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Chinese Pinyin
http://www.zapchinese.com/
Chinese characters 1. Chinese characters - Introduction 2. Understanding four tones 3. Pinyin - vowels 4. Pinyin - consonants 5. Chinese Characters - Introduction 6. Chinese Characters - Strokes - I 7. Chinese Characters - Strokes - II 8. Chinese Characters - Radicals - I 9. Chinese Characters - Radicals - II 10. Chinese Characters - Writing Orders Grammar - introduction 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Introduction - I love China! You, I, he/she, it, this and that To be or not to be Noun + Be + adjective Noun + Verb + Noun Noun + Verb + Noun - Future Tense Noun + Verb + Noun - Present Perfect Tense "Can": How to express capability May, maybe - expressing possibility
1. Phonics - Pinyin
Invariably, each Chinese character's pronunciation is either a consonant followed by one or two vowels (always in this order) or one or two vowels only. In an analogy, Chinese characters all sound a bit like "La", "Di", "Da". And generally the pronunciation of each Chinese character lasts about the same length in a sentence. So roughly, a Chinese sentence sounds like "he saw me", "I know you", or "who can sing?", if read flatly. The phonics system for Chinese characters is called Pinyin. We will introduce Pinyin in much detail starting from Class 3.
2. Four Tones
Each Chinese character has one vowel, and each vowel, in turn, has a tone with it. Many characters should have different tones for different meanings, but most have unique tones in all situations. There are 5 possible tones: 4 major tones and a "light" tone. Conventionally, the major tones are labeled as following. Tone 1: flat Tone 2: up Tone 3: curve Tone 4: down The 5th tone is called "light" tone, which has no number as label. Characters with light tone should be pronounced light and fast, the only exceptions to the previous rule that all characters in a sentence lasts about the same long. We will introduce how to pronounce the four tones in the next class. It is important to remember that Chinese characters tone has nothing to do with its meaning.
Tone 1: flat
In English, it is the default tone we use to pronounce 'i' emotionlessly as in saying "I am ....". The audio material will show flat tone 'i', and how 'i' would sound on other tones as if with strong emotions although you should keep in mind that in Chinese, tones have nothing to do with meanings or emotions.
Tone 2: up
This tone is a little like the tone used in English for questions. For example: "Is he right?" The tone of "i" used in word 'right' here is equivalent to the up tone used in Chinese.
Tone 3: curve
There is not exact equivalent for Tone 3 in English. However, Tone 3 can be delivered through a quick combination of tone 4 and tone 2 in a very quick way. Remember, tone 4 before tone 2. So maybe you want to learn to use tone 4 first.
Tone 4: down
The 4th tone is what you will use when saying "right" as in "Yes, he is right.
Vowel Table:
a ai ao ie an ang o ei ou ue en eng e ui iu er in ing i u
un ong
As you can see, most vowels are simply a combination of the 6 major vowels in the first row, which is obviously the most important part, and some special consonants. How can you remember all this? We are putting all these into English words with virtually the same sound for you to learn and remember in an easier way. *Note: letters in the following explanation in "..." are pronounced as in English, and those in '... ' are pronounced in Pinyin. Also, all samples are delivered in 4 tones. a - as the vowel in "star" without the "r" sound o - as the vowel in "law"
e - as the vowel in "stir" i - as the vowel in "bit" u - as the vowel in "food" - as "y" in "yellow" followed by the 'u' above
ai - as the vowel in "bike" ei - as the vowel in "lake" ui - combination of 'u' and 'i', the same as word "we" in English ao - as the vowel in "loud" ou - as the vowel in "flow" iu - combination of 'i' and 'u', the same as word "yew" in English ie - combination of 'i' and 'e', as the vowel in "sierra" ue - combination of 'u' and 'e', as the vowel in "buena" er - combination of 'e' and 'r', as the vowel in "early" an - as the vowel in "anchor": en - as the word "earn" without the "r" sound: in - as in the word "inn" un - as in the word "one": n - as "y" in "yellow" followed by the English word "one" ang - as the word "long" eng - as the vowel in "lung" ing - as the vowel in "England" ong - as 'u' followed by the 'ng' as above:
b - as the "b" in "book" p - as the "p" in "pool" m - as the "m" in "moon" f - as the "f" in "food"
d - as the "d" in "door" t - as the "t" in "tom" n - as the "n" in "no" l - as the "l" in "love"
z- as the "z" in "zero" c- as the "ts" in "tsunami" s- as the "s" in "sun" r- as the "r" in "red"
zh- start with 'j' in "jeep", but then end smoothly with "r" sound. The first 2 sounds in the sample voice show such move.
