130 Basic Phrases in Chinese That You Can’t Miss!

Who are these 130 basic phrases in Chinese for?

If the following descriptions sounds like you, then you are in the right place to study these basic phrases in Chinese.

1. If you are Chinese learning beginners who already know how to pronounce pinyin, these are totally for you. This list consist of fundamental phrases that all beginners should know.
2. If you are beginners who are traveling to Mandarin-speaking places, definitely study the list to help you get around there.
3. If you are Mandarin teachers who needs resources for your classroom, here you go.

Please note: Some of the basic phrases in Chinese are straight forward and self-explanatory, so there will no further explanation. However, if any explanation is helpful, they will be provided under the table.

Basic Greeting Phrases in Chinese

1	Good morning	zǎo shang hǎo zǎo ān	早上好 早安
2	Good afternoon	xià wǔ hǎo wǔ ān	下午好 午安
3	Good night	wǎn shàng hǎo wǎn ān	晚上好 晚安
4	How are you	nǐ hǎo ma?	你好吗?
5	I’m good.	wǒ hěn hǎo	我很好
6	How about you?	nǐ ne	你呢
7	I’m also good.	wǒ yě hěn hǎo	我也很好。
8	Goodbye	zài jiàn	再见

Note for # 1, 2, and 3: 早上好、下午好、晚上好 are used more commonly in China and 早安、午安、晚安 are used more commonly in Taiwan. No matter which one you say, native speakers will understand. So, please feel free to just pick one you prefer and stay with it.

Being Polite

9	Thank you	xiè xie	谢谢
10	You’re welcome	bú kè qì	不客氣
11	Sorry	duì bù qǐ	对不起
12	It’s ok	méi guān xi	没关系
13	Please	qǐng	请

Introduce Yourself and Small Talks

14	My name is _______?	wǒ jiào _______	我叫 _______
15	What’s your name?	nǐ jiào shén me míng zi?	你叫什么名字?
16	I’m from _____	wǒ cóng _______lái	我从＿＿＿＿来
17	Where are you from?	nǐ cóng nǎ lǐ lái?	我从哪里来？
18	Nice to meet you.	hěn gāo xìng rèn shì nǐ	很高兴认识你
19	How’s going with you?	nǐ zěn me yàng?	你怎么样？
20	Have you eaten yet?	nǐ chī le ma?	你吃了吗？
21	I’ve eaten.	wǒ chī le	我吃了
22	Not yet	hái méi	还没

Note for # 14 My name is _______(wǒ jiào_______) : Literally, it’s “I to be called _______. ” This is an authentic way to say. Additional way is below.

我的名字是_______(wǒ de míng zi shì _______ )。 Literally, it means “my name is _______.” Either way works perfectly. So, the same thing for answering. You can say wǒ jiào _______ which is directly translated as “I to be called _______.” You can certainly say 你的名字是什么(nǐ de míng zi shì shén me? )which is directly translated as “your name is what.”

Note for #20-22 Have you eaten yet? I have eaten/ not yet: This conversation is a common casual small talk or a conversation starters among people in Chinese society. There could be two reasons. Firstly, there is an expression saying 民以食为天(míng yǐ shí wéi tiān)which means food is considered as the heaven for people. So, it shows how important food it is in Chinese society.

Secondly, Agriculture was the main industry back in ancient Chinese. If there was flood or drought, people don’t have enough food to eat. Also, food was scarce, and not everyone can always have enough to eat or to eat until full. Therefore, asking people if they have eaten yet was a common question since long long time ago. It becomes a common casual small talks nowadays, even though things might be different now. These basic phrases in Chinese will make you sound like a local because it really shows that you know about the culture.

General Questions to Help You in Most Situations

23	Do you like _______?	nǐ xǐ bù xǐ huan_______?	你喜不喜欢_______?
24	I like _______	wǒ xǐ huan_______	我喜欢_______
25	I don’t like _______	wǒ bù xǐ huan _______	我不喜欢_______
26	Do you want _______?	nǐ xiǎng bù xiǎng yào _______?	你想不想要_______?
27	I want…	wǒ xiǎng yào _______	我想要_______
28	I don’t want…	wǒ bù xiǎng yào _______	我不想要 _______
29	Will you_______?	nǐ huì bú huì _______?	你会不会_______?
30	I will _______	wǒ huì _______	我会_______
31	I will not_______	wǒ bú huì _______	我不会_______
32	Do you need to _______?	nǐ yào bú yào _______?	你要不要_______?
33	I need to　_______	wǒ yào _______	我要_______
34	I don’t need to _______	wǒ bú yòng _______	我不用_______
35	Do you have _______?	nǐ yǒu méi yǒu _______?	你有没有_______？
36	I have _______.	wǒ yǒu _______	我有_______
37	I don’t have _______.	wǒ méi yǒu _______	我没有_______
38	Where is _______?	_______ zài nǎr? _______ zài nǎ lǐ?	_______在哪儿？ _______在哪里
39	_______ is here.	_______  zài zhèr _______ zài zhè lǐ	_______在这儿 _______在这里
40	What’s this?	zhè shì shén me?	这是什么？
41	This is _______.	zhè shì _______	这是_______
42	What’s that?	nà shì shén me?	那是什么？
43	That is _______	nà shì _______	那是_______
44	When?	shén me shí hou?	什么时候？
45	How?	zěn me?	怎么？
46	How to _______?	zěn me _______?	怎么_______？
47	Who?	shéi?	谁？
48	Why?	wèi shén me?	为什么？
49	Because	yīng wèi	因为
50	So	suǒ yǐ	所以

