Measure words

In English, we say one person, two eggs, three birds, etc. In Chinese, a measure word is used between the number and the noun to express the same.

For example, the Chinese for 'one person' is 'yí (one) gè rén (person)'. gè is a measure word here. Similarly, the Chinese for 'two eggs' is 'liǎng (two) gè dàn (eggs)'. Although gè is a very frequently used measure word, there are many other measure words in Chinese, depending on the nouns.

'zhī' is another measure word, commonly used for birds. So, now you can say 'three birds' in Chinese - 'sān (three) zhī niǎo (birds)'.

'tái' is the measure word for machines or equipment, e.g. 'yī tái diàn nǎo' - 'one computer'.

You will come across many measure words as you learn Chinese. You will need to learn them one by one and accumulate a whole collection of measure words.

Numbers - begin to count

In a way, learning to count numbers in Chinese is easier than learning to count in English or French. If you manage to remember how to count from 1 to 10, you can count up to 99. Let's see how it works.

'0' - líng; '1' - yī; '2' - èr; '3' - sān; '4' - sì; '5' - wǔ
'6' - liù; '7' - qī; '8' - bā; '9' - jiǔ; '10' - shí

After that, when you say '11', it's simply '10' and '1', i.e. 'shí yī'. For '12', it's '10' and '2', i.e. 'shí èr'. '13' - 'shí sān', ... '19' - 'shí jiǔ'.

Then, for '20', you say '2' and '10', i.e. 'èr shí'. When it comes to '21', you say '20' and '1', i.e. 'èr shí yī'; '22' - 'èr shí èr'; '23' - 'èr shí sān', '24' - 'èr shí sì'...'29' - 'èr shí  jiǔ'.

...'35' - 'sān shí wǔ', ...'46' - 'sì shí liù', ...'57' - 'wǔ shí qī', ...'68' - 'liù shí bā', ...'77' - 'qī shí qī', ... '88' - 'bā shí bā', ... '99' - 'jiǔ shí jiǔ'.

Well, let's keep it within 100 for now. You can count from 0 to 99 now, can't you?

Ask a question with 'ma'

'Ma' (with a neutral tone) is a question word in Chinese. It doesn't have particular meaning by itself. However, when  you place 'ma' after a statement, you change the statement into a simple question that can be answered with 'Yes' or 'No'.

For example, we learnt the sentence in the last blog: 'Nǐ shì David。' = You are David.

By adding 'ma' to the end of this sentence, we have 'Nǐ shì David ma？' which means 'Are you David?'

The answer can be: 'Shì, wǒ shì David。' = Yes, I am David.

Note: the first 'Shì' in the answer means 'yes' while the second 'Shì' in the answer is the equivalent of 'am'.

Or the answer can be: 'Bù, wǒ bú shì David。' = No, I am not David.

Note: 'bù' means 'no' or 'not' in Chinese.

Introduce yourself and others

One of the easiest ways to self introduce is 'wǒ shì ......'.

For example: 'Wǒ shì Mike。' = I am Mike.

                        'Nǐ shì David。' = You are David.

                        'Tā shì Julie。' = She is Julie.

                        'Tā shì John。' = He is John.

                        'Tā men shì wǒ de péng yǒu。' = They are my friends.

In the above examples, 'shì' is the equivalent of 'am, is, are' in English. In Chinese, 'he', 'she' and 'it' have the same pronunciation, i.e. 'tā'.

Make a sentence and introduce yourself to others.

Tones Practice

To perfect your tones, it is recommended that you spend 5 minutes doing the following tones practice in the morning when your get up and in the evening before you go to bed. Read aloud the tones line by line, from left to right.


                          mā          má          mǎ          mà

                          bō           bó            bǒ           bò

                          hē           hé            hě           hè

                          nī             ní             nǐ            nì

                          dū           dú            dǔ           dù

                          lǖ             lǘ             lǚ            lǜ

                          tāi           tái             tǎi          tài

                          fēi           féi            fěi           fèi

                          kōu         kóu          kǒu        kòu

                          pāo        páo         pǎo         pào

                          de          me          ne           le

Note: The syllables in the last line do not have tone marks. They should be pronounced with a weak and short sound, which is named 'neutral tone'. 

Practice makes perfect! You will see your progress.