中文是生活— How to say “sorry” and “excuse me” in Mandarin

How to say “sorry” and “excuse me” in Mandarin wxzhwnn: “The words 对不起/對不起(duìbuqǐ), 不好意思(bùhǎoyìsi), 请问/請問(qǐngwèn), ... 中文是生活—Howtosay“sorry”and“excuseme”inMandarin 1.5Mratings 277kratings See,that’swhattheappisperfectfor. Soundsperfect Wahhhh,Idon’twanna Posts Likes Following Askmeanything Submitapost Archive Howtosay“sorry”and“excuseme”inMandarin wxzhwnn Thewords对不起/對不起(duìbuqǐ),不好意思(bùhǎoyìsi),请问/請問(qǐngwèn),麻烦你/麻煩你(máfannǐ)and劳驾/勞駕(láojià)mightbetranslatedas“sorry”or“excuseme”invariouscontextsinEnglish,butallofthemareusedindifferentsituations.對不起*：”Iapologise”對不起canbetheequivalentof“I’msorry”,“I’veletyoudown”,“forgiveme”andsooninEnglish,andisusedtomakeapologies.Ifsomeonesay對不起,atmostoftime,itmeans“I’mreallysorry”or“I’mterriblysorry”.Generally對不起isnotusedtogetsomeone’sattention,askaquestionorwhenyouaddresssomeone.Remember,thiswordisonlyusedforapologies.對不起，我錯了，請你原諒我。

Duìbùqǐ,wǒcuòle,qǐngnǐyuánliàngwǒ.Iamsorry,that’smyfault,pleaseforgiveme.對不起，我來晚了。

Duìbùqǐ,wǒláiwǎnle.SorryI’mlate.不好意思*：“Sorry”,“Excuseme”不好意思canbetranslatedas“feelembarrassed”orcoll.“sorry”,“excuseme”.Forsomeapologieswhicharenotsoimportantasthosewhereweuse對不起,wecansay不好意思:“Oops,sorry~”.不好意思means“Excuseme”when:disturbingsomeone:不好意思，现在几点呢？(also:麻烦你了or请问)doingsomethingthatbotheredsomeone:我忘了叫你跟我们一起吃饭。

不好意思。

請問：“Excuseme,mayIask?”請（please）+問（ask）isusedforaskingquestionsinapoliteway.Italwayshastocomebeforequestions:請問+[question].Using請問isaverynicewayofaskingquestions,especiallyofstrangers,anditcanbeagoodwaytogettheattentionofsomeoneyoudon’tknow.Inmorefamiliarsituations,though,請問isusuallynotnecessary.Peopleyouknowmightfinditabitoddifyousaid請問tothem.請問，這裡有洗手間嗎？请问，这里有洗手间吗？Qǐngwèn,zhèliyǒuxǐshǒujiānma?Excuseme,isthereatoilethere?請問，這裡可以刷卡嗎？请问，这里可以刷卡吗？Qǐngwèn,zhèlǐkěyǐshuākǎma?CanIpaybycardhere?Becarefulwiththepronunciationof請問(qǐngwèn)!Ifyousayqǐngwéninsteadofqǐngwèn,itsoundslikeyou’resaying“請吻”thatcouldsoundlikeabizarrewayofsaying“pleasekiss”or“requestingakiss”!麻煩你*：“CouldItroubleyou…?”麻煩你isoftenusedas‘sorrytotroubleyou..’beforeaskingaquestionorforsomeone’shelp.Theliteraltranslationof麻烦istroublesomeorannoyingandusingthiskindofphraseshowsrespecttotheotherperson.You’resaying“couldItroubleyouto[dosomething]?”：麻烦你+[verbphrase].麻煩你開個門。

麻烦你开个门。

Máfannǐkāigèmén.Couldyouopenthedoorforme?麻煩你幫我看看這個。

Máfannǐbāngwǒkànkànzhège.Couldyoutakealookatthisforme,please?勞駕：“excuseme”,“couldItroubleyou”勞（labour,toil）+駕（harness,todrive）.Like麻煩你,勞駕canbeusedtomakerequestsandaskquestions.However,勞駕isfrequentlyusedtogetsomeone’sattentionaswellasmakearequestofthem,canalsobeusedtoprefacecommonrequeststhatareexpectedincontext(suchasrequestsfromstafforservers).勞駕，給我倒杯茶。

