Skip to content

Learn Chinese — explained in your language

Vocabulary

150 core words and phrases with audio, grouped by topic. Tap any word to hear it.

Greetings 问候

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
你好	nǐ hǎo	hello
谢谢	xièxie	thank you
再见	zàijiàn	goodbye
对不起	duìbuqǐ	sorry
没关系	méi guānxi	it's okay
请	qǐng	please
是	shì	yes / to be
不是	bú shì	no
早上好	zǎoshang hǎo	good morning
晚安	wǎn'ān	good night
不客气	bú kèqi	you're welcome
好久不见	hǎojiǔ bú jiàn	long time no see
欢迎	huānyíng	welcome
请问	qǐngwèn	may I ask
祝你好运	zhù nǐ hǎoyùn	good luck

Numbers 数字

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
一	yī	one
二	èr	two
三	sān	three
四	sì	four
五	wǔ	five
六	liù	six
七	qī	seven
八	bā	eight
九	jiǔ	nine
十	shí	ten
十一	shí yī	eleven
二十	èr shí	twenty
百	bǎi	hundred
千	qiān	thousand
万	wàn	ten thousand

Family 家人

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
家	jiā	home / family
妈妈	māma	mother
爸爸	bàba	father
朋友	péngyou	friend
老师	lǎoshī	teacher
学生	xuésheng	student
人	rén	person
孩子	háizi	child
哥哥	gēge	older brother
妹妹	mèimei	younger sister
姐姐	jiějie	elder sister
弟弟	dìdi	younger brother
儿子	érzi	son
女儿	nǚ'ér	daughter
家人	jiārén	family members

Food & drink 饮食

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
水	shuǐ	water
茶	chá	tea
饭	fàn	rice / meal
面条	miàntiáo	noodles
肉	ròu	meat
菜	cài	dish / vegetable
鸡蛋	jīdàn	egg
水果	shuǐguǒ	fruit
咖啡	kāfēi	coffee
面包	miànbāo	bread
汤	tāng	soup
鱼	yú	fish
牛肉	niúròu	beef
牛奶	niúnǎi	milk
果汁	guǒzhī	juice

Time 时间

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
今天	jīntiān	today
明天	míngtiān	tomorrow
昨天	zuótiān	yesterday
现在	xiànzài	now
时间	shíjiān	time
年	nián	year
月	yuè	month
星期	xīngqī	week
小时	xiǎoshí	hour
分钟	fēnzhōng	minute
上午	shàngwǔ	morning
下午	xiàwǔ	afternoon
晚上	wǎnshang	evening
周末	zhōumò	weekend
生日	shēngrì	birthday

Places & directions 地点方位

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
学校	xuéxiào	school
医院	yīyuàn	hospital
商店	shāngdiàn	shop
车站	chēzhàn	station
左边	zuǒbiān	left
右边	yòubiān	right
前面	qiánmiàn	in front
后面	hòumiàn	behind
这里	zhèlǐ	here
那里	nàlǐ	there
机场	jīchǎng	airport
银行	yínháng	bank
超市	chāoshì	supermarket
饭店	fàndiàn	restaurant
图书馆	túshūguǎn	library

Common verbs 常用动词

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
是	shì	to be
有	yǒu	to have
去	qù	to go
来	lái	to come
吃	chī	to eat
喝	hē	to drink
看	kàn	to look / read
听	tīng	to listen
说	shuō	to speak
学	xué	to study
走	zǒu	to walk
坐	zuò	to sit
买	mǎi	to buy
写	xiě	to write
读	dú	to read

Adjectives 形容词

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
大	dà	big
小	xiǎo	small
好	hǎo	good
坏	huài	bad
热	rè	hot
冷	lěng	cold
新	xīn	new
旧	jiù	old (thing)
贵	guì	expensive
便宜	piányi	cheap
快	kuài	fast
慢	màn	slow
长	cháng	long
短	duǎn	short
漂亮	piàoliang	pretty

Question words 疑问词

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
什么	shénme	what
谁	shuí	who
哪里	nǎlǐ	where
什么时候	shénme shíhou	when
为什么	wèishénme	why
怎么	zěnme	how
多少	duōshao	how much / many
哪	nǎ	which
几	jǐ	how many (under 10)
吗	ma	(yes/no question particle)
谁的	shuí de	whose
几点	jǐ diǎn	what time
多大	duō dà	how big / how old
怎么样	zěnmeyàng	how about
多久	duō jiǔ	how long (time)

Useful phrases 实用短句

Character	Pinyin	Meaning
我叫……	wǒ jiào…	my name is…
我不会说中文	wǒ bú huì shuō Zhōngwén	I don't speak Chinese
多少钱？	duōshao qián?	how much is it?
在哪里？	zài nǎlǐ?	where is it?
帮我一下	bāng wǒ yíxià	please help me
我不懂	wǒ bù dǒng	I don't understand
太贵了	tài guì le	too expensive
可以吗？	kěyǐ ma?	is that okay?
我要这个	wǒ yào zhège	I want this one
厕所在哪里？	cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ?	where is the bathroom?
请再说一遍	qǐng zài shuō yí biàn	please say that again
你叫什么名字？	nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?	what is your name?
很高兴认识你	hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ	nice to meet you
我饿了	wǒ è le	I'm hungry
小心	xiǎoxīn	be careful