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1.01 Pronouns

我
Wǒ
I
他
Tā
He
你们
Nǐmen
You all
1.02 Pronouns and the verb "to be"
我是
Wǒ shì
I am
他是
Tā shì
He is
你们是
Nǐmen shì
You all
1.03 Pronouns, the verb "to be", and the noun complement "student"
我是学生。Wǒ shì xuésheng.
你是学生。Nǐ shì xuésheng.
您是学生。Nín shì xuésheng.
他是学生。Tā shì xuésheng.
她是学生。Tā shì xuésheng.
我们是学生。Wǒmen shì xuésheng.
你们是学生。Nǐmen shì xuésheng.
他们是学生。Tāmen shì xuésheng.

1.04 Pronouns, the verb "to be", and the noun complement "teacher" and "business person".
我是老师。 Wǒ shì lǎoshī.
你是商人。 Nǐ shì shāngrén.
您是老师。 Nín shì lǎoshī.
他是商人。 Tā shì shāngrén.
她是老师。 Tā shì lǎoshī.
我们是商人。 Wǒmen shì shāngrén.
你们是老师。 Nǐmen shì lǎoshī.
他们是商人。 Tāmen shì shāngrén.
1.05 Pronouns, the verb "to be", and the noun complements "man" and "woman"
你是男人。Nǐ shì nánrén.


你是女人。Nǐ shì nǚrén.
他是男人。 Tā shì nánrén.
她是女人。 Tā shì nǚrén.
他们是男人。Tāmen shì nánrén.
她们是女人。Tāmen shì nǚrén.
1.06 You cheeky monkey!
你...
Nǐ...
你是...
Nǐ shì...
你是木头人!
Nǐ shì mùtóurén!
In this first lesson we will learn the pronouns, the verb "to be", and the occupations "student",
"teacher", and "businessperson".
After all, aren't we a little bit of all three?
The simple sentence pattern of pronoun + be + complement is a a quick and easy way to
convey information about people - "He is an American", "They are students", "She is my

coworker" etc.
Once you get in the basic form, it's simply a matter of plugging in additional vocabulary (which
we will do in later lessons).
1.01 Pronouns

我
Wǒ
I
他
Tā
He
你们
Nǐmen
You all
Notes:
He and she have the same pronunciation in Mandarin, tā; in the written language they are
differentiated by their characters, 他 for he and 她 for she.
To make the plural of any pronoun just add 们 men to the singular form of the pronoun. Please
note that the distinction between plural and singular is not quite as important in Chinese, often
the plural will simply be implied by the context.
1.02 Pronouns and the verb "to be"
我是
Wǒ shì
I am
他是


Tā shì
He is
你们是

Nǐmen shì
You all
Notes:
The verb to be 是 shì does not decline, that is to say that its form stays the same no matter who is
performing the action. Compared to the English "I am", "You are", "He is", it is actually much
easier, right?
Also, please be aware that there are no spaces between the words in a Chinese sentence!
1.03 Pronouns, the verb "to be", and the noun complement "student"
我是学生。Wǒ shì xuésheng.
你是学生。Nǐ shì xuésheng.
您是学生。Nín shì xuésheng.
他是学生。Tā shì xuésheng.
她是学生。Tā shì xuésheng.
我们是学生。Wǒmen shì xuésheng.
你们是学生。Nǐmen shì xuésheng.
他们是学生。Tāmen shì xuésheng.
Notes:
Nouns in Mandarin Chinese usually have a single form that is used whether the noun is singular
or plural. That is why 学生 xuésheng remains the same for 他是学生。Tā shì xuésheng. and 他
们是学生。Tāmen shì xuésheng.
You can add 们 men to create a special plural form of the noun, but this is really only used in
special situations, often for rhetorical effect.
Vocabulary point:
学 xué is, on its own, a verb that means to study. Paired with the character 生 shēng it creates a
new noun, student 学生 xuésheng.
Pronunciation point:
You may have noticed that on its own, 生 shēng has a line over it, whereas when it is paired with
学 xué it does not. That is because the 生 shēng in 学生 xuésheng changes to a neutral tone, due
something known as "tone sandhi", which is Sanskrit for "incredibly coy linguistic term".
What "tone sandhi" means is that you pronounce words differently based on the words that come