For # 38 在哪里zài nǎ lǐ/在哪儿zài nǎr：哪里and 哪儿both refer to “where” and both of them totally works. People from the north tend to say 哪儿 and people from the south tend to say 哪里. That is to say, native speakers will understand either one perfectly fine. These two are basic phrases in Chinese that you will here no matter where you go.

Daily Phrases

51	Let’s go	wǒ men zǒu ba	我们走吧
52	Good looking/pretty	hǎo kàn	好看
53	Mr.	xiān sheng	先生
54	Miss/Ms.	xiǎo jiě	小姐
55	Yes	shì	是
56	No	bú shì	不是
57	correct	duì	对
58	incorrect	bú duì	不对
59	good/ok	hǎo	好
60	not good/not ok	bù hǎo	不好
61	maybe	kě néng	可能
62	I know	wǒ zhī dao	我知道
63	I don’t know	wǒ bù zhī dao	我不知道
64	See you later	huí tóu jiàn	回头见
65	Really?	zhēn de ma	真的吗？
66	Great! (Awesome!)	fēi cháng bàng	非常棒！
67	oh my god！	wǒ de tiān ya	我的天呀！
68	one second	děng yí xià	等一下

For # 54 Miss/Ms.: Strictly speaking, 小姐 (xiǎo jiě)is Miss and 女士 (nǚ shì) is Ms. However, 女士 is very formal and it is mostly like used in formal settings, such as award ceremony or speech, etc. Therefore, n daily life, most people just say 小姐 to call all the females (like young ladies, adults) who are not kids.

For # 67 Oh my god!: 我的天呀(wǒ de tiān ya) literally is my god/sky and 呀 is an interjection for surprise. In this case, 呀 (ya) can also be interchangeable with 啊(a) which is also an interjection for surprise. So, it goes 我的天啊(wǒ de tiān a)!When you say this phrase, you will definitely sound like a local!

Asking for Help

69	I don’t understand.	wǒ bù dǒng	我不懂
70	I only understand a little bit Chinese	wǒ zhǐ dǒng yì diǎnr zhōng wén	我只懂一点儿中文。
71	Please say it again	qǐng zài shuō yí cì	请再说一次
72	One more time	zài yí cì	再一次
73	Please say it slower	qǐng shuō màn yì diǎnr	请说慢一点儿
74	How do you say_______	zěn me shuō _______?	怎么说_______?
75	What time is it now?	xiàn zài jǐ diǎn?	现在几点？
76	Do you speak English?	nǐ shuō yīng wén ma?	你说英文吗？
77	What does it mean?	shén me yì si?	什么意思？

Numbers in Chinese

78	one	yī	一
79	two	èr	二
80	three	sān	三
81	four	sì	四
82	five	wǔ	五
83	six	liù	六
84	seven	qī	七
85	eight	bā	八
86	nine	jiǔ	九
87	ten	shí	十
88	one hundred	yì bǎi	一百

Directions

89	Excuse me(may I ask), how to go to _______	qǐng wèn, zěn me qù _______?	请问， 怎么去_______
90	Go straight	zhí zǒu	直走
91	Right turn	yòu zhuǎn	右转
92	Left turn	zuǒ zhuǎn	左转
93	one intersection	yí ge lǜ kǒu	一个路口
94	front	qián miàn	前面
95	back	hòu miàn	后面
96	left	zuǒ biān	左边
97	right	yòu biān	右边
98	next to	páng biān	旁边

For # 89 excuse me: There two different scenarios of “excuse me” in Chinese. This one is “excuse me” in asking a question scenario is more like “may I ask” kind of meaning. Therefore, the phrase is 请问(qǐng wèn) which means “please ask.” This is what you say whenever you would like to ask a question to random people whom you don’t know.

Another scenario is “excuse me” that you say when somebody is on your way and you want them to give you some space to pass by/walk through. In this case, you say “借过(jiè guò)” which means “borrow pass.” The underneath meaning is you are borrowing space for you to pass by.

