The Most Basic Chinese - All You Need to Know to Get By Quotes

“Do you speak … (language)? Nǐ shuō … ma? English Yīngwén， Yīng yǔ [ying-when, ying yew] Chinese Zhōngwén, Hàn yǔ [jong-when, han yew] French Fǎ yǔ [faah yew] German Dé yǔ [duh yew] Italian Yì dà lì yǔ [ee dah lee yew] Spanish Xī bān yá yǔ [shee ban yah yew] Russian É yǔ [uh yew]”
― James McGlasson, The Most Basic Chinese - All You Need to Know to Get By

“Answer Them If you are in China for any length of time, you will notice a small number of questions which you are asked time and time again. This section will help you get through the beginnings of 90% of conversations with Chinese people you have just met! 1. Where are you from? Nǐ shì něi guó rén? 2. What’s your name? Nǐ jiào shénme míngzì? 3. How old are you? Nǐ duō dà le? 4. Are you married? Nǐ jiéhūn le ma? 5. Do you have children? Nǐ yǒu háizǐ ma? 6. What do you do? Nǐ yǒu shénme gōngzuò?”
― James McGlasson, The Most Basic Chinese - All You Need to Know to Get By

“1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. For ordinal numbers, all you need is to precede the number with ‘di’ and follow it with ‘gè’. 1st dì yī gè [dee ee guh] 2nd dì èr gè [dee ar guh] 3rd dì sān gè 25th dì èr shí wǔ gè Example At the 2nd traffic light, turn right. Dì èr gè hóng lǜ dēng yòuguǎi [dee ar guh hong lieu dung yo gwai]”
― James McGlasson, The Most Basic Chinese - All You Need to Know to Get By

“People Friend péng yǒu [pung yo] (My friend = wǒ de péng yǒu) Boyfriend nán péng yǒu [nan pung yo] Girlfriend nǚ péng yǒu [new pung yo] Husband zhàng fū [jahng foo] Wife qī zǐ [chee dzuh] Police jǐng chá [jing chaah] Teacher lǎo shī [lao sh’r]”
― James McGlasson, The Most Basic Chinese - All You Need to Know to Get By

“Have/ has yǒu [yo] e.g. Yǒu gōng bǎo jī dīng ma? –Do you have Kung Pao chicken?”
― James McGlasson, The Most Basic Chinese - All You Need to Know to Get By

“Possessive The third thing to know about pronouns is how to show possession. Again, it is really easy, and just involves adding ‘de’ after the pronoun. So: Wǒ de [wo( r) duh] My, mine Nǐ de [knee duh] Your, yours Tā de [tah duh] His, her, hers Wǒ men de [wo( r) men duh] Our, ours Nǐ men de [knee men duh] Your, yours Tā men de [tah men duh] Their, theirs”
― James McGlasson, The Most Basic Chinese - All You Need to Know to Get By

“repeating”
― James McGlasson, The Most Basic Chinese - All You Need to Know to Get By