Simple Chinese language phrases to enhance your China trip (pinyin and pronunciation)

PinYin - English : pronunciation.

~ is used where there are two sounds in one syllable.

Ou[ch] means use the first sound of the word 'ouch'; same sound as ow[l].

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Greetings

Nǐ Hǎo - Hello / Hi (literally, you good?) : nee how

Zài Jiàn - Goodbye / bye : z~eye jee~ann

HuānYíng (GuāngLín) - Welcome ! (You'll often hear this when enter a restaurant)

DaJia Hao ! - Hello everybody !

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Introductions

Nǐ - you / your : nee

Wǒ - I / my : woh

What is your name? - Nǐ jiào shénme míngzì? : Nee j~ou[ch] shen mer ming zuh?

My name is ... - Wǒ de míngzì shì ... : Woh der ming zuh sh ...

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XièXiè - : Thanks : shee~air shee~air (second is a little softer/quieter)

XièXiè Nǐ ! - Thank you! : shee~air shee~air nee!

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DuìBuQǐ - Excuse me / sorry : der boo chee

BúKèQì - No problem / you're welcome : boo ker chee

Mei guan xi - No problem / you're welcome : may goo~ann shee

Qǐng - Please : ching

Mei / MeiHǎo - Beautiful : may / may how

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Interations

DuWei - That's right : doo~way (quickly, and often said twice)

Yes and no have no direct translations in Chinese, but the following will be fine is answer to common questions, although they are more like 'to be' and 'not to be' if translated literally; however, these are real colloquial uses.

Bú shì - no : boo shh

Bú shì can also be used in reply to 'Thank you !' with the meaning 'you're welcome' / 'no need to say' / 'it's nothing'

Shì de - yes : shh der

E.g. LàJiāo ? - lah jee~ou[ch] (chillies ?) : Shì de / Bú shì

***

Wǒ - I / me : woh

Nǐ - You : nee

Tā - He / she : tah

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Shopping and restaurants

Wǒ Yào - I want / would like I would like one of these : Wǒ yào Yī ge Zhè ge (woh yow ee guh jay guh)

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ZhèGe - This : jay guh

NàGe - That : nay guh

***

Yī Ge - One (of) : ee guh

Lian Ge - Two (of) : lee~ann guh (Two as a simple number is Er, pronounced 'are')

Sān Ge - Three (of) : san guh

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Duō Shǎo Qián? - How much? (price) : doo~or sh~ow[l] chee~ann?

Zhège duōshǎo qián? - How much is this? : jay guh

Nàgè duōshǎo qián? - How much is that? : nay guh

Tài Guì Le! - too expensive! : tie gwee ler!

***

nǐhǎo ma? - How are you? : nee how mar ?

Hǎo De - ok : how der

Hěn Hǎo - Good : hen how

Bù Hǎo - Not good : boo how

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ShénMe? - When? : shen mer

NǎLi? - Where : nah lee?

Nǎr - There (gesturing) : nah

Qĭng wèn - Excuse me (before asking a stranger a question) : ching wen

Qĭng wèn, weì shēng jiān (zài) nă lĭ? - Where is the restroom? : Ching wen. Way sheng jee~ann z~eye (nah) lee?

Qĭng wèn, dìtiě zhàn (zài) nǎ lǐ? - Where is the metro station? : Ching wen, dee tee~air z~eye (nah) lee?

You might hear zai nar in norther China (e.g. BeiJing)

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小 Xiǎo - Small : sh~ow[l]

大 Dà - Big : dah

Tai - Too : tie

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Bin De - Ice-cold : bin der

Lian De - Cold : lee~ann der

Rè de - Hot : rer der

Rè chá - hot tea : rer char

Bīng píjiǔ - Cold beer : bing pee jee~oh

***

La - Spicy : lah

Bu La - not spicy : boo lah

Xiao La - a little spicy : shee~ow[l] lah

Da La - Very spicy : dah lah

Tai La! - too spicy! : tie lah!

***

Noodles - Miàn : mee~ann

Dumplings - JiǎoZi : jee~ow[l] zuh

Rice - MiFàn / Fàn : mee fan / fan

Eggs - JīDàn : jee dan

Beef - NiúRòu 牛肉 : nee~you row

Lamb - YángRòu 羊肉 : yang row

Chicken - JīRòu 鸡肉 : jee row

Pork - ZhūRòu 猪肉 : joo row

Fish - YúRòu 鱼肉 : yoo row

Tofu - DòuFu 豆腐 : doh foo

(See BeijingBuzzz's food cheat sheet for much more)

(Wo) Chī bǎole! - (I'm) full! : Woh ch b~ou[ch] ler!

