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is based on these ‘characters’ rather than words. The standard Mandarin Chinese pronunciation system (called ‘pinyin’) is based on consonants and vowels which look just like English words. By converting a pinyin character (each representing the sound of the Chinese character) into the standard Latin phonetic sound, English/European language speakers will be able to pronounce pinyin easily.
The system of conversion is as follows:
| Consonants | ||
| Pinyin | Phonetic sound | Converting example |
| b, d, f, g, j, l, m, n, p, s, t, w, y | pronounced the same as in English | băo→bao(宝, treasure) |
| c | similar to ts in boots | cí→tsi(词, word/s) |
| h | similar to ch in Scottish loch | hē→he(喝, to drink) |
| q | similar to ch in chip | qīng→ching(清, clear) |
| r | similar to r in red | rén→ren(人, person/people) |
| x | similar to sh in she | xī→she(西, west) |
| z | like ds in kids | zāi→dsai(灾, disaster) |
| zh | like j in joke | zhōng→jong(中, middle) |
| Vowels | ||
| Pinyin | Phonetic sound | Converting example |
| a | like a in Zara | mā→ma(妈, mum) |
| e | like e in her without the sound of r | hē→he(喝, to drink) |
| i | like ee in bee | mĭ→mi(米, rice) |
| o | like the sound of war | wŏ→war(我, I/me) |
| u | like oo in spoon | lù→loo(路, road) |
| ü | like the sound of letter u , followed by ee in bee | ǜ→chu-ee(去, to go) |
| ai | like the sound of I | ài→l(爱, love) |
| ei | like the sound of letter a | mĕi→may(美, beautiful) |
| ao | like ou in ouch | lăo→lou(老, old) |
Intonation
There are five tones used when pronouncing Mandarin; to make it easier for you to remember them, we have placed the diacritics on top of the vowel in each pinyin to indicate the flat tone (—), the rising tone (´), the musical long tone (˘), the strong tone (`), whilst no diacritic means a quiet tone.
In order to make it easier for you to understand these tones, the following examples are supplied. These will give you some idea of how to pronounce the four basic tones in Mandarin:
| Mandarin pinyin | English sounds |
| mā | pronounced like ‘ma’ in the first syllable of ‘marmalade’ |
| má | pronounced like ‘ma’ in ‘mass’ but with a slightly rising tone |
| mă | pronounced like ‘mar’ in ‘marquee’ but holding this sound for slightly longer |
| mà | pronounced like ‘mar’ in the first syllable of ‘marmalade’ |
1 Chinese people show great respect for the wisdom and experience of their elders. The senior people present will usually initiate the greetings, and you should greet the oldest, most senior person before any others.
2 Do not stick your chopsticks into a bowl of rice. It reminds Chinese people of the incense sticks they burn when they bury their dead.
3 Avoid sharing a pear with loved ones. The word for pear-sharing sounds the same as the term for to separate (fēn-lí), and can hint at a break-up or a lifelong separation.
4 Business cards should be held in both hands when they are being offered or received. When receiving another person’s card, you should take the time to look at it attentively before putting it away.
5 Be aware of the Chinese fear of losing face. For example, do not call a restaurant manager a fú-wù;-yuán (waiter/waitress), or anything else below their true status.
6 It is rude to refuse any consumable item being offered to you (including cigarettes). If you do not accept a cigarette you have to come up with a good reason to avoid offending anyone!
7 Tipping is still not expected in most restaurants and hotels, however attitudes towards tipping are changing.
8 Most Chinese women continue using their maiden names even after marriage, but they may indicate their marital status by using 太太 (tài-tai) or 夫人 (fū-rén) with their husband’s name.
9 In a formal situation you should always exchange business cards and shake hands with the most important person first and then work down, to avoid anyone losing face.
10 Whistling and pointing with the index finger are taboo gestures in China.
It is very important to use the appropriate form of greeting in China. As with other cultures, the way that you greet somebody will depend on whether you know them or if they are a stranger. The most common greeting which can be used at any time, to anyone, is 你好(nǐ hǎo).
The form 您好(nín hǎo) is more formal and should be used when you want to show particular respect.
| Please | 请qĭng |
| Thanks(very much) | (多)谢(duō)-xiè |
| You’re welcome! | 不客气!bù kè-qì! |
| Yes | 是shì |
| No | 不是bù-shì |
| Yes, please | 好, 谢谢hăo, xiè-xie |
| No, thanks | 不, 谢谢bù, xiè-xie |
| OK! | 好！hăo! |
| Sir/Mr… | …先生…xiān-sheng |
| Madam/Ms… | …女士…nǚ-shì |
| Mrs… | …太太…tài-tai |
| Miss… | …小姐…xiăo-jiĕ |
| Hello | 你好nĭ-hăo |
| Hi! | 嗨！hēi! |
| Hello! (usually on the phone) | 喂！wèi! |
| Goodbye | 再见zài-jiàn |
| See you later | 一会儿见yī-huìr jiàn |
| Bye! | 再会！zài-huì! |
| See you at seven | 7点见qī-diǎn jiàn |
| See you on Monday! | 星期一见！ xīng-qī-yī jiàn! |
| Good morning! | 早上好！ zǎo-shang hǎo! |
| Morning! | 早！zǎo! |
| Good evening/Goodnight | 晚安wăn ān |
| See you tomorrow | 明天见míng-tiān jiàn |
| Excuse me!/Sorry! | 对不起！ duì-bù-qĭ! |
| Excuse me! (to get past in a crowd) | 请让一让！qĭng ràng-yī-ràng! |
| How are you? | 你好吗?nĭ hăo ma? |
| How have you been? | 最近身体怎么样?zuì-jìn shēn-tǐ zěn-me-yàng? |
| Fine, thanks | 很好, 谢谢hěn hǎo, xiè-xie |
| Great! | 棒极了！ bàng jí le! |
| So-so | 一般yī-bān |
| And you? | 你呢?nĭ ne? |
| Long time no see! | 好久不见！hǎo-jiǔ bù jiàn! |
| How are you doing? | 最近还好吗? zuì-jìn hái hǎo ma? |
| I don’t understand | 我不明白wŏ bù míng-bai |
| I |