Places

99	Airport	jī chǎng	机场
100	Hotel	jiǔ diàn	酒店
101	Restaurant	cān tīng	餐厅
102	convenient store	shāng diàn	商店
103	restroom	cè suǒ	厕所

For # 103 restroom: If you go to somebody’s home and would like to use the restroom, you say “may I use the restroom?” in English. However, in Chinese, it’s “may I borrow the restroom? 我可以借厕所吗(wǒ kě yǐ jiè cè suǒ ma)？” It would be the word borrow 借(jiè), rather than use 用(yòng), in Chinese. The idea behind it is that you are borrowing the restroom to use when you are at somebody’s home. Therefore, the verb would be to borrow, instead of using it.

If you are in a public place, such as in the airport, you don’t need to use the word borrow借(jiè) anymore. It’s because it’s public and it’s not anybody’s to borrow. When you want to tell your friend you are going to the restroom, you can say “我去厕所(wǒ qù cè suǒ)” “我上厕所(wǒ shàng cè suǒ)” “我去上厕所(wǒ qù shàng cè suǒ)” They all mean the same thing “I go to restroom. ” These variations are also basic phrases in Chinese that you will hear from the native speakers.

Vehicles

104	Taxi	chū zū chē	出租车
105	Subway	dì tiě	地铁
106	Boat	chuán	船
107	Car	chē zi	车子
108	Train	huǒ chē	火车
109	bus	gōng gòng qì chē	公共汽车

Interested in Beijing Subway Map?! Look at here.

Interested in Taipei Metro Map? Look at here.

Shopping

110	How much?	duō shǎo qián?	多少钱？
111	Too expensive	tài guì le	太贵了
112	Cheaper a little bit, ok?	pián yí yì diǎnr, hǎo ma	便宜一点儿，好吗？
113	I’ll take it.	wǒ yào le	我要了

For the whole shopping section: Please note that bargaining is pretty common in some places. For instance, if you see vendors that sells gifts, clothing, shoes, souvenirs, all kinds of object-kind things, and etc. on the streets or tourism spots, mostly likely they are prepared for a bargaining. They might even raise the prices to begin with, so people can bargain. If people do bargain, they are ready to reduce the price. However, if people end up not bargaining, great, they earn even more than what they have expected. In short, bargaining and negotiating prices is a part of the culture and local people get use to it.

However, one thing to know is that food is not for bargaining. when you see food vendors that sells street food, generally speaking, no body would ask for a cheaper price. Also, the places that bargaining are customary are usually small stores, street vendors, places that sells cheaper items. If you go to department stores or high-end stores, bargaining is less commonly practiced.

As a person who possibly travel to Mandarin-speaking places, I would really suggest to at least listen to how local people bargain. If you are adventurous, you can certainly give it a try by yourself. Well, that’s why you learn these basic phrases in Chinese, right?! It’s to help you communicate and experience the culture too.

Basic Dining Phrases in Chinese

114	Check please	qǐng mǎi dān	请买单
115	Menu	cài dān	菜单
116	I want to order________	wǒ xiǎng yào diǎn _______	我想要点_______
117	A cup of water	yì bēi shuǐ	一杯水
118	Please give me a fork	qǐng gěi wǒ chā zi	请给我叉子
119	Please give me a spoon	qǐng gěi wǒ tāng chí	请给我汤匙
120	Delicious	hǎo chī	好吃
121	Chicken	jī ròu	鸡肉
122	Pork	zhū ròu	猪肉
123	Beef	niú ròu	牛肉
124	I don’t eat_______	wǒ bù chī	我不吃_______
125	I’m allergic to _______	wǒ duì _______  guò mǐng	我对_______过敏
126	I’m vegetarian	wǒ chī sù	我吃素
127	Coffee	kā fēi	咖啡
128	Tea	chá	茶
129	Water	shuǐ	水
130	coke	kě lè	可乐

For #125 I’m allergic to_______: A lot of food in China or Taiwan contains peanuts, tree nuts or traces of nuts. In particular, some food or dipping sauce can be made with peanut oil but most people forget about that and thought there is no nuts. If you are seriously allergic to nuts, I strongly suggest to bring a Food Allergy Card in Chinese with you. The card should be in details in Chinese, in case people who read the card only understand Chinese. In another words, whenever you order, be sure to show the card and make sure there is not even traces of nuts.

For # 126 I”m vegetarian: 我吃素 is directly translated as “I eat vegetarian food.”

Download the PDF List

In short, above are all the 130 basic phrases in Chinese that I organized for you. Hope you find them helpful! If you would like the list of these 130 basic phrases in Chinese as simple list, please feel free to get it here –> DOWNLOAD THE PDF LIST

If you are interested in learning more fundamental vocabulary, you should absolutely check out this New HSK 1 Vocabulary. Even though you might not be preparing for the HSK exam, its vocabulary list includes essential words that all beginners should know.

Another useful resource to help you lear new words: Blank New Vocabulary Study Sheet