before or after it. Native speakers of Chinese do this intuitively, as do practiced foreign speakers
of Chinese. As a beginner student, it really isn't worth worrying about, and as an intermediate
level student there will be some tricks you can learn that will help you along.
1.04 Pronouns, the verb "to be", and the noun complement "teacher" and "business person".
我是老师。 Wǒ shì lǎoshī.
你是商人。 Nǐ shì shāngrén.
您是老师。 Nín shì lǎoshī.
他是商人。 Tā shì shāngrén.
她是老师。 Tā shì lǎoshī.


我们是商人。 Wǒmen shì shāngrén.
你们是老师。 Nǐmen shì lǎoshī.
他们是商人。 Tāmen shì shāngrén.
>> Listen to the MP3 (right click to save)
Vocabulary point:
老 lǎo means old, but that is not an exact translation, For starters, it is only used in reference to
people, never things. Secondly, it is often combined with other characters to make positions and
titles of respect, such as 老师 lǎoshī teacher.
People often point out that 老 lǎo carries positive connotations that old does not carry in the
West. Since 老 lǎo refers only to people and never to things, we could translate it as senior, an
English word that has both the meaning of "aged" as well as "having more authority".
商 shāng means business, and 人 rén means person or people, thus 商人 shāngrén literally
means "business person".
1.05 Pronouns, the verb "to be", and the noun complements "man" and "woman"
你是男人。Nǐ shì nánrén.
你是女人。Nǐ shì nǚrén.
他是男人。 Tā shì nánrén.
她是女人。 Tā shì nǚrén.
他们是男人。Tāmen shì nánrén.

她们是女人。Tāmen shì nǚrén.
>> Listen to the MP3 (right click to save)
Notes:
You will often see Woman 女 nǚ and man 男 nán used on their own as abbreviations on
restrooms, forms, etc.
1.06 You cheeky monkey!
你...
Nǐ...
你是...
Nǐ shì...
你是木头人!
Nǐ shì mùtóurén!
Notes:
Scattered throughout this course you will find sections at the end of some lessons labeled "You
cheeky monkey!" In these sections we will teach you irreverent, bizarre, or sometimes even
topical things to say.
Vocabulary point:


木头人 mùtourén literally means "wood head person", the meaning of which seems pretty selfexplanatory. We ought to recognize 人 rén from the other words we have studied this lesson,
such as 女人 nǚrén and 商人 shāngrén.
Exercises
A Transcribe the characters below into pinyin
1.) 你 __________________
3.) 我 __________________
5.) 他 __________________
7.) 他们 _________________
B Translate the following pinyin into English
1.) nín ____________________
3.) wǒ ____________________

5.) wǒmen _________________
7.) tā _____________________
C Translate the following sentences into English
1.) Wǒmen shì shāngrén.
_______________________________________________________.
2.) Tā shì xuésheng.
_______________________________________________________.
3.) Nín shì lǎoshī.
_______________________________________________________.
4.) Tāmen shì nánrén.
_______________________________________________________.
D Match the character to its corresponding pinyin
1.) 是
2.) 男
3.) 人
4.) 你
5.) 老
E Chose the two characters that are not the same
生男你是


他商我们
F Make words by matching the two syllables， then match them to the correct characters
lǎo
shāng
wǒ
xué
2.01 Simple questions
你是学生。
You are a

