Public40 cardsby @donk

Mandarin Chinese Beginner

Pinyin and tones, numbers, common greetings, days and dates, family terms, food, and the most common beginner characters with their meanings.

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Cards (40)

1
Front
How many tones does Mandarin Chinese have, and what are they called?
Back
Mandarin has 4 tones plus a neutral tone: 1st (flat/high), 2nd (rising), 3rd (dipping), 4th (falling), and the neutral (light) tone.
2
Front
What does the 1st tone in Mandarin sound like, and what diacritic marks it?
Back
The 1st tone is a high, flat pitch held steady. It is marked with a macron (ā).
3
Front
What does the 2nd tone in Mandarin sound like, and what diacritic marks it?
Back
The 2nd tone is a rising pitch, like asking a question in English. It is marked with an acute accent (á).
4
Front
What does the 3rd tone in Mandarin sound like, and what diacritic marks it?
Back
The 3rd tone dips low then rises. It is marked with a caron (ǎ).
5
Front
What does the 4th tone in Mandarin sound like, and what diacritic marks it?
Back
The 4th tone falls sharply from high to low, like a command. It is marked with a grave accent (à).
6
Front
What is Pinyin?
Back
Pinyin is the official Romanization system for Mandarin Chinese, using Latin letters and tone marks to represent pronunciation.
7
Front
How do you say 'Hello' in Mandarin, and what is its Pinyin?
Back
Hello is 你好 (Nǐ hǎo), literally meaning 'You good.'
8
Front
How do you say 'Thank you' in Mandarin, and what is its Pinyin?
Back
Thank you is 谢谢 (Xièxiè).
9
Front
How do you say 'You're welcome' in Mandarin, and what is its Pinyin?
Back
You're welcome is 不客气 (Bù kèqì).
10
Front
How do you say 'Goodbye' in Mandarin, and what is its Pinyin?
Back
Goodbye is 再见 (Zàijiàn), literally 'See again.'
11
Front
How do you ask 'How are you?' in Mandarin?
Back
你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?) — 'Are you well?' The particle 吗 (ma) turns a statement into a yes/no question.
12
Front
How do you say 'I'm fine' or 'I'm good' in Mandarin?
Back
我很好 (Wǒ hěn hǎo) — 'I very good.' The adverb 很 (hěn) links the subject to the adjective.
13
Front
How do you say 'My name is...' in Mandarin?
Back
我叫... (Wǒ jiào...) — 'I am called...' or 我的名字是... (Wǒ de míngzì shì...).
14
Front
How do you say 'Sorry / Excuse me' in Mandarin?
Back
对不起 (Duìbuqǐ) means 'Sorry.' 不好意思 (Bù hǎoyìsi) is softer, meaning 'Excuse me / I'm embarrassed.'
15
Front
What are the Mandarin words for the numbers 1 through 10?
Back
1-一(yī), 2-二(èr), 3-三(sān), 4-四(sì), 5-五(wǔ), 6-六(liù), 7-七(qī), 8-八(bā), 9-九(jiǔ), 10-十(shí).
16
Front
How do you form the number 11 through 19 in Mandarin?
Back
Say 十 (shí) + the units digit. E.g., 11 = 十一 (shíyī), 15 = 十五 (shíwǔ), 19 = 十九 (shíjiǔ).
17
Front
How do you say 100 and 1,000 in Mandarin?
Back
100 is 一百 (yībǎi) and 1,000 is 一千 (yīqiān).
18
Front
What are the Mandarin words for the seven days of the week?
Back
Monday-星期一, Tuesday-星期二, Wednesday-星期三, Thursday-星期四, Friday-星期五, Saturday-星期六, Sunday-星期日/天. The pattern is 星期 (xīngqī) + number (Sunday uses 日 or 天).
19
Front
How do you say 'today,' 'yesterday,' and 'tomorrow' in Mandarin?
Back
Today = 今天 (jīntiān), Yesterday = 昨天 (zuótiān), Tomorrow = 明天 (míngtiān).
20
Front
How do you express months in Mandarin?
Back
Months are formed by placing the number before 月 (yuè). January = 一月 (yīyuè), February = 二月 (èryuè), etc.
21
Front
How do you ask and state the date in Mandarin?
Back
Ask: 今天几月几号？(Jīntiān jǐ yuè jǐ hào?) State: 今天是三月十五号。(Jīntiān shì sān yuè shíwǔ hào.) — Today is March 15th.
22
Front
What is the Mandarin word for 'mother' and 'father'?
Back
Mother = 妈妈 (māma), Father = 爸爸 (bàba).
23
Front
What is the Mandarin word for 'older brother' and 'younger brother'?
Back
Older brother = 哥哥 (gēge), Younger brother = 弟弟 (dìdi).
24
Front
What is the Mandarin word for 'older sister' and 'younger sister'?
Back
Older sister = 姐姐 (jiějie), Younger sister = 妹妹 (mèimei).
25
Front
What is the Mandarin word for 'grandfather' (paternal) and 'grandmother' (paternal)?
Back
Paternal grandfather = 爷爷 (yéye), Paternal grandmother = 奶奶 (nǎinai).
26
Front
What is the Mandarin word for 'son' and 'daughter'?
Back
Son = 儿子 (érzi), Daughter = 女儿 (nǚ'ér).
27
Front
How do you say 'rice,' 'noodles,' and 'bread' in Mandarin?
Back
Rice = 米饭 (mǐfàn), Noodles = 面条 (miàntiáo), Bread = 面包 (miànbāo).
28
Front
How do you say 'water,' 'tea,' and 'coffee' in Mandarin?
Back
Water = 水 (shuǐ), Tea = 茶 (chá), Coffee = 咖啡 (kāfēi).
29
Front
How do you say 'I want to eat...' in Mandarin?
Back
我想吃... (Wǒ xiǎng chī...) — 'I want to eat...' 吃 (chī) means 'eat.'
30
Front
How do you say 'delicious' and 'not tasty' in Mandarin?
Back
Delicious = 好吃 (hǎochī), Not tasty = 不好吃 (bù hǎochī).
31
Front
What does the character 人 mean, and how is it pronounced?
Back
人 means 'person / people' and is pronounced rén (2nd tone).
32
Front
What does the character 大 mean, and how is it pronounced?
Back
大 means 'big / large' and is pronounced dà (4th tone).
33
Front
What does the character 小 mean, and how is it pronounced?
Back
小 means 'small / little' and is pronounced xiǎo (3rd tone).
34
Front
What does the character 好 mean, and how is it pronounced?
Back
好 means 'good / well / fine' and is pronounced hǎo (3rd tone).
35
Front
What does the character 中 mean, and how is it pronounced?
Back
中 means 'middle / center / China (short form)' and is pronounced zhōng (1st tone).
36
Front
What does the character 国 mean, and how is it pronounced?
Back
国 means 'country / nation' and is pronounced guó (2nd tone). 中国 (Zhōngguó) means China.
37
Front
What does the character 我 mean, and how is it pronounced?
Back
我 means 'I / me' and is pronounced wǒ (3rd tone).
38
Front
What does the character 你 mean, and how is it pronounced?
Back
你 means 'you (singular)' and is pronounced nǐ (3rd tone).
39
Front
What does the character 他/她 mean, and how is it pronounced?
Back
他 means 'he/him' and 她 means 'she/her'; both are pronounced tā (1st tone) but written differently.
40
Front
What does the character 不 mean, and how is it pronounced?
Back
不 means 'not / no' and is typically pronounced bù (4th tone), but changes to bú (2nd tone) before another 4th-tone syllable.

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