劳驾，给我倒杯茶。

Láojià,gěiwǒdàobēichá.Excuseme-couldyoupourmesometea?(Inateahouseorrestaurant)*Thisexpressionsalsohaveanothermeaningsand/orthereareanotherwaystheycanbeused.basedon Moreyoumightlike basicmandarin#2:greetings liu-anhuaming sofromthispostoni’mgoingtobeintroducingvocabandgrammarstartingfromthebeginning***note:thecharacterswillbetypedwithsimplifiedcharactersandthenthepinyinandmeaning词汇cíhuìVocabulary我wǒI,me你nǐyou您nín you(polite)他tā he她 tā she它 tā it们men pluralsuffixforpronounsandsomenouns名字míngzì name中文zhōngwén Chineselanguage这zhè this那nà that叫jiào tobecalled不bùnegativeprefix,not是shì tobe(note:是canonlybeusedwithnouns;adifferentwordisrequiredforadjectives),yes很hěnvery什么shénme what谁shéiwho什么时候shénmeshíhou when为什么wèishénme why呢ne afinalparticle吗ma aquestionparticleforyes-noquestions老师lǎoshī teacher 学生xuéshēng student先生xiānshēngMr.小姐xiǎojieMiss***太太tàitaiMrs.早上／上午zǎoshàng/shàngwǔ morning中午zhōngwǔ noon,midday下午xiàwǔ afternoon晚上wǎnshàng evening早上好／早安zǎoshànghǎo/zǎo’ān goodmorning下午好xiàwǔhǎo goodafternoon晚上好／晚安wǎnshànghǎo/wǎn’ān goodevening好hǎo good不错búcuò notbad,fine不太好bútàihǎo notsogood***since小姐isalsoconsideredasslangforprostitute,iaskedsomenativespeakersforadviceandonesaidifyouusesomeone’snamewith 小姐it’sokay(e.g., 陈小姐Chenxiaojie)butthatyoucanalsouse美女měinǚand姑娘gūniangasalternatives.allinall,justtreatcarefullywith小姐语法yǔfǎGrammarGreetingothersWhengreetingothers,youmustaddressthepersonfirstthensaythegreeting.陈先生，你好。

HelloMr.Chen刘太太，早安！GoodmorningMrs.LiuBasicSentenceStructureLikeEnglish,MandarinhasaSubject-Verb-Objectsentencestructure.他是老师。

Heisateacher我是学生。

IamastudentWhenaskingaquestion,youusuallycanreplaceawordwiththenecessaryquestionword.她是谁？Whoisshe?她是金老师。

