Learn and Practice Chinese
Learn and Practice Chinese is a resource aiming to help learners of Chinese.
It is a work in progress and is being updated with new content, week by week.
Essential Chinese Words List 1
The following a list of words that we consider essential, and useful. This is the first words list that we suggest you learn. It is designed to help you form your first sentences easily and express yourself.
I 我 wǒ
you 你 nǐ
we 我们 wǒmen
yes 是的 shì de
no 不 bù
is 是 shì
want (need) 要 yào
friend 朋友 péngyǒu
like 喜欢 xǐhuān
love 爱 ài
eat 吃 chī
drink 喝 hē
go 去 qù
that 那 nà
this 这 zhè
your 你的 nǐ de
my 我的 wǒ de
today 今天 jīntiān
tomorrow 明天 míngtiān
good 好 hǎo
bad 坏 huài
home 家 jiā
shop, store (place) 商店 shāngdiàn
school 学校 xuéxiào
park 公园 gōngyuán
toilet 厕所 cèsuǒ
hotel 酒店 jiǔdiàn
hungry 饿了 èle
thirsty 渴 kě
tired 累 lèi
cold 冷 lěng
hot 热 rè
warm 温暖 wēnnuǎn
happy 快乐 kuàilè
glad 高兴 glad, happy
big 大 dà
small 小 xiǎo
many 多 duō
few 少 shǎo
man 男人 nánrén
women 女人 nǚrén
child 孩子 háizi
person 人 rén
thing (physical thing) 东西 dōngxī
animal 动物 dòngwù
car 汽车 qìchē
taxi 出租车 chūzū chē
morning 早 zǎo
evening 晚上 wǎnshàng
run 跑步 pǎobù
walk 走 zǒu
rest 休息 xiūxí
weather 天气 tiānqì
rain 下雨 xià yǔ
water 水 shuǐ
food 食物 shíwù
tree 树 shù
fire 火 huǒ
bread 面包 miànbāo
coffee 咖啡 kāfēi
tea 茶 chá
want (would like) 想 xiǎng
have 有 yǒu
Every Day Chinese
We have also put together some useful everyday sentences on a practice list.
Numbers
A useful thing to learn is the Chinese numbers, they're easy to learn, and very logical.
Why learn Chinese Numbers
Learning Chinese numbers could allow you to ask Chinese people about the costs of things and understand their replies in Chinese. You could learn to write them also, and after eating at a Chinese restaurant, you could write them on final a bill with tip (gratuity) for the full amount. You might even write thank you in Chinese also, or "That was delicious!".
Chinese Numbers 1-10
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
Chinese numbers 11-20
十一 shíyī eleven
十二 shíèr twelve
十三 shísān thirteen
十四 shísì fourteen
十五 shíwǔ fifteen
十六 shíliù sixteen
十七 shíqī seventeen
十八 shíbā eighteen
十九 shíjiǔ nineteen
二十 èrshí twenty
Zero
零 líng zero
零 - Zero is often used to show zeros in amounts, and in other places where a zero would normally be used.
hundred 百 bǎi
thousand 千 qiān
ten thousand 万 wàn
Currency
One US dollar
一美元
Yī měiyuán
$1
OR
One unit of currency (eg. one dollar).
一块钱
Yīkuài qián
Nineteen US dollars
十九美元
Shíjiǔ měiyuán
One Chinese yuan
一元人民币
Yīyuán rénmínbì
RMB 1
Eighteen Chinese yuan
十八元人民币
Shíbā yuán rénmínbì
Also can be written as 18 RMB