CULTURAL NOTE —————————
Běi means “North”, and Jīng means “capital.” Together, Běijīng means the Northern Capital. Likewise, Nán means South, so the city of Nánjīng means Southern Capital, which it was for a long time.
你去过上海吗?
Nǐ qù guo Shànghǎi ma?
Have you been to Shanghai?
（你去過上海嗎？）
是的, 去过。/没去过。
Shì de, qù guo. / Méi qù guo.
Yes, I have been. / I haven’t been.
（是的，去過。/沒去過。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Nǐ means “you.” Nín (您) is a polite form. If you add men to these words, such as Nǐmen or Nínmen, the “you” becomes plural, as in “You all.”
你是 美国/加拿大 人吗?
Nǐ shì Měiguó / Jiānádà rén ma?
Are you American / Canadian?
（你是 美國/加拿大 人嗎？）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
The spoken languages of the People’s Republic of China belong to at least seven main groups (and the dialects run in the hundreds if not thousands). Since the early 20th century the Standard Mandarin dialect has been promoted as the official language of China.
我朋友也是上海人。
Wǒ péngyou yě shì Shànghǎi rén.
My friend is also from Shanghai.
（我朋友也是上海人。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
If the lips are gone, the teeth will grow cold.
—Chinese proverb
你有兄弟姐妹吗?
Nǐ yǒu xiōngdìjiěmèi ma?
Do you have any siblings?
（你有兄弟姐妹嗎？）
没有。
Méiyǒu.
No.
（沒有。）
我有一个 哥哥/弟弟/姐姐/妹妹。
Wǒ yǒu yíge...gēge / dìdi / jiějie / mèimei.
I have an ... older brother / younger brother / older sister / younger sister.
（我有一個 哥哥/弟弟/姐姐/妹妹。）
你会说英语吗?
Nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma?
Do you speak English?
（你會說英語嗎？）
会一点儿。
Hùi yìdiǎnr.
A little.
（會一點兒。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Notice the “nr” at the end of yìdiǎnr; Standard Mandarin pronounces only the “n” while the Beijing dialect pronounces only the “r”.
你会说汉语吗?
Nǐ huì shuō Hànyǔ ma?
Do you speak Chinese?
（你會說漢語嗎？）
一般。/马马乎乎。
Yìbān. / Mǎmǎhūhū.
So-so.
（一般。/馬馬乎乎。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Mǎmǎhūhū literally means “Horse horse, tiger tiger.”
你懂吗?
Nǐ dǒng ma?
Do you understand?
（你懂嗎？）
我不懂。
Wǒ bù dǒng.
I don’t understand.
（我不懂。）
————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————
It is also common to answer Tīng bù dǒng, which literally means “(I) hear (but) don’t understand.”
你汉语说的很好。
Nǐ Hànyǔ shuō de hěn hǎo.
You speak Chinese very well.
（你漢語說的很好。）
哪里, 哪里。
Nǎli, nǎli.
Who, me? [lit. “Where, where?” In Chinese this expression is a way of modestly deprecating one’s own efforts]
（哪裡，哪裡。）
————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————
Hànyǔ is the spoken language; literally it means the “Han language.” Often, people will say the word Zhōngwén instead, which means Chinese, or literally “Middle Language,” the Zhōng coming from Zhōngguó which means “Middle Kingdom,” or China.
那是谁?