Nǐ shì xuéshēng. student.
你是学生吗?
Are you a
Nǐ shì xuéshēng
student?
ma?
He is a
他是商人。
business
Tā shì shāngrén.
person.
他是商人吗?
Is he a
Tā shì shāngrén business
person?
ma?
你们是留学生。 You all are
Nǐmen shì
foreign
liúxuéshēnɡ.
students.
你们是留学生
Are you all
吗？
foreign
Nǐmen shì
students?
liúxuéshēnɡ ma?
2.02 Countries and Nationalities
中国 Zhōngguó China

美国 Měiguó America
英国 Yīngguó Britain
德国 Déguó Germany
印度 Yìndù India
2.03 Pronouns + Nationality complement in statement and question form
我是美国人。
I am
Wǒ shì Měiguórén. American.
你是美国人吗？
Are you
Nǐ shì Měiguórén
American?
ma?
他是中国人。
He is
Tā shì Zhōngguórén. Chinese.
他是中国人吗？
Is he
Tā shì Zhōngguórén Chinese?


ma?
她是德国人。
She is
German.
Tā shì Déguórén.
你们是印度人吗？
Are you all
Nǐmen shì Yìndùrén
Indian?

ma?
他们是英国人。
They are
Tāmen shì
English.
Yīngguórén.
2.04 Nationality - a simple dialogue
A 你是英国人吗?
Nǐ shì Yīngguórén ma?
B 是 ，我是英国人 。 你是中国人吗？
Shì，wǒ shì Yīngguórén. Nǐ shì Zhōngguórén ma?
A 是 ，我是中国人 。
Shì，wǒ shì Zhōngguórén.
Exercises
A Transcribe the characters below into pinyin
1.) 美国 _________________
3.) 德国 _________________
5.) 英国 _________________
B Translate the pinyin into English
1.) Déguó __________________
3.) Yīngguó _________________
C Transcribe the characters into pinyin and then translate into English
1.) 中国人 _____________ ______________
2.) 英国人 _____________ ______________
3.) 德国人 _____________ ______________
4.) 美国人 _____________ ______________
4.) 印度人 _____________ ______________
D Fill in the blanks for this dialogue
A
Nǐ shì _____________ ma?

Shì，wǒ shì Yīngguórén. Nǐ shì ______________ ma?
B
Shì，wǒ ______ Zhōngguórén.
A
E Match the character to its pinyin
1.) 美
2.) 男
3.) 中
4.) 国


5.) 老
6.) 她
F Transcribe the following sentences into pinyin
1.) 她是德国人。
_______________________________________________________.
2.) 你们是留学生吗？
_______________________________________________________.
3.) 他是中国人吗？
_______________________________________________________.
4.) 他是商人吗?
_______________________________________________________.
3.01 Asking for a first name
你叫...
Nǐ jiào...
你叫什么...
Nǐ jiào shénme...
你叫什么名字？
Nǐ jiào shénme míngzì?
她叫...

Tā jiào...
她叫什么...
Tā jiào shénme...
她叫什么名字？
Tā jiào shénme míngzì?
Notes:
The sentence pattern for asking for a first name is:
Pronoun + call (叫) + what (什么) + name (名字)?
什么 shénme what is an interrogative pronoun, and the first of the big six question words we will
encounter (who, what, when, where, why and how)


Note as well that 叫 jiào does not change form according to the noun.
3.02 Hello! - a simple dialogue
莎拉:
马特:
莎拉:

你好!
Nǐ hǎo!
你好! 我是马特。你叫什么名
Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ shì Mǎté. Nǐ jiào
我叫莎拉。
Wǒ jiào Shālā.

Notes:
In Chinese as well as English there are two main ways to state your name, the first being 我叫...
Wǒ jiào My name is... and the second being 我是 Wǒ shì I'm...
你好! Nǐ hǎo! Hello! is the most common greeting in China, a direct translation would be "You
good!"

