Learn Mandarin Chinese for free using self-paced audio-visual lessons and interactive practice exercises - CultureAlley - master conversations, grammar, vocabulary and more! This lessons teaches the important interrogatives 'Who' and "whose' and focuses conversation around basic sentences such as 'Who is he?" "whose photo is this?" etc.. and finishes by teaching us how to use 'no' with the 'to-be' verb! To study this at your own pace, take quizzes and explore more lessons go to www.culturealley.com. See you at the Alley!
Basic Mandarin Chinese | Lesson 14 | Learn to ask questions and say 'no' in Chinese!
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2. Nǐ hǎo
Lesson 14 on Basic Mandarin!
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3. Revision - Measure words
English
Mandarin
Measure word for flat objects
Zhāng
Measure word for people/general
Ge
This
Zhè
That
Nà
Measure word for 'stick like objects'
Zhī
Measure word for 'volume'
Běn
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4. Revision
English
Mandarin
One photo
Yí zhāng zhào piàn
A piece of paper
Yì zhāng zhǐ
One boy
Yí ge nán háizi
A schoolbag
Yí ge shūbāo
This photo
Zhè zhāng zhào piàn
That boy
Nà ge nán háizi
This is a pen
Zhè shì zhī bǐ
This is not a pencil
Zhè bú shì zhī qiānbǐ
That is not a dictionary
Nà bú shì běn zìdiǎn
That is a book
Nà shì běn shū
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6. What's in store today?
Today we will see how questions are
formed in Mandarin
We will also learn two forms of negation,
that will help us cover verbs!
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8. Question formation
Lets start by learning how is a question
formed in Mandarin different from one
formed in English
For the we will need to learn a new word!
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9. Question formation
Who
Shéi
It is pronounced with a mid
rising tone
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10. Question formation
Unlike English, Mandarin supplies the
‘interrogation’ where the answer should be!
Let’s compare English and Mandarin
and see what we find!
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11. Question formation
English
Q. Who is he?
A. He is Mark
Note that the interrogation
comes
in the beginning of the
question,
but the answer comes at the
end of the statement
Mandarin
Q. Tā shì shéi (he is who?)
A. Tā shì Mark (he is Mark)
Note that the interrogative
comes
exactly where the answer
comes!
Let’s look at a few more
examples!
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12. Question formation
To have
Yǒu
'Yǒu' is pronounced with a
falling rising tone
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14. Question formation
Who has a younger sister?
Shéi yǒu meìmei?
Literally, ‘who have
younger sister?’
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15. Answer formation
Lǐ has a younger sister
Lǐ yǒu meìmei
Literally, ‘Lǐ have
younger sister’
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17. Do you remember?
Unlike English, Mandarin supplies the
‘interrogation’ where the answer should be
Hence, in Mandarin, the translation for
'Who is he?' will be reordered to 'He is who?'
as we will place the answer at the end (eg:
'He is Mark')
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18. Question formation
Who is he?
Tā shì shéi?
Literally, ‘he is who?’
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19. Answer formation
He is doctor Wáng
Tā shì Wáng yīsheng
In Mandarin, the occupation
is said after the name
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21. Question formation
Whose photo is this?
Zhè shì shéi de zhào piàn?
Literally, ‘this is who
(possessive) photo?’
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22. Answer formation
This is my photo
Zhè shì wǒ de zhào piàn
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23. Let's see if you remember…
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24. Pick the right option
How do we say ‘Who is he?’ in Mandarin?
1
2
3
Shéi tā
shì ?
Tā shì
shéi?
Yí shì
shéi?
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25. Solution
How do we say ‘Who is he?’ in Mandarin?
1
2
3
Shéi tā
shì ?
Tā shì
shéi?
Yí shì
shéi?
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26. Pick the right option
What does ‘Lǐ yǒu meìmei’ translate to?
