200/200

普通話200個基本詞語/普通话200个基本词语

In connection to this post about only needing 200 words

Feel free to contact me and help me edit this post! There are definitely things on here that can’t be explained in a straight-forward way. Mandarin can’t be translated so directly compared to other Indo-European languages!

1st tone (high neutral): mā 2nd tone (rising): má 3rd tone (falling rising): mǎ 4th tone (falling): mà 5th tone (neutral): ma

*When there are two 3rd tones together, the first one becomes a 2nd tone.

suǒ yǐ -> suó yǐ

be － 是 shì

there is － 有 yǒu

have － 有 yǒu

do－做 zuò

create (aka “make”) －創造／造（创造)  chuàng zào/zào

cause (aka “make”)－讓（让）ràng

go－去 qù

say－講（more casual) （讲）jiǎng

speak －說（说）shuō

know－知道 （only for knowledge)（知道）zhīdào

think－想 xiǎng

want－想要 xiǎngyào

like－喜歡（喜欢）xǐhuān

can－可以 kě yǐ

need－要 yào

should－應該 （应该）yīnggāi

try－試（试）shì

feel－感覺（感觉)  gǎnjué

work (also as a noun) －工作 gōng zuò

learn－學（学）xué

understand－懂／明白 dǒng/míng bái

get (meaning “obtain”)－得 dé

use－用 yòng

start－開始（开始）kāi shǐ

eat－吃 chī

see－看 kàn

write－寫（写）xiě

give－給（给）gěi

sleep－睡覺（睡觉）shuì jiào

buy－買（买）mǎi

decide－決定 jué dìng

find－找 zhǎo

ask－問（问）wèn

meet (meaning to meet someone for the first time)－認識（认识）rèn shi

meet (meaning “meet up with”)－見面（见面）jiàn miàn

take－拿 nǎ

Phrases

hello－你好 nǐ hǎo

goodbye－再見（再见）zài jiàn

My name is… － 我的名字是… wo de míng zi shì

“Nice to meet you.” －（Not said often in Chinese) 我很高興認識你（我很高兴认识你）wǒ hěn gāo xìng rèn shì nǐ

yes－(no direct translation, closest is the word “to be”) 是 shì

no－不是 bú shì

okay－好 hǎo

please－(no direct translation) 請- qǐng

thank you－謝謝（谢谢）xiè xiè

you’re welcome－不客氣（不客气）bú kè qì

sorry－對不起（对不起）duì bù qi

excuse me (to catch someone’s attention)－欸 èi

well (as in “Well, I think that…”)－那 nà

Really?－真的嗎？（真的吗？）zhēn de ma

Conjunctions

that (as in “I think that…” or “the woman that…”) (doesn’t exist in Chinese)

and－和／而且／跟 hé/ěr qiě/gēn

or－或 huò

but－但是 dàn shì

though－可是 kē shì

because－因為（因为）yīn wèi

therefore－所以 suǒ yǐ

if－如果 rú guǒ

Prepositions

before (also as a conjunction)－以前 yǐ qián after (also as a conjunction)－後來（后来）hòu lái

from－從 （从）cóng to－到 dào

in－在（like “in a house”, 在家里面) zài

at (place)－在 zài

at (time)－在 zài

with－跟 gēn

about (approximately）－大概／大約（大约）dà gài/dà yuè

like (meaning “similar to”)－像 xiàng

for (warning, this one has several meanings that you need to take care of)

for (give to) you－給你（给你）gěi nǐ

Adjectives and adverbs

Know both the adjective and adverb forms of these words.

a lot－很多 hěn duō a little－很少／一點（一点）hěn shǎo/yī dian

good / well－好／很好 hǎo/hěn hǎo bad / badly－不好／差 bù hǎo/chā

more (know how to say “more … than”)－比（A）（verb)  bǐ better (often irregular and not just “more good”)－更好 gèng hǎo

