Basic Mandarin Chinese | Lesson 14 | Learn to ask questions and say 'no' in Chinese!

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Nǐ hǎo Lesson 14 on Basic Mandarin!

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

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

Lesson objectives

1 Question formation

2 Negations

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!

Lesson objectives

2 Negations

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!

Question formation

It is pronounced with a mid rising tone

Question formation

Unlike English, Mandarin supplies the ‘interrogation’ where the answer should be!

Let’s compare English and Mandarin and see what we find!

Question formation

English

Q. Who is he? A. He is Mark

Note that the interrogationcomes

in the beginning of thequestion,

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 interrogativecomes

exactly where the answercomes!

Let’s look at a few moreexamples!

Question formation

'Yǒu' is pronounced with afalling rising tone

To have

Introductions

Who has a younger sister

↓ ↓ ↓

Shéi yǒu meìmei

Question formation

Literally, ‘who have younger sister?’

Who has a younger sister?

Shéi yǒu meìmei?

Answer formation

Literally, ‘Lǐ have younger sister’

Lǐ has a younger sister

Lǐ yǒu meìmei

Introductions

Remember! We will changeorder to 'He is who?'

Who is he

↓ ↓ ↓

Shéi yǒu tā

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')

Question formation

Literally, ‘he is who?’

Who is he?

Tā shì shéi?

Answer formation

In Mandarin, the occupationis said after the name

He is doctor Wáng

Tā shì Wáng yīsheng

Introductions

This is whopossessive

particle ('s) photo

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Zhè shì shéi de zhào piàn

Question formation

Literally, ‘this is who (possessive) photo?’

Whose photo is this?

Zhè shì shéi de zhào piàn?

Answer formation

This is my photo

Zhè shì wǒ de zhào piàn

Let's see if you remember…

Pick the right option

How do we say ‘Who is he?’ in Mandarin?

Shéi tā shì ?

Tā shì shéi?

Yí shì shéi?

Solution

How do we say ‘Who is he?’ in Mandarin?

Shéi tā shì ?

Tā shì shéi?

Yí shì shéi?

What does ‘Lǐ yǒu meìmei’ translate to?

Lǐ is meì’s younger

sister

Lǐ is the younger

sister

Lǐ has a younger

sister

Solution

What does ‘Lǐ yǒu meìmei’ translate to?

Lǐ is meì’s younger

sister

Lǐ is the younger

sister

Lǐ has a younger

sister

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!

Lesson objectives

2 Negations

Negations

In mandarin, there are two ways of saying ‘no’

Let’s look at both of them one by one!

Negations

‘Bù’ is the most common one

It is pronounced with a falling tone

Let’s see what the second one is!

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!

Negation

Literally, 'you have elder sister?'

Do you have an elder sister

Nǐ yǒu jiějie ma?

Negation

Literally, 'I don't haveelder sister'

I don’t have an elder sister

Wǒ méi yǒu jiějie

Negation

Literally, 'I have one(measure word) younger sister'

I have a younger sister

Wǒ yǒu yí ge meìmei

Let's see if you remember…

When is ‘méi’ used to say no?

With ‘have’

With not

With family

Solution

When is ‘méi’ used to say no?

With ‘have’

With not

With family

What does,‘Wǒ méi yǒu jiějie’ translate to?

I don't have a younger sister

I don't have an elder sister

Solution

What does,‘Wǒ méi yǒu jiějie’ translate to?

I don't have a younger sister

I don't have an elder sister

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

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

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!

Culture leaf

It is considered both polite and appropriate to geta

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

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!

Culture leaf

A customary phrase before starting dinner is ‘chī fàn

Literally meaning ‘eat rice’ and amounting to ‘let’sstart the meal’, ‘chī fàn’ is said all around the table

before starting a meal!

What's next?

In the next lesson we shall learn about the order and expression of time!

Credits

Content Team CultureAlley, Sunny Dang

See you at the Alley!

Basic Mandarin Chinese | Lesson 14 | Learn to ask questions and say 'no' in Chinese!

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