(Ni) Chī bǎole ma? - (Are you) full? : (Nee) ch b~ou[ch] ler maa?

Ma is appended to change a statement into a question.

***

ZhōngGuó - China : jong goo~woh

YīngGuó - England : ying goo~woh

MěiGuó - America : may goo~woh

ZhōngWén - Chinese nationality : jong ren

YīngWén - English nationality : ying ren

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Hótel - Hotel

FànDiàn - Hotel / Restaurant : fan dee~ann

Wǒ Bù ZhīDào - I don't know : woh boo juh~dow

Tīng Bù Dǒng - I don't understand : ting boo dong

ZhèGe Duōshǎo Qián? / DuōShǎo Qián? - How much is this? : doo~or sh~ow[l} chee~ann?

Tài guìle ! - Too expensive ! : tie-gwee lah !

Wo Yao ... - I would like ... : woh yow ...

Wǒ Yào ZhèGe - I want this one : woh yow jay~guh

***

5 yuan (kwai) / 2 pieces (items)
5元 / 2个 or 5元 2个

8 折 (bā zhé), which directly translates as '8 discount'.
This means that the discounted price is 80% of the original price (20% off).

人 Rén - Person : ren

5元 / 2人 - 5 yuan for 2 people

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For toilet doors / WCs :

男 - Man

女 - Woman

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BúShì - No : boo shh

ShìDe - Yes : Shh der

Hǎo de - Okay : how der

MéiYǒu - none / out of stock : may~oh

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Wǒ ài ... - I love ... : woh eye ...

- I love this! : woh eye jay-guh!

Wǒ ài ZhōngGuó - I love China : woh eye jong goo~woh

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Hǎo Chī - Delicious (literally good eat) : how ch

Bú Hǎo Chī - Not tasty : boo how ch

One can think of 'Bú' as meaning 'not'

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Wǒ Bù LiǎoJiě - I don't understand : woh boo lee~ow[l]~jee~air

***

Chi - eat : ch

Wǒ Xiǎng ... - I would like ... : woh shee~ang ...

Wǒ Xiǎng Chī ... - I would like to eat ... : woh she~ang ch ...

***

Directions

Bei - North : bay

Nan - South : nan

Xi - West : shee

Dong - East : dong

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DìTiě - Subway train : dee tee~air

Dìtiě nali ma? - Where is the subway? : dee tee~air nah~lee ma

Zhan - Train station : zahn

Men - gate : men

Yuan / kwai - rmb (currency) : yoo~ann / kw~eye (more common)

Gong yuan - Park : gong yoo~ann

***

KāFēi - Coffee : kah fay

Chá - Tea : chah

kěLè - Cola : ker ler

PiJiou - Beer : pee jee~oh

Shui - Water : shway

Wo yao liang ge pijiou liande - I would like two cold beers : woh yow[l] lee~ann guh pee jee~oh lee~ann der

***

Jia Yo! - Let's go! / Go! (encouraging) : jee~ah yoh!

Wǒ Bù Shuō Hànyǔ / ZhōngWén - I don't speak Chinese (huh?!) Or simply Bù ZhōngWén : boo jong wen

***

Numbers

Numbers are easy (there are finger position numbers too, but that's not so easy) :

1 - Yī : ee

2 - Èr : are

3 - Sān : san

4 - Sì : si (the sound is the first half of 'soot') (short sound)

5 - Wǔ : woo~oh

6 - Liù : lee~oo

7 - Qī : chee

8 - Bā : bah

9 - Jiǔ : jee~oo

10 - Shí : shhh (longer sound)

Example of 11 - 99 :

73 - Qi Shí Sān (7x10) + 3 : chee shhh san (7 10 3)

70 - Qi Shí (7x10) : chee shhh (7 10)

100 - Bǎi : buy

Example of 101 - 999 :

357 - Sān Bǎi Wǔ Shí Qī (3x100 + 5x10 + 7) : san buy woo~oh shhh chee (3 100 5 10 7)

300 - Sān Bǎi (3x100) : san buy (3 100)

One small complication - two (of) - rather than the number two) is liǎng ge : lee~ang ger

***

Cheers! - GānBēi! : gan bey!

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