Pinyin: An Introduction Pinyin 拼音 (pīn yīn), is the romanized translation of Chinese characters. Pinyin was introduced after a language reform during the 1950s, instigated by Zhou Enlai 周恩来 (zhōu ēn lái). He believed that a phonetic system was necessary in order for people to learn how to pronounce Chinese characters. Zhou Enlai worked alongside linguist, Zhou… Read More
Many of you may be completely new to Chinese, and feel a bit overwhelmed by how different this language is compared to your own native one. We’ve recently posted introductory articles on Essential words and phrases, and Chinese greetings. Now, let’s take it up a notch, and learn some simple dialogues based on four situations… Read More
This is our second article that looks at Chinese sentence particles. We will discuss structural, aspect and some other particles that do not fit into a specific category. If you want to learn about modal particles, then take a look at our first article, The Complete Guide to Chinese Modal Particles. Structural particles 结构助词 (jié gòu zhù cí):… Read More
Chinese Modal Particles Modal particle (yǔ qì zhù cí) 语气助词 are used in the Chinese language to express a certain ‘mood’. Modal Particles are always used at either the end of a sentence or during a pause in the middle of a sentence. In this article we will look at the following six modal particles: 啊 (a) 吗 (ma) 呢 (ne) 吧 (ba) 了 (le)… Read More
Chinese Sentence Types To follow on from our previous article A Simple Guide to Chinese Sentences: Structure, this post introduces you to the different sentence types, their elements and how to structure them correctly. If sentences are sorted by tone or mood, there are 4 main sentence types: Declarative sentence 陈述句 (chén shù jù) Interrogative sentences 疑问句 (yí wèn jù) Imperative… Read More
Spring Festival is almost upon us, so it’s the perfect time to learn how to say some Chinese New Year greetings! How do I say Happy New Year in Chinese? There are lots of different Chinese New Year greetings, but the most important one to know is 新年快乐 (xīn nián kuài lè) which means Happy New Year! You can also… Read More