Chinese for Europeans
学生Chinese for you Occupations

Explanations and Practice

1. We form YES/NO questions by simply adding question particle 吗 (ma) at the end of the sentence.

他是中国人。 Tā shì Zhōngguó rén. He is Chinese > 他是中国人吗？ Tā shì Zhōngguó rén ma? Is he Chinese?
她是医生。 Tā shì yīshēng. He is a doctor. > 她是医生吗？ Tā shì yīshēng ma? Is she a doctor?
他叫 Tā jiào Miguel. His name is Miguel. > 吗？ Tā jiào Miguel ma? Is his name Miguel?

2. 不 (bù) is a negation particle (for present and future actions). Simply add it in front of the verb to make it negative.

Subject + 不 + verb + object？
他不是中国人。 Tā bù shì Zhōngguó rén. He is not Chinese.
她不是医生。 Tā bù shì yīshēng. She is not a doctor.
他不叫Miguel。 Tā bù jiào Miguel. His name is not Miguel.

There indeed are no separate words for “yes” and “no” in Chinese! Instead, if you are asked a question that requires a “yes/no” answer, you should either use 是 (“is”) / 不是 (“is not”) to answer it or repeat the verb in the question, e.g. 来 (“is coming”) / 不来 (“is not coming”)

3. We form the plural of pronouns by adding 们 (men) to the pronoun. Hence:

我 wŏ (I, me) 我们 wŏmen (we, us)
你 nĭ (you) 你们 nĭmen (you)
他 tā (he, him) 他们 tāmen (they)
她 tā (she, her) 她们 tāmen (they)

Most nouns do not have a plural form, however, some nouns denoting people can sometimes form plurals by using the 们 suffix, e.g.:　学生们　xuéshengmen (students), 老师们 lăoshīmen (teachers), 朋友们 péngyoumen (friends).

4. 都　(dōu) means “all” (or “both”) and is used before the verb.

Subject + 都 + verb + object？
我们都是学生。 Wŏmen dōu shì xuéshēng. We are all students
他们都是中国人。 Tāmen dōu shì Zhōngguó rén. Both of them are Chinese
你们都是记者吗？ Nĭmen dōu shì jìzhě ma? Are you all journalists?

Exercise 1

Adjust the equivalent in pinyin.

请问 -
老师 -
学生 -
医生 -
他，她 -
你们 -
我们 -
他们，她们 -
都 -
记者 -

Exercise 2

Put words in the correct order to form sentences.

  • 都[dōu]
  • 中国人 [Zhōngguó rén]
  • 我们[Wŏmen]
  • 是[shì]
  • 演员[yănyuán]
  • 她们[Tāmen]
  • 不[bù]
  • 他[Tā]
  • 意大利人[Yìdàlì rén]
  • 警察[jĭngchá]
  • 你[Nĭ]
  • 吗[ma]
  • 护士[hùshi]

shì / dōu / Wŏmen / Zhōngguó rén

yănyuán / dōu / Tāmen / shì

Yìdàlì rén / bù / Tā / shì

jĭngchá / Nĭ / shì / ma

hùshi / dōu / shì / ma / Tāmen

Exercise 3

Match the same sentences in characters and in pinyin.

他是银行家。 -
她是比利时人。 -
我们都是建筑师。-
她是日本人吗？ -
请问，他是歌手吗？ -

Exercise 4

Form a negative sentence and a question.

    Example: Wŏ shì Zhōngguó rén. ---> Wŏ bù shì Zhōngguó rén. Nĭ shì Zhōngguó rén ma?

Tā shì gōngchéngshī.   (1)
Wŏmen shì kuàijì.   (2)
Tāmen shì Fēnlán rén.   (3)
Wŏ shì yínhángjiā.   (4)
Tā shì Făguó rén.   (5)
  • (1)
  • (2)
  • (3)
  • (4)
  • (5)

Evaluate and comment this lesson

average evaluation for this lesson: 8.5

Latest comments

  • Nicola Checcacci
    05.10.2023 22:00
    b
  • Massimo Imperiali
    14.05.2020 18:09
    ok
  • Massimo Imperiali
    14.05.2020 18:07
    ok
  • Massimo Imperiali
    29.04.2020 17:40
    ok
  • Massimo Imperiali
    29.04.2020 17:36
    x
  • Massimo Imperiali
    29.04.2020 17:26
    ok
  • Massimo Imperiali
    29.04.2020 17:24
    ok
  • Massimo Imperiali
    29.04.2020 16:46
    failure !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Massimo Imperiali
    29.04.2020 16:34
    still ok !
  • Massimo Imperiali
    28.04.2020 22:59
    sempre bene !
  • Massimo Imperiali
    28.04.2020 22:56
    bene … avanti !
  • Massimo Imperiali
    27.04.2020 06:33
    ok !
  • Massimo Imperiali
    27.04.2020 06:30
    ok !
  • Paweł Płachecki
    19.11.2019 20:39
    Nice
  • R A, Dr.
    26.09.2016 12:33
    "Einstieg

    Wussten Sie, dass…
    …es keine Wörter für JA und NEIN gibt im Chinesischen?"


    nonsense of couse there are words for yes and no
  • Jakub Plecháč
    25.03.2016 15:55
    Velmi dobře zpracované.
  • Eva Driessen-Cseh
    12.08.2015 20:58
    Not every question can be answered, because the word list doesn't include everything from the exercise table.
    Basically the whole site is very-very useful!
  • Chris Kats
    29.06.2015 19:00
    Οι εξηγήσεις έχουν λάθη
  • Chris Kats
    29.06.2015 18:39
    Τέλειο
  • ACACIA cinha
    24.04.2015 21:01
    O son poderia ter as duas opções, lenta e falada normalmente.
  • JOHN RILEY
    14.01.2015 12:01
    ERG GOED, EN HELDER.
  • nicola silvestri
    03.12.2014 18:57
    grazie è semplice e veloce
    NNicola
  • amedeo ciotola
    24.08.2014 16:41
    grazie per tutti coloro che gestiscono questa pagina. saluti da _NAPOLI
  • Vesna Bregar
    06.03.2014 18:16
    Ta lekcija mi je bila v veliko pomoč.
    This lesson was extremely helpful.
  • Ana Rita
    18.07.2013 13:55
    Adoro este site, tem tudo o que é preciso para se saber falar chinês!!!
  • Marius Lapė
    29.05.2013 10:06
    Kasulikud sõnad
  • Esztora Petőfi
    16.05.2013 14:11
    A gyakorlatok túl hosszúak.
  • Blanka Slavik
    14.05.2013 09:54
    V tejto lekcii je príliš veľa cvičení.
  • Valdek Pall
    13.05.2013 14:18
    See dialoog tundub reaalne
  • Donata Cazacu
    13.05.2013 09:37
    Gramatica este clar prezentată.
  • Андрей Врабчев
    10.05.2013 13:02
    Граматиката тук е представена по приятен начин.

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