most－最 zuì

enough－夠（够）gòu

right－對（对）duì wrong－錯（错）cuò

Adjectives

the, a (technically articles) - no definite articles in Chinese

this (also as a noun) 這（这）zhè that (also as a noun) 那 nà

all－所有 suǒ yǒu some－一些 yī xiē no－沒有／無 méi yǒu/wú

other－別的 bié de

any－所有 suǒ yǒu

easy－容易／簡單（简单）róng yì hard－難（难）nán

early－早 zǎo late－晚 wǎn

important－重要 zhòng yào

cool (as in “that’s cool”)－酷 kù

same－一樣（一样）yí yàng

different－不同 bù tóng

beautiful－美麗／漂亮（美丽） měi lì/piào liàng

Adverbs

very－很 hěn

too (as in “too much”)－太 tài

also－還有（还有）hái yǒu

only－只 zhǐ

now－現在（现在）xiàn zài

here－這裡（这里）zhè li

maybe－可能 kě néng

always－永遠（永远）yǒng yuán often－常常／時常（时常）cháng cháng/ shí cháng sometimes－有時（有时）yǒu shí never－從來／從不（从来／从不）cóng bù

today (also as a noun)－今天 jīn tiān yesterday－昨天 zuó tiān tomorrow－明天 míng tiān

almost－快要／快會（快会）kuài yào/kuài huì

still－還（还）hái

already－已經（已经）yǐ jīng

even－都 dōu

Nouns

Chinese has “measure words”, which is like “a/an” in English.

一个 is used for most objects (people, some objects)

一杯 is used for cups and bottles [of liquid] 

thing－東西（东西) dōng xi

person－人 rén

place－地方 dì fāng

everything－所有的東西（所有的东西）suǒ yǒu de dōng xī something－一些東西（一些东西）yì xiē dōng xī nothing－沒有（没有）méi yǒu

time (as in “a long time”)－時間（时间）shí jiān

time (as in “I did it 3 times”)－次 cì

friend－朋友 péng yǒu

mother, father, parent－媽媽／母親，爸爸／父親，父母（妈妈／母亲，爸爸／父亲）mā ma/mǔ qīn, bà ba/fù qīn, fù mǔ

daughter, son, child－女兒，兒子，孩子 nǚ ér, ér zi, hái zi

wife, husband－妻子／老婆／太太，先生／老公／丈夫 qì zi/lǎo pó/tài tai, xiān shēng/lǎo gōng/zhàng fu

girlfriend, boyfriend－女朋友，男朋友 nǚ péng yǒu, nán péng yǒu

breakfast－早餐 zǎo cān

lunch－午餐 wǔ cān

dinner－晚餐 wǎn cān

money－錢（钱）qián

day－日／天 rì/tiān

year－年 nián

hour－小時（小时）xiao shí

week－星期 xīng qī

country－國家（国家）guó jiā

city－城市 chéng shì

language－語言（语言）yu yán

word－字 zì

Internet－網路（网路）wǎng lù

house－家／房子／屋子 jiā/fáng zi/wu zi

office－辦公室（办公室）bàn gōng shì

company－公司 gōng sī

Question Words

who－誰（谁）shéi

what－什麼（什么）shén me

where－哪裡（哪里）ná lǐ

when－什麼時候（什么时候）shén me shí hòu

why－為什麼（为什么）wèi shén me

how－怎麼（怎么）zěn me

how much－多少 duō shǎo

Pronouns

Know them in the subject (“I”), direct object (“me”), indirect object (“to me”), and possessive (“my”) forms.

I－我 wǒ

you－你 nǐ

she, he－她，他 tā

it－它／他 tā

we－我們 wǒ men

you (plural)－你們（你们）nǐ men

they－他們／她們（他们／她们）tā men

What should you be reading to maximize your language learning?

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of literature we can learn from. Baby books bore you, but you’re not ready for any type of novel, so what’s left?

Here are some tips 

For beginner/A1/A2 learners

Watch a YouTube video in your target language, then read the comments

you’ll already have vocabulary from watching the video, most of the comments will probably use that vocab

it’s a short enough text that you won’t get fatigued

the only downside is that sometimes people utilize abbreviations and slang terms, but even these are good to know

Read news headlines and if you find one you understand almost fully, try to read the full article

sometimes the vocabulary used is not common in everyday usage, but it’s a total win for an A1 learner to fully read and mostly understand any text

while vocab is not used everyday, it will give you the ammunition to talk about that particular topic

Watch Netflix in target language with subtitles in the same language

believe it or not, you will learn to read better, especially because you don’t have to understand written description of visuals (usually uses very niche vocab) or emotion

and now you can slow down or speed up 

I watched DARK in German before I felt like I could read a book, and I understood 85% of it. This is because I looked up some vocabulary in the first episodes and they continued to use it throughout the show so it really cemented in my head to the point where I don’t even think about it. Now, I had to rewatch some conversations the characters had, but that’s much better for understanding than switching it to English or looking up full phrases and sentences. 