ch- start with 'q' in "cheese", but then end smoothly with "r" sound. The first 2 sounds in the sample voice show such move.
sh - start with 'x' in "sharp", but then end smoothly with "r" sound. The first 2 sounds in the sample voice show such move. ( 'zh, ch, sh' are similar to, but strictly different from 'j, q, x' respectively. However, mixing them is not a too big problem for you to be understood in China.)
1. Strokes
A stroke is a single brush of pen on the paper. All Chinese characters are made of one or more strokes such as the character: (meaning one). There are dozens of simple strokes which will be discussed in detail in Class 6. Please also remember that every stroke should be written in a specific way. For example, the horizontal stroke in character has to been written from left to right.
2. Radicals
Radicals are the basic component of Chinese characters. Think of Chinese characters as molecules like water or salt and then the radicals as equivalents to element atoms such as sodium, hydrogen, or oxygen. The analogy can be demonstrated this way: Chinese characters - > molecules such as water, salt, sugar Radicals - > atoms such as sodium, hydrogen, or carbon Stroke - > subatomic particles such as proton, neutron, or electron Just like Chemical elements, many radicals can make single characters by themselves. The character(mouth), for example, is frequently used as radicals in characters related to mouth such as , meaning sing. Radicals are very important to the meaning and writing of Chinese characters. Here are two examples. First example, means man. It is made up of 2 radicals vertically. The upper part is , meaning farm land and the lower part is , meaning labor or force. Therefore, it is easy to remember the character because the labor at the land is often male people. Another example: the character means forest. Since means wood, it should seem obvious that doubling wood would make a forest. There are about 200 radicals in Chinese characters. Learning them all is a natural process that will not take too long.
We will use the next 3 lessons to show you the details of these 3 important aspects of writing Chinese characters so that you will be best prepared to start to write Chinese.
10
2. Vertical
Video Sample Character
3. Left away
Video Sample Character
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4. Dot
Video Sample Character
5. Horizontal Turn
Video Sample Character
6. Right away
Video Sample Character
7. Rise
Video Sample Character
12
9. Vertical Hook
Video Sample Character
13
14
Lesson 7: Writing Chinese Characters Strokes Part II The more complicated 15 strokes are introduced in this section. They appear less frequently than the strokes in previous section. Again, you do not have to remember their name, but you should be able to recognize them in characters and use them proficiently. After watching the demo, also try to find the stroke in the sample character. The next 15 strokes are shown here:
1. Vertical turn and hook
Video Sample Character
2. Slant hook
Video Sample Character
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5. Bend hook
Video Sample Character
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17
18
1.
- meaning: related to sun, bright, warmth, positive etc. - sample characters: (sun, Yang as in Yinyang) , (spring), (sunbathing)
2.
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3.
- meaing: grain, related to agriculture, farming, crops, etc. - sample characters: (rice plant), (ear, spike)
4.
- meaning: hand, related to manual action, operation, etc. - sample characters: (hit) (carry) (touch)
5. left part of
- meaning: foot
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6.