She’sTeacherJin.你叫什么名字？Whatisyourname?(literallyYouarecalledwhatname)我叫雅玲。

MynameisYaling(literallyIamcalledYaling)吗isusedtoaskayes-noquestion你是老师吗？Areyouateacher?我是老师OR我不是老师IamateacherORIamnotateacher呢ne Ifsomeoneasksyouaquestion,youcanuse 呢neattheendofasentencetomakeitinterrogative.Inmanycasesitfunctionsthesamewayas “howabout…?”inEnglish.你好吗？Howareyou?我很好，你呢？I’mwell,andyou?sothisisitforthesecondbasicmandarinpost.iwouldappreciateanyfeedbackthatyouhave.thanks,andihopethishelps!! MandarinResources liu-anhuaming ChineseBoostgrammar:ThispagehasalistofdifferentlevelsofMandaringrammarforyoutoexplore.Whatyoudoischooseyourlevelandthenpickagrammarpatternfromthearticlesunderthatlevel.Eacharticleisclearlywrittenandgivesmultipleexamplestohelpyouunderstandwhatyou’relearning.afolderofmanymanymandarinresourcesJustLearnChinese:Thiswebsitehassomanythings.There’svocab/idiomexplanations,grammar,andbestofallstories/novels.Thestoriesaredividedintodifferentlevelsofdifficultyand,whenreadingtheactualstories,haveapopupdictionarywhenyouhoveroveraword.ThewebsiteisrunbyanativeMandarinspeaker.CarlGene:CarlGeneisaprofessionaltranslatorandthisishisblog.I’dsaythestuffhepostsisalittlemoreadvancedbutit’scertainlyworthlookingaround.HepostsaboutChineselanguageandhistory,aswellashisexperienceworkingasatranslatorandinterpreter.Reallyinterestingstuff.中外对话ChinaDialogue:ChinaDialogueisawebsitededicatedtostoriesaboutChina’senvironmentalissuesandthearticlescanbereadineitherMandarinorEnglish.Thisisamuchmoreadvancedreadingsourceanditisnotdividedintolevelsofdifficulty. TheChairman’sBao:ThisisanonlinenewspaperthathasstoriesforeachHSKlevel.Whenyougotoanarticle,youcanhighlightwordsyoudon’tunderstandandthedefinitionwillappeartotherightofthetext.There’sawiderangeoftopicscoveredintheirarticlessoyou’reboundtofindsomethingyoulike.Read漫画ManhuaOnline:Allofthemanhuaarewrittenbynativespeakers(atleastithinktheyare)andthey’refreetoread.ThewholewebsiteisinMandarinsoitmightthatalittlebitoflegworktofigureouthowtofindwhatyouwant.Ijustleafthroughthemanhuathatareatthetopofthepage.ReadChinese:Thiswebsiteoffersahugenumberoftextsforbeginner,intermediate,andadvancedlearnersinbothtraditionalandsimplifiedcharacters.Afterreadingeachpassagethereareafewquestionsyouanswertotestyourcomprehensionofwhatyoujustread.Eachpassagealsohaspinyin,butratherthanputtingitwiththecharactersitisputunderneaththepassagesoyouareforcedtofocusjustonthecharacterswhilereading.HanziGrids:Hereyoucanmakeyourownprintablegridsforpracticinghanzi.Togetstartedyoujusthavetoquicklymakeafreeaccountonthewebsiteusingyouremail.Afterdoingsoyoucanstartworkingonyourgrid.Therearesomefeaturesthatyouhavetopayforbutyoucanstillmakeabasicgridwithoutthesubscription. EasyMandarinBookstoRead:ThisisjustashortlistofsuggestionsforsimplebookstoreadinMandarin.Mostofthemarechildren’sbooksorbooksoftales.MandarinWeekly:MandarinWeeklyisaweeklynewsletterthatincludesloadsofresourcesforMandarinforalllevels.Theweeklyemailsincluderesourcesforvocab,grammar,culture,andmuchmore.10/10wouldrecommendsubscribingespeciallysinceit’sfree.Ninchanese:ThisisafunlittlewebsitefullofgamesandanentertainingstorytohelpyoulearnbasicMandarin.There’salsoanappforitsoyoucanplaybothonyourphoneandonyourcomputer.PhoneticSetsofCharacters:Asthenamesuggests,thisisalistofcharactersthathavesimilarpronunciations.Inthislisttheycovercharactersthathavethesamepronunciationforeverythingincludingtonesandcharactersthathavethesameinitialsandfinalsbutdifferenttones.Therearetwoothercategoriesofsimilarity,butthislistonlycoversthetwo.BONUS:TheGrassMudHorseLexicon:Thisisaspecialgiftforyouall.Isuggestyouexploreitandhavefun. MandarinResources meitianzhongwen ChineseBoostgrammar:ThispagehasalistofdifferentlevelsofMandaringrammarforyoutoexplore.Whatyoudoischooseyourlevelandthenpickagrammarpatternfromthearticlesunderthatlevel.Eacharticleisclearlywrittenandgivesmultipleexamplestohelpyouunderstandwhatyou’relearning.afolderofmanymanymandarinresourcesJustLearnChinese:Thiswebsitehassomanythings.There’svocab/idiomexplanations,grammar,andbestofallstories/novels.Thestoriesaredividedintodifferentlevelsofdifficultyand,whenreadingtheactualstories,haveapopupdictionarywhenyouhoveroveraword.ThewebsiteisrunbyanativeMandarinspeaker.CarlGene:CarlGeneisaprofessionaltranslatorandthisishisblog.I’dsaythestuffhepostsisalittlemoreadvancedbutit’scertainlyworthlookingaround.HepostsaboutChineselanguageandhistory,aswellashisexperienceworkingasatranslatorandinterpreter.Reallyinterestingstuff.