好 hǎo means good, which in English is an adjective. However, in Chinese, 好 hǎo can also
sometimes be a verb (as in "to get better"), and it can also be something called a "predicate
adjective" which basically means a verb that acts like an adjective. This is why there is no verb
to be 是 shì in the sentence 你好! Nǐ hǎo!
We will cover predicate adjectives more fully in lesson 21. The point to remember here is that
we should say 你好! Nǐ hǎo! not 你是好! Nǐ shì hǎo!
3.03 Nice to meet you! - everyday expressions
很...
Hěn.
很高兴...
Hěn gāoxìng...
很高兴认识
Hěn gāoxìng rènshi...
很高兴认识你。
Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ.
Vocabulary point:
认识 rènshi is a verb that means to know, to recognize, to be familiar with
高兴 gāoxìng is an adjective that means happy, elated, the literal meaning of the first character
of the word, 高 gāo means high and the second character 兴 xìng means interest
很 hěn very is an adverb and is one of the most used words in the Chinese language.
3.04 Hello! - the extended dialogue
莎拉:
马特:

你好!
Nǐ hǎo!
你好! 我是马特。你叫什么名
Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ shì Mǎté. Nǐ jiào

莎拉:
马特:

我叫莎拉。很高兴认识你。
Wǒ jiào Shālā. Hěn gāoxìng rè
我也很高兴认识你。
Wǒ yě hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ.

Notes:
也 yě is an adverb that means also.
Some examples:
我也是美国人。 Wǒ yě shì Měiguórén. I am also an American.
她也是学生。 Tā yě shì xuéshēng. She is also a student.
Please take note here that the position of 也 yě is firmly fixed before the verb and after the
subject. For instance, you cannot start a sentence with 也 yě, as you can in English (Also, I am a
doctor).
3.05 What's his name? - concept and vocabulary review dialogue
A: 他叫什么名字？
Tā jiào shénme míngzi?
B: 他叫马特。
Tā jiào Mǎté.
A: 他是美国人吗？
Tā shì Měiguórén ma?
B: 是 ，他是美国人 。
Shì, tā shì Měiguórén.
A: 他是留学生吗？
Tā shì liúxuéshēnɡ ma?
B: 是 ，他是留学生 。
Shì, tā shì liúxuéshēnɡ.
Notes:

Remember that in Chinese there is no direct correspondent to the English word yes. Instead, in
many Chinese sentences they will reuse the verb from the question, e.g.
他是...? Tā shì...? Is he...?
- 是, 他是 Shì, tā shì... Yes, he is...
In spoken Chinese, people will often answer with the verb alone, indicating affirmation.


Exercises
A Transcribe the characters below into pinyin
1.) 名字 ___________________
3.) 留学生 _________________
5.) 认识 ___________________
B Translate the following sentences
1.) Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ.
_______________________________________________________.
2.) Wǒ yě shì Zhōngguórén.
_______________________________________________________.
3.) Nǐ jiào shénme míngzì?
_______________________________________________________.
4.) Tāmen yě shì liúxuéshēnɡ.
_______________________________________________________.
C Rearrange the words into complete sentences
1. shì Tā ma Měiguórén ?
______________________________________________________________?
2. míngzi jiào shénme Tā ?
______________________________________________________________?
3. Tā liúxuéshēnɡ ma shì ?

______________________________________________________________?
D Fill in the blanks with the appropriate word

莎拉:
Nǐ _____!
马特:
Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ shì Mǎté. Nǐ jiào shénme _
莎拉:
Wǒ ______ Shālā. Hěn _________ rèns
马特:
Wǒ _____ hěn gāoxìng ______ nǐ.
E Circle the character that matches the pinyin
你 是 我 高
shì :
老 你 叫 好
nǐ :
很 你 人 吗
rén :
F Match the words with the translation
1.) Liúxuéshēnɡ


2.) Gāoxìng
3.) Déguó
4.) Xuésheng
5.) Yìndù
6.) Yě
4.01 Common last names with social titles.
李
Lǐ
Lee
王
Wáng