1
2
3
Lǐ is meì’s
younger
sister
Lǐ is the
younger
sister
Lǐ has a
younger
sister
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27. Solution
What does ‘Lǐ yǒu meìmei’ translate to?
1
2
3
Lǐ is meì’s
younger
sister
Lǐ is the
younger
sister
Lǐ has a
younger
sister
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28. Moving on…
So now we know that the ‘interrogative’ goes
where the ‘answer’ would be!
Note that the same is not true in case of question
particles such as ma, ne etc…
Let’s move over to our next topic, which is
negations!
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30. Negations
In mandarin, there are two ways of saying ‘no’
Let’s look at both of them one by one!
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31. Negations
‘Bù’ is the most common one
It is pronounced with a falling tone
Let’s see what the second one is!
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32. Negations
The second one is ‘méi’
The verb, ‘to have’ i.e. ‘yǒu’ is negated
by ‘méi’ instead of ‘bù’!
Let’s look at some examples!
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33. Negation
Do you have an elder sister
Nǐ yǒu jiějie ma?
Literally, 'you have elder sister?'
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34. Negation
I don’t have an elder sister
Wǒ méi yǒu jiějie
Literally, 'I don't have
elder sister'
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35. Negation
I have a younger sister
Wǒ yǒu yí ge meìmei
Literally, 'I have one
(measure word) younger sister'
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36. Let's see if you remember…
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37. Pick the right option
When is ‘méi’ used to say no?
1
2
3
With
‘have’
With
not
With
family
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38. Solution
When is ‘méi’ used to say no?
1
2
3
With
‘have’
With
not
With
family
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39. Pick the right option
What does,‘Wǒ méi yǒu jiějie’
translate to?
1
2
3
I have a
younger sister
I don't have a
younger sister
I don't have an
elder sister
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40. Solution
What does,‘Wǒ méi yǒu jiějie’
translate to?
1
2
3
I have a
younger sister
I don't have a
younger sister
I don't have an
elder sister
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41. Revision
Speaker
English
Mandarin
Mark
Who has a younger sister?
Shéi yǒu meìmei?
Lisa
Lǐ has a younger sister
Lǐ yǒu meìmei
Mark
Who is he?
Tā shì shéi?
Lisa
He is doctor Wáng
Tā shì Wáng yīsheng
Mark
Whose photo is this?
Zhè shì shéi de zhào piàn?
Lisa
This is my photo
Zhè shì wǒ de zhào piàn
Mark
Do you have an elder sister?
Nǐ yǒu jiějie ma?
Lisa
I don't have an elder sister
Wǒ méi yǒu jiějie
Lisa
I have a younger sister
Wǒ yǒu yí ge meìmei
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42. Revision
Speaker
English
Mandarin
Mark
Who is he?
Tā shì shéi?
Lisa
He is my father doctor Wáng Tā shì wǒ bàba, Wáng yīsheng
Mark
Is she your elder sister
Tā shì nǐ jiějie ma?
Lisa
No, I have a younger sister
Bù, wǒ yǒu yí ge meìmei
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43. Culture leaf
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44. Culture leaf
While visiting a Chinese home for a meal,
there are certain cultural customs
and norms that one must follow!
Here are some suggested behavioral practices
while going for an informal dinner!
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45. Culture leaf
It is considered both polite and appropriate to get
a
small gift such as a bottle of wine or a tea set
However, make sure to not gift anything in sets
of four, as the number 4, sì, sounds similar
to the Mandarin word for death, sǐ
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46. Culture leaf
It is considered rude to start eating before
everyone is seated at the dinner table
Wait for all the dishes to be laid on the table and
served before you start with your first bite!
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47. Culture leaf
A customary phrase before
starting dinner is ‘chī fàn
Literally meaning ‘eat rice’ and amounting to ‘let’s
start the meal’, ‘chī fàn’ is said all around the table
before starting a meal!
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48. What's next?
In the next lesson we shall learn about
the order and expression of time!
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