中外对话ChinaDialogue:ChinaDialogueisawebsitededicatedtostoriesaboutChina’senvironmentalissuesandthearticlescanbereadineitherMandarinorEnglish.Thisisamuchmoreadvancedreadingsourceanditisnotdividedintolevelsofdifficulty. TheChairman’sBao:ThisisanonlinenewspaperthathasstoriesforeachHSKlevel.Whenyougotoanarticle,youcanhighlightwordsyoudon’tunderstandandthedefinitionwillappeartotherightofthetext.There’sawiderangeoftopicscoveredintheirarticlessoyou’reboundtofindsomethingyoulike.Read漫画ManhuaOnline:Allofthemanhuaarewrittenbynativespeakers(atleastithinktheyare)andthey’refreetoread.ThewholewebsiteisinMandarinsoitmightthatalittlebitoflegworktofigureouthowtofindwhatyouwant.Ijustleafthroughthemanhuathatareatthetopofthepage.ReadChinese:Thiswebsiteoffersahugenumberoftextsforbeginner,intermediate,andadvancedlearnersinbothtraditionalandsimplifiedcharacters.Afterreadingeachpassagethereareafewquestionsyouanswertotestyourcomprehensionofwhatyoujustread.Eachpassagealsohaspinyin,butratherthanputtingitwiththecharactersitisputunderneaththepassagesoyouareforcedtofocusjustonthecharacterswhilereading.HanziGrids:Hereyoucanmakeyourownprintablegridsforpracticinghanzi.Togetstartedyoujusthavetoquicklymakeafreeaccountonthewebsiteusingyouremail.Afterdoingsoyoucanstartworkingonyourgrid.Therearesomefeaturesthatyouhavetopayforbutyoucanstillmakeabasicgridwithoutthesubscription. EasyMandarinBookstoRead:ThisisjustashortlistofsuggestionsforsimplebookstoreadinMandarin.Mostofthemarechildren’sbooksorbooksoftales.MandarinWeekly:MandarinWeeklyisaweeklynewsletterthatincludesloadsofresourcesforMandarinforalllevels.Theweeklyemailsincluderesourcesforvocab,grammar,culture,andmuchmore.10/10wouldrecommendsubscribingespeciallysinceit’sfree.Ninchanese:ThisisafunlittlewebsitefullofgamesandanentertainingstorytohelpyoulearnbasicMandarin.There’salsoanappforitsoyoucanplaybothonyourphoneandonyourcomputer.PhoneticSetsofCharacters:Asthenamesuggests,thisisalistofcharactersthathavesimilarpronunciations.Inthislisttheycovercharactersthathavethesamepronunciationforeverythingincludingtonesandcharactersthathavethesameinitialsandfinalsbutdifferenttones.Therearetwoothercategoriesofsimilarity,butthislistonlycoversthetwo.BONUS:TheGrassMudHorseLexicon:Thisisaspecialgiftforyouall.Isuggestyouexploreitandhavefun. MandarinResources meitianzhongwen ChineseBoostgrammar:ThispagehasalistofdifferentlevelsofMandaringrammarforyoutoexplore.Whatyoudoischooseyourlevelandthenpickagrammarpatternfromthearticlesunderthatlevel.Eacharticleisclearlywrittenandgivesmultipleexamplestohelpyouunderstandwhatyou’relearning.afolderofmanymanymandarinresourcesJustLearnChinese:Thiswebsitehassomanythings.There’svocab/idiomexplanations,grammar,andbestofallstories/novels.Thestoriesaredividedintodifferentlevelsofdifficultyand,whenreadingtheactualstories,haveapopupdictionarywhenyouhoveroveraword.ThewebsiteisrunbyanativeMandarinspeaker.CarlGene:CarlGeneisaprofessionaltranslatorandthisishisblog.I’dsaythestuffhepostsisalittlemoreadvancedbutit’scertainlyworthlookingaround.HepostsaboutChineselanguageandhistory,aswellashisexperienceworkingasatranslatorandinterpreter.Reallyinterestingstuff.中外对话ChinaDialogue:ChinaDialogueisawebsitededicatedtostoriesaboutChina’senvironmentalissuesandthearticlescanbereadineitherMandarinorEnglish.Thisisamuchmoreadvancedreadingsourceanditisnotdividedintolevelsofdifficulty. TheChairman’sBao:ThisisanonlinenewspaperthathasstoriesforeachHSKlevel.Whenyougotoanarticle,youcanhighlightwordsyoudon’tunderstandandthedefinitionwillappeartotherightofthetext.There’sawiderangeoftopicscoveredintheirarticlessoyou’reboundtofindsomethingyoulike.Read漫画ManhuaOnline:Allofthemanhuaarewrittenbynativespeakers(atleastithinktheyare)andthey’refreetoread.ThewholewebsiteisinMandarinsoitmightthatalittlebitoflegworktofigureouthowtofindwhatyouwant.Ijustleafthroughthemanhuathatareatthetopofthepage.ReadChinese:Thiswebsiteoffersahugenumberoftextsforbeginner,intermediate,andadvancedlearnersinbothtraditionalandsimplifiedcharacters.Afterreadingeachpassagethereareafewquestionsyouanswertotestyourcomprehensionofwhatyoujustread.Eachpassagealsohaspinyin,butratherthanputtingitwiththecharactersitisputunderneaththepassagesoyouareforcedtofocusjustonthecharacterswhilereading.HanziGrids:Hereyoucanmakeyourownprintablegridsforpracticinghanzi.Togetstartedyoujusthavetoquicklymakeafreeaccountonthewebsiteusingyouremail.Afterdoingsoyoucanstartworkingonyourgrid.Therearesomefeaturesthatyouhavetopayforbutyoucanstillmakeabasicgridwithoutthesubscription. EasyMandarinBookstoRead:ThisisjustashortlistofsuggestionsforsimplebookstoreadinMandarin.Mostofthemarechildren’sbooksorbooksoftales.MandarinWeekly:MandarinWeeklyisaweeklynewsletterthatincludesloadsofresourcesforMandarinforalllevels.Theweeklyemailsincluderesourcesforvocab,grammar,culture,andmuchmore.10/10wouldrecommendsubscribingespeciallysinceit’sfree.Ninchanese:ThisisafunlittlewebsitefullofgamesandanentertainingstorytohelpyoulearnbasicMandarin.There’salsoanappforitsoyoucanplaybothonyourphoneandonyourcomputer.PhoneticSetsofCharacters:Asthenamesuggests,thisisalistofcharactersthathavesimilarpronunciations.Inthislisttheycovercharactersthathavethesamepronunciationforeverythingincludingtonesandcharactersthathavethesameinitialsandfinalsbutdifferenttones.Therearetwoothercategoriesofsimilarity,butthislistonlycoversthetwo.BONUS:TheGrassMudHorseLexicon:Thisisaspecialgiftforyouall.Isuggestyouexploreitandhavefun. MandarinChinese:Prepositions the-polyglot-wannabe the-polyglot-wannabe (Alright,heregoesanattemptataMandaringrammarlesson.It’swhatI’vejustlearned,soIhopeIcanexplainitclearlyenough.)Prepositionslinkpronouns,nouns,nounphrases,etc.withwordslikewith,for,andto.HerearesomecommononesinMandarin:对duì-to(someone)跟gēn-with;from给gěi-to;for替tì-for(someone)用yòng-withImportantPoints:a)Objectcomesdirectlyaftertheprepositionb)Theprepositionalphrase(PP)comesbeforetheverb.Example:这个小男孩对我微笑。