Wang
张
Zhāng
Zhang
刘
Liú
Liu
Vocabulary point:
先 xiān means first, so 先生 xiānsheng can be translated directly as "first born". Note that the
second character of 先生, 生 shēng, is pronounced as a neutral tone in 先生.
In other words, please note that the 生 shēng in xiānsheng doesn't have a line over it. That means
that you should put more emphasis on the first syllable of the word, 先 xiān.
4.02 Introductions - simple formal
A 您贵姓?
Nín guì xìng?
B 我姓李。您贵姓?
Wǒ xìng Lǐ. Nín guì xìng?
A 我姓张。
Wǒ xìng Zhāng.
Notes:
您贵姓? Nín guì xìng? is a formal and polite way to ask another person's last name. 姓 xìng
means family name, and 贵 guì is an adjective modifying 姓 xìng that literally means


"expensive". I 姓 xìng is analogous to the British English use of "dear" to mean both "expensive"
and, well, "dear".
4.03 Full Chinese Names
我姓李, 叫李雪。
Wǒ xìng Lǐ, jiào Lǐ Xuě.
我姓王, 叫王军。

Wǒ xìng Wáng, jiào Wáng Jūn.
她姓张, 叫张小鱼。
Tā xìng Zhāng, jiào Zhāng Xiǎoyú.
他姓刘， 叫刘强国。
Tā xìng Liú, jiào Liú Qiángguó.
4.04 Common last names with professional titles.
李
Lǐ
Lee
王
Wáng
Wang
张
Zhāng
Zhang
刘
Liú
Liu
Notes:
It is quite common in Chinese to use professional titles when addressing adults - in English, we
really only do this with doctors, politicians, and people in the military. Bear in mind as well that
the person's title comes after, not before the family name.
4.05 Hello teacher! - concept and vocabulary review dialogue
马特:
张老师:
马特:
张老师:
马特:

Exercises
A Transcribe the characters below into pinyin
1.) 贵 _____________________
3.) 我 _____________________
5.) 经理 __________________
7.) 姓 _____________________
B Match the words with their translation
1.) 叫
2.) 老师
3.) 经理
4.) 贵
5.) 姓
C Fill in the blanks
A Nín ______ xìng?
B Wǒ __________ Lǐ. ________ guì xìng?
A _______ xìng Zhāng.
D Circle the pinyin for the characters
高:
shēnɡ jiào xìng gāo
先:
xiān xìng
shén hǎo
名:
xìng gāo míng ma
E Write the English meanings next to the words
1.) 高兴 Gāoxìng
2.) 叫 Jiào
3.) 姓 Xìng
4.) 经理 Jīnglǐ
5.) 名字 Míngzì

6.) 商人 Shāngrén
F Write questions for the following answers
1.) _______________________________________________________?
是 ，我是英国人 。 Shì，wǒ shì Yīngguórén.
2.) _______________________________________________________?
是 ，他们是学生。 Shì，tāmen shì xuésheng.


3.) _______________________________________________________?
我叫王军。 Wǒ jiào Wáng Jūn.
5.01 How is your health? - sentence pattern for a basic conversational pleasantry
你...
Nǐ...
你身体...
Nǐ shēntǐ...
你身体好...
Nǐ shēntǐ hǎo...
你身体好吗？
Nǐ shēntǐ hǎo ma?
Notes:
A more direct translation of this phrase would be "Is your health good?"
This is a polite question that is asked when we assume that the other person is in fact well. If we
know that the person has recently been sick, or looks sick at the moment, there are other
questions we can ask to show a greater degree of awareness or concern. We will study these in
later units.
5.02 I am also...
我很好。他也很好。
Wǒ hěn hǎo. Tā yě hěn hǎo.
I am fine. He is also fine.
李雪是大学生。 王军也是大学生。

