná dà hé zhōng guó de hé zī gōng sī.
这 是加拿大和 中 国 的合资 公 司。
(This is a Canadian–Chinese joint venture company.)
It’s useful to be able to ask people where they are from, so you’ll probably want to be able to pronounce other countries’ names in Chinese. Some are listed here.
| měi guó美国America | ào dà lì yà澳大利亚Australia | yīng guó英国Britain | zhōng guó中国China | fǎ guó法国France |
| dé guó德国Germany | yìn dù印度India | yì dà lì意大利Italy | rì běn日本Japan | xīn xī lán新西兰New Zealand |
You have learned some sentences for basic communication at a business event, along with some countries’ names. Good work. Now you’ll continue to learn more about how to introduce one another and discuss nationalities.
Listen to New Words 2 on the audio. Then read along with me, and repeat in the pauses provided. When you are familiar with all the new words, listen to Dialog 2, then follow along to speak each sentence of it. Once you feel comfortable with Dialog 2, move on to the Notes.
Peter:Hello! I’m Peter.
Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ shì Bǐ dé.
你好！我 是彼得。
Ling Zi:I’m Ling Zi. It’s nice to meet you.
Wǒ shì Líng zǐ. Rèn shí nǐ hěn gāo xìng.
我 是 玲 子。认 识你 很 高 兴。
Peter:Same here.
Wǒ yě shì.
我也是。
Ling Zi:Are you American?
Nǐ shì měi guó rén ma?
你是 美 国 人 吗?
Peter:No, I’m not. I’m British. How about you?
Bú shì. Wǒ shì yīng guó rén, nǐ ne?
不 是。我 是 英 国 人,你呢?
Ling Zi:I’m Japanese.
Wǒ shì rì běn rén.
我 是日本 人。
Peter:Really? You look Chinese.
Zhēn de ma? Nǐ hěn xiàng zhōng guó rén.
真 的吗? 你 很 像 中 国 人。
Ling Zi:Many people say that.
Hěn duō rén dōu zhè me shuō.
很 多 人 都 这 么 说。
| 彼得 Bǐ dé | Peter (first name) |
| 玲子 Líng zǐ | Ling Zi (first name) |
| 美国人 měi guó rén | American |
| 英国 yīng guó | England/Britain |
| 英国人 yīng guó rén | English/British |
| 日本 rì běn | Japan |
| 日本人 rì běn rén | Japanese |
| 真的 zhēn de | really |
| 像 xiàng | look like |
| 中国人 zhōng guó rén | Chinese |
| 这么说 zhè me shuō | say the same |
| 都 dōu | all |
Notes 注 释
➊ The verb 是 shì means “to be/yes” in English. Shì is often used with other words or phrases to form a sentence. Most of the time shì emphasizes a specific element in a sentence. Look at this example: 他是美国人 Tā shì měi guó rén (He is American). Here 是 shì means “to be” rather than “yes.” It functions as a verb required to form a complete sentence. To change your sentence to mean the opposite, you need to add 不 bú before 是 shì to form 不是 bú shì—which is literally equivalent to “be not” in English. For instance: 他不是美国人 Tā bú shì měi guó rén (He is not American).
➋ 你叫什么名字？Nǐ jiào shén me míng zi? means “What is your name?” It is a casual way to ask. To ask the name of an elderly person or to ask a person’s name at a formal occasion, people usually say 您贵姓 Nín guì xìng? (it means “What is your honorable family name?”) to show politeness and respect.
Work on practicing these sentences until you can remember them by heart.
Nǐ shì yīng guó rén ma?
你是 英 国 人 吗? (Are you British?)
Bú shì, wǒ shì fǎ guó rén.
不是,我是法国 人。(No, I’m not. I’m French.)
Hěn duō rén dōu zhè me shuō.
很 多 人 都 这 么 说。(Many people say the same.)