(Thislittleboysmiledatme.)[preposition:at//object:me//verb:smiled]c)Modifiers(adverbsandsuch)goeitherbeforethePPoraftertheverb’sobject.Example:我明天会跟他说。

(Iwillspeakwithhimtomorrow.)[adverb:tomorrow//preposition:withhim//verb:speak]PrepositionalPhraseExamples:{Identifytheprepositionsandnoticewherethey’reused!}今天晚上我要跟他去吃饭。

(ThiseveningIamgoingtohavedinnerwithhim.)[lit. ‘Today’seveningI’mgoingwithhimtogoeatfood.’]李先生想给他的太太买一条金项炼。

(Mr.Liisthinkingofbuyinghiswifeagoldnecklace.)[lit. ‘Mr.Liisthinkingforhiswifetobuyagoldnecklace.’]他用木棍敲我的头。

(Hehitmeontheheadwithastick.)[lit. ‘Hewithastickhitmyhead.’]~That’sallI’vegotfortoday,andIreallyhopethisishelpfulforsomebody.I’mstillfiguringthisoutmyself,soifImadeanymistakes,pleasecorrectme,orletmeknowhowIcouldbeclearer! Mandarin:WaystoUse就 multilingual-musings Heyguys,IknowIsaidIprobablywouldn’tmakeanyneworiginalstufftodaybutIlied IunderestimatedtheamountofmotivationIwouldhavetonight.Anyway,here’ssomegrammarstuff,bc就[jiù]canbeusedinalotofways&itconfusedmequiteabit.Thishelpedclarifysomestuffforme,hopefullyithelpsyouguysouttoo.(Btw,IgotmostofthisfromChinesegrammarwiki,I’ddefinitelyrecommendlookingonthereifyou’dliketoseemoreexamplesorwhatever!)1.Itcanbeusedtoindicatethatsomethinghappenedsoonerthanexpected(basicallytheoppositeof才whenusedlikethis).[subject+time+就+verb+了]我昨晚八点半就睡觉了。

(Iwenttobedat8:30lastnight.)这个问题他十分钟就解决了。

(Itonlytookhim10minutestoanswerthisquestion.)2.Itcanindicatethatsomethingwillhappeninthenearfuture.[subject+time+就+verb]老板明天就回家。

(Thebossiscominghometomorrow.)我马上就来。

(I’llbethererightaway.)3.Itcanbeusedtoexpress “only”or “just.”[就+subject+predicate(canbeanadjectiveorverb)] 我们都忘了，就他还记得。

(Weallforgot,hewastheonlyonewhoremembered.)OR[subject+就+verbphrase]我早饭就吃了一片面包。

(ForbreakfastIonlyateapieceofbread.)4.Itcanbeusedtomean “onlyhave”(similarto只有,butyoudon’tsay就有,that’sincorrect–justuse就).[subject+就+number+measureword+noun]你们家就一个孩子吗？(There’sonlyonechildinyourfamily?)我就一个弟弟。

(Ionlyhaveonelittlebrother.)5.Itcanbeusedtoexpresssomethinglike “doasyouplease.”[想+verb+就+(same)verb]想吃就吃，不用问我。

