When we ask a stranger about something, we usually begin with

请问…
Qǐng wèn…
Excuse me …

“呢” is used at the tail of an indicative sentence to express an affirmative tone

about a fact.

“您 Nín You”  A term of respect of the pronoun “你 Nǐ You”.

Example:
 老师您好
Lǎoshī, nín hǎo
Teacher, Hello!
Zero  In Chinese, this is pronounced as “ Líng “ and written as “零 Líng zero”

Pronunciation and tones

读书 图书 借书 写书
Dú shū Tú shū Jiè shū Xiě shū
Read bookd Library Books Borrow book Write book
敲门 叫人 不可 补课
Qiāo mén jiào rén Bù kě Bǔ kè
Knock door Call person No Make up
classes
客气 可气 不过 补过
Kè qì kě qì bù guò bǔ guò
Polite Irritating only/however Make up for a
mistake

Retroflex syllables
一点儿 一下儿 差点儿 有点儿
yì diǎnr yí xiàr chà diǎnr yǒu diǎnr
a bit A little while almost a little
住在哪儿 住这儿 旁边儿 好点儿
Zhù zài nǎr? Zhù zhèr páng biānr Hǎo diǎnr
Where do (you) Live here Side Better
live?

Modulations of “一 yī one”
一只  一只 一包  一包
yī zhī yì zhī Yī bāo yì bāo
One (classifier One (classifier One packet One packet
for animals) for animals)
一把  一把 一晚  一晚
yī bǎ yì bǎ yī wǎn yì wǎn
One (classifier One (classifier evening evening
for objects with for objects with
handles) handles)
一客  一客 一件  一件
yī kè yí kè yī jiàn yí jiàn
customer customer One (classifier One(classifier
for clothes) for clothes)
一次  一次 一片  一片
yī cì yí cì yī piàn yí piàn
first first piece piece
Neutral tone
鼻子 嗓子 肚子
bí zi sǎng zi dù zi
nose throat Stomach
裤子 裙子 杯子
kù zi qún zi bēi zi
Pants skirt cup
本子 累吗 累啦
Běn zi Lèi ma? Lèi la
Notebook Tired? Tired!
饿吗? 饿了 可吗？
È ma? è le Kě ma?
Hungry? hungry. Can?
可了 冷了 懂了
Kě Lěng le Dǒng le
Ok. It’s Cold Understand.
小了 少了 多了
Xiǎo Shǎo le Duō le
Smaller Less More
跑了 哭了 笑了
Pǎo le Kū le Xiào le
Run away Crying laughed/smiled

Modulations of 3rd tone

请喝  请喝 你听  你听
Qǐng hē Qìng hē Nǐ tīng Nì tīng
Please drink Please drink You listen You listen
可能  可能 很疼  很疼
kě néng kè néng Hěn téng Hèn téng
Possible Possible Very sore Very sore

好冷 好懂 美好 手表
Hǎo lěng Hǎo dǒng měi hǎo shǒu biǎo
So cold Easy to beautiful wristwatch
understand
很大  很大 可怕  可怕
Hěn dà Hèn dà kě pà kè pà
Very big Very big awful awful
很慢  很慢 好看  好看
Hěn màn Hèn màn Hǎo kàn Hào kàn
Very slow Very slow Good looking Good looking

Multisyllabic liaison
记生词 写汉字 读课文
Jì shēngcí Xiě hànzì Dú kè wén
Memorize new words Write Chinese character Read text
听 录音 听音乐 做练习
Tīng lù yīn Tīng yīn yuè Zuò liàn xí
Listen to sound recording Listen to music Do exercises
去商店 买东西 看电影
Qù shāng diàn Mǎi dōngxī Kàn diànyǐng
Go to shop Buy things See movie
看电视 打网球 踢足球
Kàn diànshì Dǎ wǎng qiú Tī zú qiú
See TV Play tennis Play soccer

Collocations of tones
先生 姑娘 干净 清楚
Xiān sheng gū niang gān jìng qīng chu
Mr girl clean clear/distinct
什么 时候 凉快 名字
Shén me Shí hòu liáng kuai míng zi
What Time nice and cold name
你们 我们 早上 晚上
nǐ men wǒ men zǎo shang wǎn shang
you (plural) we early morning night
这个 地方 这么 漂亮
zhè ge dì fang zhè me piào liang
this one place How much? beautiful

Read and learn

找老师 找同学 找朋友
Zhǎo lǎoshī Zhǎo tóngxué Zhǎo péngyǒu
Find teacher Find classmates Find friends
找书 找食堂 在家
Zhǎo shū zhǎo shí tang Zài jiā
Find book Find dining hall At home
在学校 在食堂 在八楼
Zài xuéxiào Zài shí tang Zài bā lóu
At school At dining hall On the 8th floor
在办公室 我知道 你知道
Zài bàn gong shì Wǒ zhīdào Nǐ zhīdào
In the office I know You know
他知道 不知道 不知道吗？
Tā zhīdào Bù zhīdào Bù zhīdào ma?
He knows Don’t know Do you know?

Answer the following questions

1) 你是留学生吗
Nǐ shì liúxuéshēng ma?
Are you an international student?
不是（我不是留学生）.
Bú Shì (wǒ Bù liúxuéshēng).
No, I’m not an international student.
2) 你学习什么
Nǐ xuéxí shén me?
What do you study?
我学习汉语
Wǒ xuéxí hànyǔ
I study Chinese.

3) 你住哪儿?
Nǐ zhù nǎr?
Where do you live?
我住在 Jakarta
Wǒ zhù zài Jakarta
I live in Jakarta.
4) 你住多少号?
 Nǐ zhù duōshǎo hào?
Which number do you live in?
我住在七号
Wǒ zhù zài qī hào
I live in number seven.
5) 你的手机号码是什么？
Nǐ de shǒujī hàomǎ shì shénme?
我的电话号码是六四二三六二七九五
Wǒ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì liù sì èr sān liù èr qī jiǔ wǔ
My phone number is 642 362 795
Express yourself
我去办公室找王老师, 办公室的老师说, 王老师不在，他在家呢. 王老师家住 18 楼 1 门 601 号, 他家的电话是
62931074.
Wǒ qù bàn gōng shì zhǎo wáng lǎo shī, bàn gōng shì de lǎo shī shuō, wáng lǎo
shī bù zài, tā zài jiā ne. Wáng lǎoshī jiāzhù Shí bā lóu Yī mén Liù líng yāo hào,
tā jiā de diàn huà shì Liù èr jiǔ sān yāo líng qī sì.
I went to the office to look for Teacher Wang, but the teacher in the office said
that Mr. Wang was not in, but was at home. Teacher Wang lives on the 18th
floor, door 1, room 601, and his home phone number is 62931074.