- not a single character, derived from (gold, metal), usually at the left side - pinyin: jin1
- meaning: everything related metal or metal processing - sample characters: (iron) (aluminum) (copper) (silver) (steel) (casting)
7.
- meaning: wood, and every thing related to wood, forest - sample characters: (tree) (forest) (forest) (materials)
8.
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- meaning: water, everything related to water - sample characters: (ice) (spring) (urine, means body)
- meaning: fire everything related to burning, fire, flame - sample characters: (burn) (stir fry) (explode) (bomb) (fir, burn)
10
- meaning: earth, mud, clay, everything related to land, ground - sample characters: (land) (levee), (venue, ground), (rural village)
11.
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- meaning: boat, ship, everything related to shipping - sample characters: (ship) (chamber) (plate)
12
- meaning: wine, everything related to alcohols, fermentation, ceremony, festivity, etc. - sample characters: (alcohols) (drunk) (wake up) (chief, leader get to hold the wine in ancient ceremony)
13.
- meaning: stone, everything related to stone, brick, hard, etc. - sample characters: (brick) (landmine) (pump) (rock)
14.
- can be a single character, or as the left part of many characters - pinyin: ren2
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- meaning: human, everything related to people, human being, body - sample characters: (crowd) (prisoner) (body) (health)
15.
- meaning: hill, mountain, everything related to mountain, hill, - sample characters: (mountain range) (celestial beings, who live up in mountains )
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1.
- meaning: heart, related to heart, thinking, feeling, mental etc. - sample characters: (think, miss) , (think) (read) (forget)
2.
- NOT a single character - meaning: related to thread, textile, clothing, materials etc. - sample characters: (silk) (paper) (spin) (yarn)
3.
- meaing: female, related to female, lady, etc. - sample characters: (good), (mother), (sister)
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4.
- meaning: king, related to king, authority, etc. - sample characters: (play) (theory)
5.
6.
7.
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- not a single character, from (talk, words) - pinyin - meaning: speak, talk, voice - sample characters: (talk) (comment) (speak) (ironize)
8.
- Not a single character - pinyin: - meaning: cover, being covered - sample characters: (safe) (prison) (treasure)
9.
- Not a single character, from (grass) - pinyin: - meaning: grass, everything related to grass, lawn - sample characters: (flower) (dish, entree) (vegetable)
10.
- Not a single character, from (bamboo) - pinyin: - meaning: everything related bamboo (a very important plant in China) - sample characters: (basket) (pen)
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11.
- meaning: bug, worm, everything related to bug, insects - sample characters: (shrimp) (snake) (mosquito)
12.
- meaning: ear, everything related to ear, sound, hearing, etc. - sample characters: (sharp, smart) (deaf)
13.
- not a single character, from (cloth) - pinyin - meaning: everything related to clothing materials, etc. - sample characters: (patch) (quilt) (robe)
14.
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- pinyin: kou3
- meaning: mouth, everything related to mouth, or circled structure - sample characters: (prisoner) (country) (spit)
15.
- not a single character - meaning: related to body, health, disease, - sample characters: (disease) (pain) (itch)
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top to bottom:
1.
san1 three
2.
zhong4 crowd
left to right:
3.
ren2 mercy
4.
li3
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courtesy
outside to inside:
*Please notice the bottom horizontal line is always the last stroke in this structure.
5.
guo2 country
6.
qiu2 prisoner In a paragraph, modern Chinese is written the same way as English, where you write from left to right in each line horizontal and from top to bottom vertically. Ancient Chinese, however, is written in vertical lines and lines are arranged from right to left.
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!
I love China!
wo3
I, me
ai4
love
zhong1 guo2
China
Explanation:
This sentence is of a typical structure: noun (subject) + verb + noun (object) Since Chinese does not have different forms of nouns serving as a subject or object, the order of words has to be in this particular order. Reversing I and China will mean China loves me. Here is another example using similar words of the same structure:
!
We like Europe!