(Ifyouwantto,theneatit,noneedtoaskme.)别害怕，想说就说。

(Don’tbeafraid,justsaywhatyouwanttosay.)Okayyeahsorrythisgotkindalong,butagainIhopethisishelpful.Asalways,pleaseletmeknowifyoufindanymistakes,feelfreetohmuifyou’vegotrequestsorideasforwhateverkindofpost,etc. [Note:thisisnotanexhaustivelistoftheways就canbeused,butit’sgotafewofthewaysthatI’veseenitusedmostoften&thoughtweremostrelevant.] basicmandarin#1:汉字hànzicharacters meitianzhongwen ChinesecharactersareincrediblyimportantwhenlearningMandarin(oranyChineselanguage).UnlikeJapanese,thereisnoalphabet,sobeingabletoatleastrecognizecharactersisimperative.Inthispost,I’llcoverthebasicsofChinesecharacters:howthey’recreated;theirstructure;andradicals. 1.HowChineseCharactersAreFormed(or六书liùshū) Therearesixwayscharactersareformed.I’lldescribethefirstfourinmoredetail,butIwillonlybrieflytouchonthelasttwoattheend. A.象形字xiàngxíngzìpictographs  Thesecharactersarederivedfromapicture  B.指事字zhǐshìzìideogram/self-explanatory Thesecharactersare,asthenamesuggests,self-explanatory.TheyindicatetheirmeaningThebestexamplesofthesearenumbersandthewordsforupanddown: 一one,二two,三three,上up,下down C.会意字huìyìzìcompoundideogram/associativecompounds Thesecharactersareusuallyformedoftwoormorepictographs 人(person)＋木(tree)＝休torest(personleaningagainstatree)日(sun)＋月(moon)＝明(bright)木＋木＝林(twotrees=woods)木＋木＋木＝森(threetrees=forest)***森＋林＝森林(forest,sēnlín)*** D.形声字xíngshēngzìphonogram/phoneticcompoundsForthesecharacters,thereisaphoneticbaseandaradicalthatlendsmeaning.Here’sagreatarticleaboutit. (radicalswillbeexplainedbelow)Theothertwomethodsarenotaboutcreatingcharacterssomuchasusingexistingcharactersindifferentways,soIwillnotcoverthosehere.Whileitisnotimperativethatyouknowallofthewayscharactersareformed,it’sgoodtojustbeawareofthehistoryofcharacters. 2.RadicalsRadicalsarerootwordsfromwhichChinesewordsoriginate.Everycharactercontainsatleastoneradical,andradicalsusuallylendmeaningtocharacters.Inthegraphaboveforphonograms,thefirstcharacterhas木treeasitsbase,lendingthepronunciation,butthecharacter’sradical(水water)iswhatlendsthecharactermeaning. Whileradicalslendmeaningtocharacters,theycanalsobeindependentwords.Itisimportanttoknowradicalsforacouplereasons.Thefirstisthat,whenlearningnewcharacters,it’seasiertorememberhowtowritethemifyouareabletobreakthemdownintocomponentsyoualreadyknow.Thesecondisthat,whenusingapaperdictionary,youusearadicalindextosearchforcharacters. Thereare214radicalsintotal.Duetothesheernumberofthem,I’mjustgoingtolinkyoutoaradicalchartratherthantypingthemallout.3.TheStructureofCharactersIfeellikethestructureofcharactersisalittlehardformetoputintowordssoI’vehunteddownsomepicturesfrommyoldtextbooktoserveasavisualaidforthis.Thefirstpictureshowsthefourdifferentstructuresofcharactersandhowtherecanbemultiplevariationsofeach.Thesecondandthirdpicturesshowthemanydifferentwaysradicalscanbeplacedinacharacter.4.StrokeOrderEverysinglecharacterismadeupofstrokes,andtherearerulesforhowtowritethem.Somepeoplefindstrokeordertobecompletelyuseless,butI’mgoingtotellyounow:it’sreallyimportant.Why?Well,letmeexplain.1.Learningstrokeorderhelpsyourememberhowtowritecharacters.Simplyput,itbuildsmusclememory.2.Writingstrokesinacertainorderhelpsmaintainthecharacter’sproportions.Ifyouwriteacertainpartofacharacterwrong,it’sgoingtolookreallyweird.3.IfyoueverwanttotryyourhandatChinesecalligraphy,youwillneedtoknowstrokeorder.Writingwithapenorpencilisdifferentthanusingabrushtowritecharacters.Notonlyisitimportanttomaintainthebalanceofthecharactertoachievetheproperaesthetic,butthemoreadvancedyoubecomeincalligraphythemorenoticeableitwillbecomeifyouuseimproperstrokeorder.Icouldgointomoredetail,butI’llsavethistopicforarainyday.So,withoutfurtherado,herearetherulesofstrokeorder:imageisfromthispostsothat’sitforthefirstlesson.pleasepleasepleasetellmewhatyouguysthink.thenextlessonimakewillstartwithvocabandgrammarbut,likeisaid,i’mnotgoingtodoapostonpinyinbcthat’ssomethingyoushouldlearnfromnativespeakers(irecommendyangyangcheng’svideos.they’reamazingresources)i’llbetaggingallofthesepostsasmtzwbasicmandarin sothey’llbeeasiertotrackdown MandarinConjunctions(Part2) multilingual-musings ThisisafewdayslaterthanI’dplanned,sosorryforthat.ButatleastI’mfinallygettingthisposted.Anyway,herearetherestofthecommonconjunctionsI’vefound:THEREFORE~因为。

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所以//因此Thebasicstructureforthefirst:因为+Cause+所以+Effect因为我有一个中国男朋友，所以我要学中文。

BecauseIhaveaChineseboyfriend,[therefore]IamstudyingChinese.所以canalsobeusedonitsown,whichisjustslightlylessformal:她很漂亮，所以很多男孩喜欢她。

Sheisverybeautiful,so[therefore]manyboyslikeher. Finally,there’s因此,whichisonlyusedinformalwriting.因此我跟你说，你不要一个人去。

