The following table contains some of the most important basic Chinese words and phrases. The English meaning, intuitive English pronunciation, pinyin and the Chinese characters are included. Some entries have audio files in the right column to click and play.
There are some words and sentences that can be pronounced by the phonetic English. Although there are some differences between the pronunciations, most Chinese people can still understand what you mean.
| English | Pronounced | Pinyin | Chinese | mp3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hello | Nee haoww | ni3hao3 | 你好 | |
| How are you? | Nee haoww mah? | ni3hao3 ma | 你好吗 | |
| Good/ok | Haoww | hao3 | 好 | |
| Not good | Boo haoww | bu4hao3 | 不好 | |
| Have you eaten? | Nee chrr luh mah? | ni3 chi1 le ma | 你吃了吗 | |
| I've eaten. | Wor chrr luh | wo3 chi1 le | 我吃了 | |
| I've not eaten yet. | Wor hi may chrr | wo3 hai2 mei2 chi1 | 我还没吃 | |
| Good morning | Dzaoww-shung haoww | zao3shanghao3 | 早上好 | |
| Good afternoon | Sshyah-woo haoww | xia4wu3 hao3 | 下午好 | |
| Good evening | Wan-shung haoww | wan3shang hao3 | 晚上好 | |
| Bye-bye. | Bye-bye | bai4bai | 拜拜 | |
| See you later. | Dzeye jyen | zai4 jian4 | 再见 | |
| What is your surname? (formal) | Neen gway sshing? | nin2 gui4 xing4 ？ | 您贵姓？ | |
| My surname is ... | Wor sshing ... | wo3 xing4 …… | 我姓…… | |
| What's your name? (informal) | Nee jyaoww shnn-muh ming-zuh? | ni3 jiao4 shen2me ming2zi ？ | 你叫什么名字？ | |
| I'm called ... | Wor jyaoww ... | wo3 jiao4 …… | 我叫…… | |
| Do you want ...? | Yaoww-boo-yaoww | yao4bu yao4 ……？ | 要不要……？ | |
| I want ... | Wor yaoww ... | wo3 yao4 …… | 我要…… | |
| I don't want ... | Wor bu yaoww ... | wo3 bu2yao4 …… | 我不要…… | |
| I want to go to... | Wor yaoww chyoo... | wo3 yao4 qu4 …… | 我要去…… | |
| I want to go to the toilet. | Wor yaoww chyoo tser-swor. | wo3 yao4 qu4 ce4suo3 。 | 我要去厕所。 | |
| Where is ...? | ... dzeye nah-lee? | ……zai4 na3li ？ | ……在哪里？ | |
| Where is the bathroom? | Sshee shoh jyen dzeye nah-lee? | xi3 shou3 jian1 zai4 na3li ？ | 洗手间在哪里？ | |
| I'm hungry. | Wor urr luh | wo3 e4 le | 我饿了 | |
| I'm thirsty. | Wor ker luh | wo3 ke3 le | 我渴了 | |
| I'm tired. | Wor lay luh | wo3 lei4 le | 我累了 | |
| What is this? | Jer shrr shnn-muh? | zhe4 shi4 shen2me ？ | 这是什么？ | |
| This is ... | Jer shrr ... | zhe4 shi4 …… | 这是…… | |
| I like... | Wor sshee-hwan... | wo3 xi3huan …… | 我喜欢…… | |
| I don't like ... | Wor boo-sshee-hwan ... | wo3 bu4xi3huan …… | 我不喜欢…… | |
| Please help me. | Ching bung-joo wor | qing3 bang1zhu4 wo3 | 请帮助我 | |
| Have | Yoh | you3 | 有 | |
| Don't have | May-yoh | mei2you3 | 没有 | |
| I have... | Wor yoh... | wo3 you3 …… | 我有…… | |
| Do you have...? | Yoh-may-yoh...? | you3 mei2you3 …… | 有没有…… | |
| Yes | Shrr | shi4 | 是 | |
| No | Boo-shrr | bu2shi4 | 不是 | |
| Right/correct | Dway | dui4 | 对 | |
| Wrong/incorrect | Boo-dway | bu2dui4 | 不对 | |
| No, thanks | Boo-yong luh, sshyeah | bu2yong4 le ，xie4 | 不用了，谢 | |
| Thank you | Sshyeah-sshyeah | xie4xie | 谢谢 | |
| You are welcome | Boo-yong sshyeah | bu2yong4xie4 | 不用谢 | |
| Excuse me/sorry | Dway-boo-chee | dui4buqi3 | 对不起 | |
| I don't understand | Wor ting boo-dong | wo3 ting1 bu4dong3 | 我听不懂 | |
| 1 | Ee | yi1 | 一 | |
| 2 | Urr | er4 | 二 | |
| 3 | San | san1 | 三 | |
| 3 yuan/RMB (formal) | San ywen | san1 yuan2 | 三元 | |
| 3 yuan/RMB (informal) | San kwhy | san1 kuai4 | 三块 | |
| 4 | Srr | si4 | 四 | |
| 5 | Woo | wu3 | 五 | |
| 6 | Lyoh | liu4 | 六 | |
| 7 | Chee | qi1 | 七 | |
| 8 | Bah | ba1 | 八 | |
| 9 | Jyoh | jiu3 | 九 | |
| 10 | Shrr | shi2 | 十 | |
| 11 | Shrr-ee | shi2yi1 | 十一 | |
| 20 | Urr-shrr | er4shi2 | 二十 | |
| 23 | Urr-shrr-san | er4shi2san1 | 二十三 | |
| 100 | Ee-bye | yi1bai3 | 一百 | |
| 125 | Ee-bye-urr-shrr-woo | yi1bai3er4shi2wu3 | 一百二十五 | |
| How much money (does it cost)? | Dwor-sshaoww chyen | duo1shao3 qian2 | 多少钱 | |
| Too expensive | Tie gway luh | tai4 gui4 le | 太贵了 | |
