Five Important Chinese Phrases

Earlier, I posted an article about five important Chinese characters to learn before traveling to China. You have no idea how hard it is to narrow these lists to just five, but I decided to tackle it again with useful phrases. I won’t bog you down with trying to read pinyin, so I’ve included audio samples of each sentence recorded by a native friend. Listen, rinse, repeat.

1. Duo shao qian? (How much does it cost?) ~listen
If you’re not very good at remembering phrases, then just focus on this one. It’s the most important Chinese you can know, whether you’re haggling at a market or trying to buy a banana from a street vendor. The interesting thing about this phrase is that “duo” means a lot, and “shao” means a little. Put together, they become a question about how much money (qian).

2. Cesuo zai nali? (Where is the bathroom?) ~listen
You could just as easily scream, “WC!” while holding your crotch and get the same point across, but the structure is useful for asking where other things are. Just replace “cesuo” (toilet) with a different object or place. Of course, this does nothing to help you understand the directions given to you. Oh well! Note that the sentence order for this is backwards from English: Bathroom at where?

3. Wo yao neige. (I want that.) ~listen
Rather than bother figuring out what the names of all the foods are, it’s easier to just point at things and say, “I want that. And that. And that. And that.” You’ll feel like a little kid barely learning to speak, but that’s the fun part! To break it down, “wo yao” means “I want,” and “neige” means “that.”

4. Ting bu dong. (I don’t understand.) ~listen
As much as I don’t like having to use this phrase (or hearing it from other people), it’s a good one to know. Directly translated, it means “hear don’t understand” and is the best way to deter someone from speaking Chinese with you. But this is only for hearing. If you want to talk about not understanding something else, you’d have to swap out the “ting.”

5. Xiexie ni. (Thank you.) ~listen
Obviously, there’s a lot more you could learn. Nothing simple charades can’t compensate for, though, right? In the end, you’ll appreciate knowing how to say thank you more than something like, “Bring me the bill,” or, “Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?” The people you thank will appreciate your efforts to speak Chinese, as well. You can get by with just “xiexie,” but for those extra formal moments, you can tack on “ni” (you).

28 March 2009 | China | Comments | Home
tags: chinese, lists

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