ThereforeI’mtellingyounottogoalone.[Itmightseemstrangetohaveboth “because”and “therefore”inonesentence,asinthefirstexample,butthat’showyousayitinChinese.]IF~如果。

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就//要是//如果。

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的话//假如。

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就Thesentencestructureforthefirst:如果+Statement+就+Result如果不好好复习，你就无去通过明天的考试。

Ifyoudon’treviewwell,youwon’tpassthetesttomorrow.要是isonlyusedinformalwritings,butI’llshareitanyway:要是他不来，我们就走吧。

Ifhedoesn’tcome,we’llhavetogo. 如果。

。

。

的话hasthesamestructureasthefirstexample,with的话replacing就andthelatterbeingoptional:如果+Statement+的话+(就)Result(如果)你去的话，帮我跟她问好。

***Ifyougo,givehermyregards.***Here,如果canbedropped~itisn’tnecessary,it’simplied,as的话expressesacondition. Finally,there’s假如(andagainweuse就here),whichismoreformalthanthefirstandthird. 假如我是你，我就戒烟。

IfIwereyou,I’dswearoffsmoking. ONLY~只有//才//只有。

。

。

才只有means “onlyif,”and才means “notunless,”or “thenandonlythen,”etc.Whenusedtogether,theyemphasizethatonlyonewaywillbringthedesiredoutcome. Structure:只有+EssentialCondition+才+DesiredOutcome只有努力才有收获。

Youwillonlybesuccessfulifyouworkhard.Anotherexample,thistimewithonly才:他说行才行。

It’sonlyokayifhesaysso.ALTHOUGH~虽然。

。

。

但是//虽然。

。

。

可是//尽管[Note:但是and可是canbeusedinterchangeablyhere,butIwilluse但是fortheseexamples.]虽然。

。

。

但是／可是structure:虽然+Subject+但是+ContraryReaction虽然他说不太饿，但是她点了很多菜。

Eventhoughshesaidshewasn’thungry,[but]sheorderedalotoffood.尽管isalittlestrongerthan虽然,meaningsomethinglike,“eventhough.”尽管失败了好几次，可他仍然想创业。

Eventhoughhe’sfailedmanytimes,[but]hestillwantstostartabusiness.[Again,it’skindofweirdtohave “although”and “but”inthesentencetogether,butthat’swhatmakessenseinChinese.]Sorryagainforthelatepost,I’lltrytogetbackontracksoon.I’mthinkingofmakingshorterpostssothatit’snotsotime-consumingforme…Iguesswe’llseewhathappens. Asalways,pleaseletmeknowifthereareanymistakes,orifthere’sanythingyouwantmetomakeapostaboutinthefuture! MandarinConjunctions(Part2) the-polyglot-wannabe the-polyglot-wannabe ThisisafewdayslaterthanI’dplanned,sosorryforthat.ButatleastI’mfinallygettingthisposted.Anyway,herearetherestofthecommonconjunctionsI’vefound:THEREFORE~因为。

。

。

所以//因此Thebasicstructureforthefirst:因为+Cause+所以+Effect因为我有一个中国男朋友，所以我要学中文。

BecauseIhaveaChineseboyfriend,[therefore]IamstudyingChinese.所以canalsobeusedonitsown,whichisjustslightlylessformal:她很漂亮，所以很多男孩喜欢她。

Sheisverybeautiful,so[therefore]manyboyslikeher. Finally,there’s因此,whichisonlyusedinformalwriting.因此我跟你说，你不要一个人去。

ThereforeI’mtellingyounottogoalone.[Itmightseemstrangetohaveboth “because”and “therefore”inonesentence,asinthefirstexample,butthat’showyousayitinChinese.]IF~如果。

。

。

就//要是//如果。

。

。

的话//假如。

。

。

就Thesentencestructureforthefirst:如果+Statement+就+Result如果不好好复习，你就无去通过明天的考试。

Ifyoudon’treviewwell,youwon’tpassthetesttomorrow.要是isonlyusedinformalwritings,butI’llshareitanyway:要是他不来，我们就走吧。

Ifhedoesn’tcome,we’llhavetogo. 如果。

。

。

的话hasthesamestructureasthefirstexample,with的话replacing就andthelatterbeingoptional:如果+Statement+的话+(就)Result(如果)你去的话，帮我跟她问好。

***Ifyougo,givehermyregards.***Here,如果canbedropped~itisn’tnecessary,it’simplied,as的话expressesacondition. Finally,there’s假如(andagainweuse就here),whichismoreformalthanthefirstandthird. 假如我是你，我就戒烟。

IfIwereyou,I’dswearoffsmoking. ONLY~只有//才//只有。

。

。

才只有means “onlyif,”and才means “notunless,”or “thenandonlythen,”etc.Whenusedtogether,theyemphasizethatonlyonewaywillbringthedesiredoutcome. Structure:只有+EssentialCondition+才+DesiredOutcome只有努力才有收获。