Wo3men2
we
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xi3huan1
like
ou1zhou1
Europe
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ni3
I/me
3.
He/him
4.
She/her
5.
It
Section B. Plural 6.
Equivalent to the plural forms to put behind other pronounces as shown below.
7.
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8.
We
9.
10.
They (female)
11.
ni3de ni3men2de
13.
Your/yours
14.
Your/yours in plural *As you can see here, is always before and has a second tone when followed by , which still has light tone.
15.
wo3de wo3men2de
my/mine
16.
Our/ours
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17.
//
ta1de
his /her(s) /its We put these 3 words together to emphasize that they have the same pronunciation.
18.
/ /
ta1 men de
their(s) for male, female, and non-human references These three words also sound the same. Section D. This/That
19.
This
20.
That
21.
Equivalent to the plural forms to put behind this/that for these/those as shown below.
22.
These
23.
Those
Section E. Examples
Lets first learn 3 new words before going to 2 examples.
24.
shi4
be/is/am/are
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We will have more explanation on this word in the next class.
25.
book
shu1 xue2sheng1
26.
37
1.
This is only form of verb Be in Chinese, independent of tense, subjects, or single/plural forms.
2.
3.
Please notice that the tone of changes to 2 instead of 4 when used as not in front of . Again, unlike English where not follows verb Be, precedes in Chinese. Examples:
4.
wo3 shi4 zhong1 guo2 ren2 ta1 men bu2 shi4 xue2 sheng1
I am Chinese.
5.
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1.
de
auxiliary word with various structure usages to complete a sentence or link two words So the complete structure of Noun + Be. + adj. in Chinese should be: Noun + ()+ adj. + Here are some samples to learn both the structure and some important new words.
2.
Hua1 shi4 hong2 de. Cao3 shi4 lu4 de. Tou2fa4 shi4 hei1 de. Xue3 bu2shi4 hei1 de. Xue3 shi4 bai2 de.
Flower is red
3.
Grass is green.
4.
Hair is black.
5.
6.
Snow is white. When you want to use an adverb to describe the adj. to express the extent, please remember to omit both and.
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7.
zhen1 hen3
(can replace each other)
Very
8.
9.
! cao3 zhen1 lu4 wo3 de lao3shi1 zhen1 hao3 ni3 de zhong1wen2 hen3 liu2li4
10.
11.
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1.
We like
wuo3men2xi3huan1yin1yue4
music.
2.
I hate
.
math.
wuo3tao3yan4shu4xue2
3.
He
fears his
father
5.
Sheep
eats
grass.
6.
water.
Grass needs
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7.
Water
stops fire.
8.
Fire
burns
wood.
In later classes, we will introduce more verbs and adverbs to built upon noun + verb + noun for more functions.
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1.
jiang1 Adverb. means will and is a little formal.
2.
yao4 Adverb. means will. In many other cases, can also mean want to or plan to, depending on the context.
3.
jiang1yao4, adverb. It is also common for people to put these two words together to mean future tense. It can avoid the other meaning the single character may carry as want to.
4.
hui4 Adverb. means will. In many other cases, can also mean can, depending on the specific context. The following are examples:
5.
6.
7.
Ta1 he2 ta1de zhang4fu jiang1yao4 gou4mai3 gong1yu4 She and her husband will buy an apartment
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8.
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1. le
Adverb. is always put at the end of sentence and means already and help indicates perfect tense of the verb. See the following example:
2. hua1 kai1 le
The flower has blossomed. is only a slight indication of present perfect tense. To emphasize the perfect tense, you need to use some other adverbs in addition.