Lǐ Xuě shì dàxuéshēng. Wáng Jūn yě shì dàxuéshēng.
Li Xue is a university student. Wang Jun is also a university student.
刘老师身体很好。李经理身体也很好。
Liú lǎoshī shēntǐ hěn hǎo. Lǐ jīnglǐ shēntǐ yě hěn hǎo.
Teacher Liu's health is good. Manager Li's health is also good.
Notes:
A little more about 也 yě:
也 yě is an adverb that introduces additional information. It does this in two ways, one by
introducing additional information about a subject, and the second by stating a similarity
between two different subjects. So far, we have only seen the second type, but as new verbs get
introduced in later lessons we will see the first type more and more.
Vocabulary point:
大学生 dàxuéshēng university student is made by combining 大 dà big with 学生 xuéshēng
student. On its own, 大学 dàxué means university


5.03 How is your health? - dialogue between two people of different social status
张老师， 您好！
马特:
Zhāng lǎoshī ，nín hǎo!
你好！
张老师:
Nǐ hǎo！
您身体好吗？
马特:
Nín shēntǐ hǎo ma?
很好。你呢？
张老师:
Hěn hǎo. Nǐ ne?
也很好 ， 谢谢您。

马特:
Yě hěn hǎo, xièxie nín.
再见。
张老师:
Zàijiàn.
再见。
马特:
Zàijiàn.
Notes:
马特 Mǎtè shows his respect for 张老师 Zhāng lǎoshī by using the respectful form of the
pronoun you, 您 nín, as well as by using the teacher's title, 老师 lǎoshī while speaking to her.
你呢？ Nǐ ne? can be translated as And you? Follow up questions with 呢 ne are used to ask the
same question as the preceding question, but about another subject or object.
Vocabulary point:
身体 shēntǐ means health. On its own, 身 shēn means body.
谢谢 xièxie means thank you. Adding a pronoun to the end makes it more polite, as in 谢谢你
xièxie nǐ.
再见 zàijiàn means good bye, although it literally means see you again.
5.04 See you tomorrow! - dialogue between two people of equal social status
莎拉:
王军:
马特:
王军:
Notes:
再见 zàijiàn is the most common way to say goodbye, it literally means "see you again". There
are other ways to say goodbye used when speakers have a more or less particular time they


expect to see each other again. 明天见 Míngtiān jiàn, meaning See you tomorrow, is one of
these expressions.

Vocabulary point:
明天 Míngtiān means tomorrow. On its own, 明 Míng means bright and is the same 明 Míng as
in The Ming Dynasty. 天 tiān means sky.
5.05 The Horrors of Pronunciation
什
Shén
What
明
Míng
Bright
Exercises
A Transcribe the characters below into pinyin
2.) 再见
1.) 也
________
___________
________
__________
____
4.) 好
3.) 身体
________
___________
________
__________
____
6.) 谢谢
5.) 大学
________
生 _________

________
_________
___
7.) 明
天 _________
_________
B Translate the following sentences
1.) Nín shēntǐ hǎo ma?
_______________________________________________________.
2.) Wáng Jūn yě shì dàxuéshēng.
_______________________________________________________.
3.) Míngtiān jiàn.
_______________________________________________________.


C Fill in the blanks
A:
B:
A:
B:
A:
D Convert the following sentences into pinyin
1.) 我姓李。

Nín shēntǐ ________ ma?
Hěn hǎo. _________ ne?
________ hěn hǎo, xièxie nín.
Zàijiàn.
___________.

_______________________________________________________.
2.) 李经理身体也很好。
_______________________________________________________.
3.) 你是留学生吗？
_______________________________________________________.
E Circle the pinyin for the character
名 xìng gāo míng
见 shēnɡ jiào jiàn
: gāo
: ma
身 xiān shēn
shén 小 hěn wǒ xiǎo
: hǎo
: míng
先 wǒ xiān
明 hěn wǒ xiǎo
shén
: hǎo
: míng
什 míng tā hǎo
谢 xìng xiè míng
: ma
: shén
F Rearrange the words into complete sentences
1. yě hǎo Wǒ hěn .
______________________________________________________________.
2. shēntǐ lǎoshī hǎo hěn Liú.
______________________________________________________________.
3. shì yě Wáng Jūn dàxuéshēng .
______________________________________________________________.