Youwillonlybesuccessfulifyouworkhard.Anotherexample,thistimewithonly才:他说行才行。

It’sonlyokayifhesaysso.ALTHOUGH~虽然。

。

。

但是//虽然。

。

。

可是//尽管[Note:但是and可是canbeusedinterchangeablyhere,butIwilluse但是fortheseexamples.]虽然。

。

。

但是／可是structure:虽然+Subject+但是+ContraryReaction虽然他说不太饿，但是她点了很多菜。

Eventhoughshesaidshewasn’thungry,[but]sheorderedalotoffood.尽管isalittlestrongerthan虽然,meaningsomethinglike,“eventhough.”尽管失败了好几次，可他仍然想创业。

Eventhoughhe’sfailedmanytimes,[but]hestillwantstostartabusiness.[Again,it’skindofweirdtohave “although”and “but”inthesentencetogether,butthat’swhatmakessenseinChinese.]Sorryagainforthelatepost,I’lltrytogetbackontracksoon.I’mthinkingofmakingshorterpostssothatit’snotsotime-consumingforme…Iguesswe’llseewhathappens. Asalways,pleaseletmeknowifthereareanymistakes,orifthere’sanythingyouwantmetomakeapostaboutinthefuture! MandarinConjunctions(Part2) the-polyglot-wannabe the-polyglot-wannabe ThisisafewdayslaterthanI’dplanned,sosorryforthat.ButatleastI’mfinallygettingthisposted.Anyway,herearetherestofthecommonconjunctionsI’vefound:THEREFORE~因为。

。

。

所以//因此Thebasicstructureforthefirst:因为+Cause+所以+Effect因为我有一个中国男朋友，所以我要学中文。

BecauseIhaveaChineseboyfriend,[therefore]IamstudyingChinese.所以canalsobeusedonitsown,whichisjustslightlylessformal:她很漂亮，所以很多男孩喜欢她。

Sheisverybeautiful,so[therefore]manyboyslikeher. Finally,there’s因此,whichisonlyusedinformalwriting.因此我跟你说，你不要一个人去。

ThereforeI’mtellingyounottogoalone.[Itmightseemstrangetohaveboth “because”and “therefore”inonesentence,asinthefirstexample,butthat’showyousayitinChinese.]IF~如果。

。

。

就//要是//如果。

。

。

的话//假如。

。

。

就Thesentencestructureforthefirst:如果+Statement+就+Result如果不好好复习，你就无去通过明天的考试。

Ifyoudon’treviewwell,youwon’tpassthetesttomorrow.要是isonlyusedinformalwritings,butI’llshareitanyway:要是他不来，我们就走吧。

Ifhedoesn’tcome,we’llhavetogo. 如果。

。

。

的话hasthesamestructureasthefirstexample,with的话replacing就andthelatterbeingoptional:如果+Statement+的话+(就)Result(如果)你去的话，帮我跟她问好。

***Ifyougo,givehermyregards.***Here,如果canbedropped~itisn’tnecessary,it’simplied,as的话expressesacondition. Finally,there’s假如(andagainweuse就here),whichismoreformalthanthefirstandthird. 假如我是你，我就戒烟。

IfIwereyou,I’dswearoffsmoking. ONLY~只有//才//只有。

。

。

才只有means “onlyif,”and才means “notunless,”or “thenandonlythen,”etc.Whenusedtogether,theyemphasizethatonlyonewaywillbringthedesiredoutcome. Structure:只有+EssentialCondition+才+DesiredOutcome只有努力才有收获。

Youwillonlybesuccessfulifyouworkhard.Anotherexample,thistimewithonly才:他说行才行。

It’sonlyokayifhesaysso.ALTHOUGH~虽然。

。

。

但是//虽然。

。

。

可是//尽管[Note:但是and可是canbeusedinterchangeablyhere,butIwilluse但是fortheseexamples.]虽然。

。

。

但是／可是structure:虽然+Subject+但是+ContraryReaction虽然他说不太饿，但是她点了很多菜。

Eventhoughshesaidshewasn’thungry,[but]sheorderedalotoffood.尽管isalittlestrongerthan虽然,meaningsomethinglike,“eventhough.”尽管失败了好几次，可他仍然想创业。

Eventhoughhe’sfailedmanytimes,[but]hestillwantstostartabusiness.[Again,it’skindofweirdtohave “although”and “but”inthesentencetogether,butthat’swhatmakessenseinChinese.]Sorryagainforthelatepost,I’lltrytogetbackontracksoon.I’mthinkingofmakingshorterpostssothatit’snotsotime-consumingforme…Iguesswe’llseewhathappens. Asalways,pleaseletmeknowifthereareanymistakes,orifthere’sanythingyouwantmetomakeapostaboutinthefuture! Seethisintheapp Showmore TopPhotos RecentlyLiked MeasureWords. learnChinese