| How long (time)? | Dwor jyoh? | duo1 jiu3 | 多久 | |
| One hour (hour) | Ee-guh sshyaoww-shrr (jong-toh) | yi2ge4 xiao3shi2 （zhong1tou2 ） | 一个小时（钟头） | |
| 2 hours | Lyang (urr) guh sshyaoww-shrr | liang3 （er4 ）ge4 xiao3shi2 | 两（二）个小时 | |
| 30 minutes | San-shrr fnn-jong | san1shi2 fen1zhong1 | 三十分钟 | |
| What time? / What's the time? | Jee-dyen jong | ji3dian3 zhong1 | 几点钟 | |
| 07:00 | Chee dyen jong | qi1dian3 zhong1 | 七分钟 | |
| 14:30 | Shrr-srr dyen san-shrr | shi2si4dian3san1shi2 | 十四点三十 | |
Watch more videos about Chinese culture stories.
| English | Chinese Character / Pinyin | Phonetic English | Audio Files | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Directions | ||||||||||||
| Stop! | |
ting | |
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| Turn left | |
zaw | |
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| Turn right | |
yo | |
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| Go straight | |
chee'an | |
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| Here | |
Jur lee | |
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| At the restaurant | ||||||||||||
| Chopstick | |
kwhy za | |
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| Knife | |
dow | |
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| Fork | |
char z | |
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| Spoon | |
sheow z | |
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| Water | |
shway | |
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| Coke | |
kur la | |
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| Bill | |
my dan | |
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| Pronouns | ||||||||||||
| I / Me | |
wore | |
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| You | |
knee | |
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| He / She / It | |
tar | |
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| Figures of speech | ||||||||||||
| That's good | |
how | |
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| That's not good | |
boo how | |
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| It was nice | |
hun how | |
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There are some words and sentences that can be pronounced by the phonetic English. Although there are some differences between the pronunciations, most Chinese people can still understand what you mean.
| English | Chinese Character / Pinyin | Phonetic English | Audio Files | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Directions | ||||||||||||
| 1 | |
e | |
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| 2 | |
r | |
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| 3 | |
san | |
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| 4 | |
sz | |
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| 5 | |
oo | |
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| 6 | |
leo | |
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| 7 | |
chee | |
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| 8 | |
bah | |
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| 9 | |
jeo | |
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| 10 | |
shr | |
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| 11 | |
shr e | |
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| 12 | |
shr r | |
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| 13 | |
shr san | |
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| 14 | |
shr sz | |
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| 20 | |
r shr | |
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| 30 | |
san shr | |
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| 100 | |
ee bye | |
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| 1,000 | |
ee chee an | |
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| 10,000 | |
ee wan | |
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