G Match the words with the translation
1.) Shénme
2.) Xìng
3.) Jīnglǐ


4.) Gāoxìng
5.) Rènshi
6.) Yě
H Count the number of times the following characters appear
体 ( tǐ )
________
他不认识我。
你叫什么名字？
他们是中国人。
6.01 He is not a.... - pronouns with negation
我不是商人。
Wǒ bú shì shāngrén.
他不是美国人。
Tā bú shì Měiguórén.
她不是老师。
Tā bú shì lǎoshī.
我们不是留学生。
Wǒmen bú shì liúxuéshēnɡ.
他们不是大学生。
Tāmen bú shì dàxuéshēng.
Notes:
不 bù is basically the equivalent of the English word not. It is one of the two main negation
words used in Chinese, the second being 没 méi, which we will take a look at in a second. 不 bù
and 没 méi have different connotations, but the main difference is simply that they collocate with

different verbs. Since 不 bù collocates with 是 shì we will focus on it for the time being.
6.02 I'm not German! - concept and vocabulary review dialogue
A:
马特:
A:
马特:
A:
马特:


Notes:
是吗？ Shì ma? means Is that so?
Remember that in Mandarin Chinese there is no universal way to say "yes" or "no" to a question.
To respond in negative to a question you can usually add 不 bù or 没 méi plus the verb, please
note though that the verb must be the same one as used in the question. In general, English
speakers tend to overuse or misuse 不是 bú shì in conversations, so be careful.
6.03 Are you the teacher? - concept and apologizing for small errors
莎拉:
王军:
莎拉:
王军:
莎拉:
王军:

Notes:
对不起 duìbuqǐ is a formal way for apologizing for small errors and misunderstandings, when
the speaker (or someone the speaker represents) has in fact been the cause of the error. This
makes it quite different from "I'm sorry", which can be used in situations in which the speaker
has done nothing wrong, i.e. "I'm sorry to hear that you got the flu".
Of course, the difference between 对不起 duìbuqǐ and I'm sorry is apparent if you actually look

at the meaning of the two phrases. 对不起 duìbuqǐ directly translated means something like
"Don't get excited" or "Don't get piqued", whereas when we say I'm sorry what we are saying,
after all, is something along the lines of "This situation has caused me sorrow. I feel bad about
it". Thus, I'm sorry refers back to a situation from which we can infer whether the speaker is
apologizing or expressing condolence, whereas 对不起 duìbuqǐ directly refers to the attitude of
the one who has been transgressed, and the wish on the part of the speaker not to be taken the
wrong way.
6.04 Is that a man's name or a woman's name?
李雪是女名吗？
马特:
Lǐ Xuě shì nǚ míng
是 ，李雪是女名 。
萨拉:
Shì, Lǐ Xuě shì nǚ
王军呢?
马特:
Wáng Jūn ne?
王军不是女名，是
萨拉:
Wáng Jūn bú shì n
Notes:


Remember that 不 bú always precedes the verb in a sentence.
Woman 女 nǚ and man 男 nán are used as complements for 名 míng, the root word for 名字
míngzi name.
Be aware that it can be as hard for Chinese people to differentiate male and female names in
English as it is for Westerners to differentiate male and female names in Chinese.
Adding 呢 ne to the end of the sentence can be, depending on the context, an informal way to
construct a question, similar to adding "And...?" to a noun to make a question.

