Basic Chinese words and pronunciation

Here is a list of basic Chinese word and pronunciation. This is one of the best ways to start learning Chinese. Learn the first 100, 250, or 500 most important words and start applying them with practical sentences and more! The most important note to remember, though, is to make sure your pronunciation and tones are correct! If you don’t have these down, then no native speakers can understand you.

For each word, we’ve provided the Chinese character, the pinyin, the part of speech, and the English meaning. Use the pinyin to make sure you’re nailing the pronunciation and tone. For those of you that don’t know pinyin, please come to check out our Pinyin course which has 6 lessons to teach you everything you need to know. Quick quiz! How to do the “J” sound in pinyin? How about “zh?” Are they the same? Can you hear the difference?

If you’re not sure, then watch our quick review video of all Chinese pronunciation and our video on the tones.

 

List of Basic Chinese words

叫	jiào	Verb	to be called
姓	xìng	Noun/Verb	surname, one’s family name is
名字	míngzi	Noun	name
哪国人	nǎguórén	Phrase	a person of which country
你	nǐ	Pronoun	you
我	wǒ	Pronoun	I, me
认识你很高兴	rènshì nǐ hěn gāoxìng	Phrase	It’s nice to meet you
是	shì	Verb	is
美国	Měiguó	Noun	United States
中国	Zhōngguó	Noun	China
忙	máng	Adj	busy
累	lèi	Adj	tired , tiring
好	hǎo	Adj	good
你们	nǐmen	Pronoun	you (plural), y’all
学生	xuéshēng	Noun	student, students
老师	lǎoshī	Noun	teacher
再见	zàijiàn	Phrase	goodbye
日本	Rìběn	Noun	Japan
他	tā	Pronoun	He, him
要	yào	Verb	to want
喜欢	xǐhuan	Verb	to like
喝	hē	Verb	to drink
吃	chī	Verb	to eat
咖啡	kāfēi	Noun	coffee
菜	cài	Noun	dish, cuisine
茶	chá	Noun	tea
口	kǒu	Measure word	measure word for family members
个	gè	Measure word	general measure word, measure word for people
爸爸	bàba	Noun	father
妈妈	māma	Noun	mother
哥哥	gēge	Noun	older brother
姐姐	jiějie	Noun	older sister
弟弟	dìdi	Noun	younger brother
妹妹	mèimei	Noun	younger sister
家	jiā	Noun	home, family
和	hé	Conj	and
谁	shéi	Pronoun	who
狗	gǒu	Noun	dog
好看	hǎokàn	Adj	good-looking
书	shū	Noun	book, books
兄弟姐妹	xiōngdì jiěmèi	Noun	siblings
房子	fángzi	Noun	house
家人	jiārén	Noun	family member
介绍	jièshào	Verb	to introduce
漂亮	piàoliàng	Adj	beautiful
张	zhāng	Measure word	a measure word for photograph, picture, paper, table etc.
女儿	nǚér	Noun	daughter
猫	māo	Noun	cat
照片	zhàopiàn	Noun	pictures, photos
多	duō	Adj	many, more
两	liǎng	Numeral	two
可爱	kěài	Adj	cute,lovely
块	kuài	Measure word	piece； dollar
杯	bēi	Measure word	cup, cups
瓶	píng	Measure word	bottle, bottles
买	mǎi	Verb	buy
钱	qián	Noun	money
东西	dōngxi	Noun	thing, things, stuff
谢谢	xièxie	Phrase	Thank you
不客气	búkèqì	Phrase	You’re welcome
些	xiē	Measure word	some
百	bǎi	Noun	hundred
一共	yígòng	Adv	altogether
今天	jīntiān	Noun	today
几点	jǐdiǎn	Phrase	What time
分	fēn	Noun	minute
看	kàn	Verb	to read, to watch
电影	diànyǐng	Noun	movie
上网	shàngwǎng	Verb Object	Surf Internet
现在	xiànzài	Noun	now
半	bàn	Noun	half
做	zuò	Verb	to do
做饭	zuòfàn	Verb Object	to cook
吃饭	chīfàn	Verb Object	to eat
请问	qǐngwèn	Phrase	Excuse me, may I ask…
饭馆	fànguǎn	Noun	restaurant
服务员	fúwùyuán	Noun	waiter, waitress
杯子	bēizi	Noun	cup
真	zhēn	Adv	really
点菜	diǎncài	Verb Object	to order food
好吃	hǎochī	Adj	tasty/delicious
水	shuǐ	Noun	water
少	shǎo	Adj	few
买单	mǎidān	Verb Object	to pay
昨天	zuótiān	Noun	yesterday
明天	míngtiān	Noun	tomorrow
什么时候	shénme shíhou	Phrase	when
上午	shàngwǔ	Noun	morning
星期	xīngqī	Noun	Week, day of the week
起床	qǐchuáng	Verb Object	wake up
早饭	zǎofàn	Noun	breakfast
睡觉	shuìjiào	Verb Object	sleep
上课	shàngkè	Verb Object	go to class,attend class
想	xiǎng	Verb	to want to ,to plan to/to think
月	yuè	Measure word	month
日	rì	Measure word	day
下午	xiàwǔ	Noun	afternoon
晚上	wǎnshàng	Noun	evening
请	qǐng	Verb	to treat, to invite
来	lái	Verb	to come
有空	yǒukòng	Verb	have free time, to be free
对不起	duìbùqǐ	Phrase	sorry
没关系	méiguānxi	Phrase	that’s ok, no problem
生日	shēngrì	Noun	birthday
打球	dǎqiú	Verb Object	to play ball games, ball sports
篮球	lánqiú	Noun	basketball
球赛	qiúsài	Noun	match, ball games
逛街	guàngjiē	Verb Object	shopping
周末	zhōumò	Noun	weekend
早起	zǎoqǐ	Verb	to wake up early
觉得	juéde	Verb	to feel,to think,to consider
好玩儿	hǎowán’er	Adj	interesting, fun, enjoyable
运动	yùndòng	Noun	exercise, to exercise
电影院	diànyǐngyuàn	Noun	cinema
学习	xuéxí	Verb	to study
酒吧	jiǔba	Noun	bar
啤酒	píjiǔ	Noun	beer
有意思	yǒuyìsi	Adj	interesting, fun
无聊	wúliáo	Adj	boring,bored
麻烦	máfán	Verb	be annoyed,to bother, troublesome, annoying
出门	chūmén	Verb Object	to go outside
种	zhǒng	Measure word	kind,type
一起	yìqǐ	Adv	together
算了	suànle	Phrase	forget about it
下雨	xiàyǔ	Verb Object	raining
外面	wàimiàn	Noun	outside
没问题	méi wèntí	Phrase	no problem
可是	kěshì	Conj	but
做菜	zuòcài	Verb	cooking
唱歌	chànggē	Verb	to sing
说	shuō	Verb	say,speak a language
汉语	hànyǔ	Noun	Mandarin
英语	yīngyǔ	Noun	English
不错	búcuò	Adj	pretty good, not bad
教	jiāo	Verb	to teach
写字	xiězì	Verb Object	to write
快	kuài	Adj	fast, quick
功课	gōngkè	Noun	homework
图书馆	túshūguǎn	Noun	library
中饭	zhōngfàn	Noun	lunch
晚饭	wǎnfàn	Noun	dinner
中午	zhōngwǔ	Noun	noon
非常	fēicháng	Adv	very,extremely
题	tí	Noun	question
难	nán	Adj	difficult

 

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