3. yi3 jing1
Adverb. Also means already. is always put right before the verbs. See the next 2 example:
6. guo4
Adverb. Also means already. Unlike , has to be put after the verbs and used together with . Two more examples using:
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46
1. hui4
Verb. is Chinese equivalent to can to express ones capability to do something. As a noun, also means meeting or conference. This is not related to its meaning as a verb. Please be sure not to be confused. In a sentence, is often put ahead of verb + noun structure, just like can in English. See the following example:
2.
ta1 hui4 He can
3.
wo3men2 We
4.
bu2hui4 can not. As you may know from previous classes, means not. Note in Chinese, no or not is most of time put before rather than after the verb to express negative sense such as in this case. More examples for cannot:
5.
bu2hui4 cannot
6.
da2 play
wang3qiu2 tennis.
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1.
kei3 neng2 Adv. From previous classes, you may have already known the characters and . Both characters can mean capability and possibility individually. When put together, the word they make up of always means probability/chance/possibility. In a sentence, is put ahead of verb (+ noun) structure, just like May in English. See the following example:
2.
ta1 He
3.
wo3 I
4.
bu2kei3neng2 cannot, improbable to, unlikely to. Here, is put ahead of. It means the situation/action that follows is very unlikely happen. The negative sense is used toward to likelihood. This is different from the case whenis put behind , which will be explain later in this class.
5.
ta1 bu2kei3neng2 you3 san1shi2sui4 She cannot be 30 years old.
6.
wuo3men2 bu2kei3neng2 wang4ji4 zhe4channg3 bi3sai4 We can never forget this game.
7.
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kei3neng2 bu2 May not, perhaps not Compared with in point 4, is put behind. It means the situation/action that follows is likely to happen in negative sens. The negative sense is used toward to the situation/action rather than likelihood.
8.
ta1 kei3neng2 mei2you3 san1shi2sui4 She may not be 30 years old. *Compared with point 5., it shows a less degree of certainty because, again, negative sense is used toward not .
9.
wuo3men2 kei3neng2 bu2hui4 wang4ji4 zhe4channg3 bi3sai4 We may not forget this game.
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Chinese
Pinyin
kuai4 ji4 xing2 zhen4 xian4 jin1 gong1 si1 cheng2 ben3 ke4 hu4 xu1 qiu2 zhe2 kou4 hong2 li4 gu4 zhu3 gu4 yuan2 cai2 wu4 ku4 cun2 jing1 li3 shi4 chang3 ying2 xiao1 jia4 ge2 chan2 ping3 li4 run4 sheng1 chan3 shou1 run4 xiao1 shou4 gu3 dong1 gu3 piao4 gong1 ying4
Listen
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CHINESE / MANDARIN VOCABULARY - FINANCE English Chinese asset bankruptcy benefit bonus commodity corruption currency debt demand discount dividend dollar economics export finance fixed-income free trade fund gold goods gross profit import income statement interest interest rate investment investment bank liability loss money net profit
inflation
Pinyin
zi1 chan3 po4 chan3 shou1 yi4 jiang3 jing1 shang1 pin3 fu3 pai4 huo4 bi4 zhai4 wu4 xu1 qiu2 zhe2 ko4 hong2 li4 mei3yuan2 jing1 ji4 xue2 chu1 ko3 jing1 rong2 gu4 ding4 shou1 ru4 zi4 you2 mao4 yi4 ji1 jing1 huang2 jing1 huo4 wu4 mao2 li4 jing4 ko3 shou1 yi4 biao3 tong1 huo4 peng2 zhang4 li4 xi1 li4 lu4 tou2 zi1 tou2 zi1 yin2 hang2 zhai4 wu4 sun3 shi1 huo4 bi4 jing4 li4 run4
Listen
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price profit risk sales salary stock stock exchange stockholder supplier supply tax to invest trade wage wealth working capital
jia4 ge2 li4 run4 feng1 xian3 xiao1 shou4 xin1 jing1 gu3 piao4 gu3 piao4 shi4 chang3 gu3 dong1 gong1 ying4 shang1 gong1 ying4 shui4 tou2 zi1 mao4 yi4 gong1 zi1 cai2 fu4 yun4 ying2 zi1 beng3