Exercises
A Transcribe the following sentences into pinyin
1.) 他不是中国人。
_______________________________________________________.
2.) 我不是老师。
_______________________________________________________.
3.) 他们不是德国人。
_______________________________________________________.
B Translate the following sentences
1.) 我不是老师。
_______________________________________________________.
2.) 他们不是英国人。
_______________________________________________________.
3.) 她不是学生。
_______________________________________________________.
C Chose the two characters that are not the same
你学人什
他商国美
D Fill in the blanks with the correct word
莎_____
拉__
: hǎo！


王Nǐ
军_____
: ___！
Nǐ
_____
莎

_
拉
lǎoshī
:
_____
__?
_____
王shì,
军wǒ shì
: _____
____.
ā,
莎
_____
拉
_____
:
!
王
Méigu
军
ānxi.
:
E Fill in the blanks with the correct word
马特:
萨拉:
马特:
萨拉:
F Turn the following into negative sentences by adding 不 bù.
1.) Wǒ shì liúxuéshēnɡ.

_______________________________________________________.
2.) Tā shì shāngrén.
_______________________________________________________.
3.) Nǐmen shì lǎoshī.
_______________________________________________________.
G Match the characters with their pinyin
1.) 女
2.) 名
3.) 留

Lǐ Xuě shì nǚ ________ ma?
_______, Lǐ Xuě _______ nǚ
_________ ne?
Wáng Jūn bú shì nǚ míng, sh


4.) 不
5.) 很
6.) 见
H Circle the pinyin for the character
商 shēnɡ jiào jiàn
经 xìng jīng míng
: ma
: shāng
师 shī shēn
shén
认 hěn rèn xiǎo
: hǎo
: shī
叫 jiào xiān

理 hěn lǐ xiǎo
shén
: hǎo
: míng
7.01 Countries and citizens
日本 Rìběn Japan
韩国 Hánguó S. Korea
泰国 Tàiguó Thailand
俄国 Éguó Russia
法国 Fǎguó France
Notes:
Notice that each of the nationalities are comprised of a country plus the word 人 rén, we see here
an example of a noun (the country) functioning as a modifier of another noun (the common noun
person).
For example, 日本 Rìběn Japan + 人 rén person = 日本人 Rìběnrén Japanese person.
Note as well that although "Japanese person" counts as two separate words in English, we are
treating it as one word in Chinese - it would be just as easy to translate 日本人 Rìběnrén as
Japanese, as in "He is Japanese."
Finally, do remember that rén could be singular or plural depending on the context - thus 日本人
Rìběnrén perhaps could most explicitly be rendered in English as Japanese (person/people). Of
course, that would be a crazy thing to write!
As with all languages, translation is an inexact science, especially with Chinese, which is a very
context-dependent language. You should be careful when (for instance) asking your Chinese
friends "How would I say X in Chinese?" because the sentence they give you, while perhaps
rendering the meaning of the English in Chinese, might not be a normal-sounding Chinese
sentence, in fact, in might not even be a functioning Chinese sentence at all.
7.02 What country are you from?
你...
Nǐ...
你是...

Nǐ shì...


你是哪...
Nǐ shì nǎ...
你是哪国人？
Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén?
Notes:
Notice that this question does not use the question particle 吗 ma at the end. This is because it is
not a simple yes/no question, but uses the question word 哪 nǎ.
哪 nǎ literally means which, it is a common question word and component of 哪里 nǎlǐ where
which we will look at in lesson 12. 哪 nǎ is the first question word we are going to learn in this
program. Properly speaking, it is an interrogative pronoun.
The word order for questions in Chinese that use an interrogative pronoun is the same as the
word order in a statement - the question word occupies the space in the sentence where you
would expect to find the information in the answer. This is unlike English, where the question
word usually is at the beginning of a sentence.
7.03 Not everyone is Chinese - dialogue
马特:
李智慧:
马特:
李智慧:
马特:
李智慧:
马特:
李智慧:
Notes:
请问 qǐngwèn can be translated as "Can I ask you a question?" or "Excuse me".
7.04 Do you know her?
王军:

李雪:
王军:

请
Q
我
W
你
N
我
W
我
W
你
N
我
W
不
B