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.
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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.

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

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?

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...

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



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

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。

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

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。

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 _________

_______________________________________________________.
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 .
______________________________________________________________.

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

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

_______________________________________________________.
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

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: