HEYGOW
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Beginner
70
phrases
我是〜 I am ~
6
是 links two nouns and is not needed before an adjective - 我很好 has no 是 at all. The negative is 不是, one word, and a yes/no question is made by adding 吗 without changing the word order.
这是〜 this is ~
6
这 is this and 那 is that, and the pair covers everything you can point at. 这是什么 - what is this - is worth memorising as a block, because 什么 stays where the answer would go rather than moving to the front as English does.
我要〜 I'll have ~
6
要 is want in the sense of ordering or requesting, not in the sense of longing - that is 想, on a later page. 我要两个 - I want two - puts the number before the measure word, and 个 is the measure word to use when you do not know the right one.
有 / 没有 have / don't have
6
有 is the only verb in Chinese negated with 没 instead of 不, so 没有 is fixed and 不有 does not exist. 有…吗 asks whether something exists or is available, which is how you ask a shop for almost anything.
〜吗？ yes-or-no question
6
吗 turns any statement into a question without moving a single word, which is one of the genuinely easy things about Chinese. Say the sentence you already know, add 吗, and you have asked it. Note that 吗 is toneless.
〜在哪里？ where is ~?
6
在 marks location and comes before the place, not after: 我在这里. In a question the word order does not change at all - 车站在哪里 keeps 哪里 exactly where 这里 would be in the answer.
我想〜 I'd like to ~
6
想 is want in the sense of would like, and unlike 要 it can be followed by a verb: 我想喝水, I'd like to drink water. 我不想去 is the polite way to decline, softer than 我不去, and worth having early.
太〜了 too ~
6
太…了 is a frame with two halves, and the 了 at the end is not optional in speech. 太好了 does not mean "too good" - with a positive adjective the frame means "wonderful", and that is the most common thing it is used for.
几 / 多少 how many, how much
6
几 asks for a small number, roughly under ten, and 多少 asks for any number. 几个人 expects a handful; 多少人 expects a crowd. Prices always take 多少, which is why it is 这个多少钱 and never 这个几钱.
请〜 please do ~
6
请 before a verb is the standard polite imperative, and it is the one word that turns an instruction into a request. 请给我水 shows the order: give-me-water, with the recipient before the thing, which Chinese keeps consistently.
Using “的”
10
的 does three jobs: it marks possession (我的书), it attaches a description to a noun (红色的苹果), and it stands alone meaning "the one that is mine" (这是我的). With close relationships and short phrases it is often dropped - 我朋友, not 我的朋友.
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中文