This is the first part in our no frills series of vocabulary and phrase lists especially for beginners of the Chinese language.
Each Chinese character, bigram or phrase is linked to our Online Dictionary. Click on the red links to see more information about the character, including pronunciation audio and stroke animations to help you learn to write.
谁? (shéi) – who?
什么? (shén me) – what?
哪里? (nǎ lǐ) – where?
什么时候? (shén me shí hou) – When?
为什么? (wèi shén me) – Why?
怎么样? (zěn me yàng) – How?
这是谁的? (zhè shì shéi de) – Whose?
这个 (zhè ge) – This
那个 (nèi gè) – That
这里 (zhè lǐ) – Here
那里 (nà li) – There
如果 (rú guǒ) – If
但是 (dàn shì) – But
可是 (kě shì) – However
不过 (bù guò) – Nevertheless
因为 (yīn wèi) – Because
那么 (nà me) – Thus
所以 (suǒ yǐ) – So, therefore
是的 (shì de) – Yes
不 (bù) – no
可能 (kě néng) – Maybe
不要 (bù yào) – Don’t…
我想 (wǒ xiǎng) – I would like to…
我不想 (wǒ bù xiǎng) – I don’t want
听 (tīng) – listen
看 (kàn) – Look
闻 (wén) – Smell
摸 (mō) – Touch
听我说 (tīng wǒ shuō) – Listen to me!
你看到麦克了吗？(nǐ kàn dào mài kè ma) – Have you seen Mike?
我看到麦克了。(wǒ kàn dào mài kè le) – I saw Mike.
我想见你! (wǒ xiǎng jiàn nǐ) – I want to meet you!
我给你看。 (wǒ gěi nǐ kàn.) – I’ll show it to you.
请 (qǐng) – Please
谢谢 (xiè xie) – Thank you
不客气 (bú kè qi) – Don’t mention it
厕所在哪儿? (cè suǒ zài nǎr) – Where is the toilet?
洗手间在哪儿？(xǐ shǒu jiān zài nǎr) – Where is the washroom?
这是什么? (zhè shì shén me) – What is this?
….是什么意思? (shì shén me yì si) – What does… mean?
这个怎么念? (zhè ge zěn me niàn) How do you pronounce this?
我有一个问题。 (wǒ yǒu yī gè wèn tí) – I have a question.
懂了吗？(dǒng le ma) – Do you understand?
明白了吗? (míng bai le ma) Is it clear?
我不懂 (wǒ bù dǒng) – I don’t understand.
明白了 (míng bai le) – It’s clear
请解释 (qǐng jiě shì) – Please explain
复杂 (fù zá) – Complex
简单 (jiǎn dān) – Easy
困难 (kùn nan) – Difficult
怪不得! (guài bu de) – No wonder!
很明显 (hěn míng xiǎn) – It’s obvious
我知道 (wǒ zhī dao) – I know
我忘了 (wǒ wàng le) – I forgot
我记得 (wǒ jì de) – I remember
告诉我 (gào su wǒ) – Tell me
你说什么? (nǐ shuō shén me) What did you say?
好不好? (hǎo bu hǎo) Is it Ok?
可以吗? (kě yǐ ma) Is it acceptable?
行吗? (xíng ma) Can you do it?
不行! (bù xíng) Impossible!
行 (xíng) – To have permission
都可以 (dōu kě yǐ) – Both is Ok
对不对? (duì bú duì)- Is this right?
对 (duì) – right
顺便说一句 (shùn biàn shuō yī jù) – By the way
不对 (bú duì) – Wrong
成功 (chéng gōng)- Success
失败 (shī bài) – Failure
几乎 (jī hū) – Almost
一样 (yī yàng) – Same
差不多 (chà bu duō) – About the same
You can read the second part of our epic list of Chinese vocabulary for beginners here.