14.1 Asking for help
14.2 Lost items
14.3 Accidents
14.4 Theft
14.5 Missing person
14.6 The police
ENGLISH-MANDARIN CHINESE DICTIONARY
Introduction
Welcome to the Tuttle Essential Language series, covering all of the most popular Asian languages. These books are basic guides to communicating in the language. They’re concise, accessible and easy to understand, and you’ll find them indispensable on your trip abroad to get you where you want to go, pay the right prices and do everything you’re planning to do.
Each guide is divided into 14 themed sections and starts with a pronunciation guide which explains the phonetic pronunciations of all the words and sentences you’ll need to know, and a basic grammar guide which will help you construct basic sentences in the language. At the end of this book is an extensive English–Mandarin Chinese dictionary.
Throughout the book you’ll come across boxes with a beside them. These are designed to help you if you can’t understand what your listener is saying to you. Hand the book over to them and encourage them to point to the appropriate answer to the question you are asking.
Other boxes in the book—this time without the symbol—give listings of themed words with their English translations beside them.
For extra clarity, we have put all phonetic pronunciations of the Mandarin Chinese terms in bold.
This book covers all situations you are likely to encounter during the course of a visit, from reserving a room for the night to ordering food and drinks at a restaurant and what to do if you get lost or you lose your money. With over 2,000 commonly used words and essential sentences at your fingertips you can rest assured that you will be able to get by in all situations, so let Essential Mandarin Chinese become your passport to learning to communicate with confidence!
Pronunciation guide
The book uses the standard romanized system of Mandarin Chinese called Hanyu Pinyin.
Consonants
Most of the Chinese consonants are similar to the English ones, with the following exceptions:
| Pinyin | Pronunciation | Example |
| c | like ts in its | 粗 cū “rough” |
| q | like ch in cheer, with a strong puff of air | 去 qù “go” |
| x | like sh in she | 西 xī “west” |
| z | like ds in kids | 字 zì “word” |
| zh | like dg as in judge, with the tongue rolled back | 这 zhè “this” |
Vowels
Most of the Chinese vowels are similar to English also:
| Pinyin | Pronunciation | Example |
| a | short a, as in far | 八 bā “eight” |
| e | short e, as in the | 鹅 é “goose” |
| i | long ee, as in fee | 七 qī “seven” |
| o | short o, as in for | 我 wǒ “I, me” |
| u | long u, as in cute | 哭 kū “cry” |
| ü | as in yü or the French u | 绿 lǜ “green” |
Combination Vowels
The combination vowels are also fairly similar to those in English:
| Pinyin | Pronunciation | Example |
| ao | like ow in now | 好 hǎo “good” |
| ei | like ay in say | 黑 hēi “black” |
| er | like er in number, with a longer “r” sound | 二 èr “two” |
| ian | like yen | 天 tiān “sky” |
| ie | like ea in wear | 鞋 xié “shoe” |
| iu | like ew as in pew | 丢 diū “throw” |
| ou | like ow in low | 猴 hǒu “monkey” |
| ui | like way in sway | 水 shuǐ “water” |
| uo | like wo in sword | 说 shuō “word” |
| ue | like ue in fluent | 学 xuě “study” |
Tones
A tone is a variation in pitch when a syllable or word is pronounced. In Mandarin, a variation in the pitch or tone changes the meaning of the word. Mandarin has four different tones, each marked by a sign above the vowel. In addition there is a neutral tone which does not carry any mark—often used in the second syllable of a word, e.g., nǐmen 你们 “you” (plural). Below is a tone chart which shows how the tones work.
Tone 1 is a high-level tone represented by a level tone mark above the vowel.
Tone 2 is a high-rising tone represented by a rising tone mark above the vowel.
Tone 3 is a low-dipping tone represented by a dish-like concave tone mark above the vowel.
Tone 4 is a high-falling tone represented by a falling tone mark above the vowel.
The neutral tone is pronounced lightly and softly in comparison to the other tones and is not marked by any tone symbol. A syllable is said to take on a neutral tone when it is not emphasized or stressed in the sentence, (i.e., it is skipped over quickly).
Take care to pronounce the words accurately according to their tone marks, as the same syllable can have several different meanings. For example,
| Word | Tone Number | Meaning |
| 妈 mā | 1 | mother |
| 麻 má | 2 | numb |
| 马 mǎ | 3 | horse |
| 骂 mà | 4 | scold |
| 吗 ma | neutral tone | question marker |
Pronouncing a word with a different tone can change its meaning. For example, “I’m looking for my mother” can become “I’m looking for my horse”!
Basic grammar
Chinese grammar is very simple. There are no verb conjugations, no plurals, no gender forms, no articles and the sentence order is essentially the same as English. This section presents a basic guide to Chinese grammar in terms familiar to English speakers.
1 Word order
Chinese word order is the same as in English: subject + verb + object.
Wǒ bú huì shuō Hànyǔ.
I not can speak Chinese
= I don’t speak Chinese.
Wǒ yào qù Běijīng.
I want go Beijing
= I want to go to Beijing.
Qǐng gěi wǒ yí bēi lěng kāishuǐ.
Please give me one glass cold drinking water
= I’d like a glass of cold water.
