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Grammar
Dictionary
A – C
D – F
G – I
J – L
M – O
P – R
S – U
V – Z
LIFELINE words and phrases
About the Publisher
It is not easy for foreigners to pronounce Mandarin Chinese, so in this phrasebook we have used standard Latin phonetic sounds to keep it simple. Mandarin is not written using an alphabet, but by various strokes (such as
The system of conversion is as follows:
| Consonants | ||
| Pinyin | Phonetic sound | Converting example |
| b, d, f, g, j, l, m, n, p, s, t, w, y | pronounced the same as in English | băo→bao(宝, treasure) |
| c | similar to ts in boots | cí→tsi(词, word/s) |
| h | similar to ch in Scottish loch | hē→he(喝, to drink) |
| q | similar to ch in chip | qīng→ching(清, clear) |
| r | similar to r in red | rén→ren(人, person/people) |
| x | similar to sh in she | xī→she(西, west) |
| z | like ds in kids | zāi→dsai(灾, disaster) |
| zh | like j in joke | zhōng→jong(中, middle) |
| Vowels | ||
| Pinyin | Phonetic sound | Converting example |
| a | like a in Zara | mā→ma(妈, mum) |
| e | like e in her without the sound of r | hē→he(喝, to drink) |
| i | like ee in bee | mĭ→mi(米, rice) |
| o | like the sound of war | wŏ→war(我, I/me) |
| u | like oo in spoon | lù→loo(路, road) |
| ü | like the sound of letter u , followed by ee in bee | ǜ→chu-ee(去, to go) |
| ai | like the sound of I | ài→l(爱, love) |
| ei | like the sound of letter a | mĕi→may(美, beautiful) |
| ao | like ou in ouch | lăo→lou(老, old) |
Intonation
There are five tones used when pronouncing Mandarin; to make it easier for you to remember them, we have placed the diacritics on top of the vowel in each pinyin to indicate the flat tone (—), the rising tone (´), the musical long tone (˘), the strong tone (`), whilst no diacritic means a quiet tone.
In order to make it easier for you to understand these tones, the following examples are supplied. These will give you some idea of how to pronounce the four basic tones in Mandarin:
| Mandarin pinyin | English sounds |
| mā | pronounced like ‘ma’ in the first syllable of ‘marmalade’ |
| má | pronounced like ‘ma’ in ‘mass’ but with a slightly rising tone |
| mă | pronounced like ‘mar’ in ‘marquee’ but holding this sound for slightly longer |
| mà | pronounced like ‘mar’ in the first syllable of ‘marmalade’ |
1 Chinese people show great respect for the wisdom and experience of their elders. The senior people present will usually initiate the greetings, and you should greet the oldest, most senior person before any others.
2 Do not stick your chopsticks into a bowl of rice. It reminds Chinese people of the incense sticks they burn when they bury their dead.
3 Avoid sharing a pear with loved ones. The word for pear-sharing sounds the same as the term for to separate (fēn-lí), and can hint at a break-up or a lifelong separation.
4 Business cards should be held in both hands when they are being offered or received. When receiving another person’s card, you should take the time to look at it attentively before putting it away.
5 Be aware of the Chinese fear of losing face. For example, do not call a restaurant manager a fú-wù;-yuán (waiter/waitress), or anything else below their true status.
6 It is rude to refuse any consumable item being offered to you (including cigarettes). If you do not accept a cigarette you have to come up with a good reason to avoid offending anyone!
7 Tipping is still not expected in most restaurants and hotels, however attitudes towards tipping are changing.
8 Most Chinese women continue using their maiden names even after marriage, but they may indicate their marital status by using 太太 (tài-tai) or 夫人 (fū-rén) with their husband’s name.
9 In a formal situation you should always