For intermediate/B1/B2 learners

read fanfiction

it’s ALWAYS good to read about something you’re interested in so if you like any major movies, books, television, this is the perfect option for you

most people use relatively basic language and you can choose the length 

find a comic book or graphic novel

like watching tv, that visual aid really helps with understanding of the plot without all those tricky descriptions

read a book in your target language that you’ve read and loved in your native language

this is by far my favorite way

you don’t have to worry about trying to understanding the bigger picture because you already know what’s happening/what will happen, you really have to discover the meaning of each sentence and then you begin to picture the scene using only your target language

Check out my other post for methods of how to get the most out of reading !

✨ Language Study Master Post! ✨

(Ill update this as I post more, but here is a master post of tons of links to language resources to help you study a language from my site (Plurilingualism) so far! 💜)

Before you start:

- A guide to making S.M.A.R.T goals (and why goals are so important!)

- A complete guide to self-studying a language

Resources and tips:

- Website resources page (with links to tons of resources for general language learning)

- 5 must-visit sites for language learners

- Master list of language challenges (vocab, reading, journaling, etc)

- 10 unique resources (I'll bet you haven't heard of even 3!)

- Where to find good foreign language books (+ links to several recommendations)

- Master list of YouTube channels in 50+ languages (With almost 500 links!!)

- All about the animedoro study method (my favorite way to study anything, but especially a language)

- All about Memrise (a great app and website)

- All about Busuu (one of my all time favorite resources)

- All about italki (a must-have resource for any language learner!)

- How to perfect your pronunciation (+ links to guides in several languages)

- How to actively and passively learn a language via TV and movies

- The best 15 apps to learn a language with (+ links to full reviews for each)

+

If you are studying Korean:

- 10 amazing Korean resources (with descriptions)

- Korean resource master post (with almost 200 links)

If you are studying German:

- German resource master post (with almost 200 links too)

If you are studying Spanish

- Spanish resource master post (with almost (you guessed it) 200 links!)

Helloo! Can you recommend some korean learning books for beginners please? Also if you know any that can be found for free in pdf or epub format it would be amazing. My main source of getting books was zlibrary but since it's down I don't know other websites that have free books.

Hi! Thank you for your patience! Unfortunately, I don't believe I've come across any free PDFs of Korean books or anything like that, but I can provide some books I have heard of!

I'm taking a Korean class at school and we use the KLEAR textbooks and workbooks. I'm not sure if I would recommend them to those who are studying on their own since they're designed to supplement a class, but they do provide some pretty good exercises and explanations without getting too overwhelming. Maybe look into it!

I haven't used Talk to Me in Korean's textbooks, but they seem like they would be good if you're studying on your own. I really like TTMIK in general, so I trust that their textbooks are also helpful. Both TTMIK and KLEAR have textbooks for every level, so you should be able to find something for you!

As for websites where you might be able to find free resources, maybe see if your local library has a website where you can "borrow" e-books -- you never know what they might have! There's also a website called OpenLibrary that also allows you to borrow books. I'm not sure what Korean languages resources it has, but give it a try! I hope this was helpful! 화이팅!

A very useful demonstration of the importance of sentence length.

I was just thinking about how I don't speak very good Japanese, but I speak more Japanese than most people in the world. And this will probably be true of almost any skill you practice even a little bit. There are many skills out there and we each know only a small subset of them, so if you go out and decide to pick up a new skill you can end up better than 50%, 80%, maybe even 99% of the population pretty quickly. Another example is math. Like, when I'm around other math people, I feel like I basically know nothing. All of math is baffling to me. But realistically I know more math than basically every single person I meet in a non-academic context. So like.

If you are feeling bad about yourself this is a good thing to keep in mind. You're probably better than most people at something. If you aren't, you can become better than most people relatively quickly and easily just by giving something a go for a bit.