PINYIN

Pinyin is a Romanized spelling system. When we learn English, we start with A, B, and C;
and in learning Chinese, we start with pinyin. It is used like the phonetic symbol system is used
in English: it shows how to pronounce things. And most of the pronunciations are similar to those
of English letters.
Pinyin in composed of three elements: initials, finals and tones.
CHINESE PHONETIC ALPHABET
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J

father
bay
cats
day
up
fish
gay
ham
easy
jam

K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T

kite
lamb
money
nay
golf
pay
cheese
race
song
take

U
W
X
Y
Z

food
water
sheep
yell
beds

IE
ER
AI
EI
OU
AN

yes
sister
by
lay
go
can

** A syllable in Chinese is composed of

an initial which is a consonant that
begins the syllable and a final, which
covers the rest of the syllable.

TONES
1
.
2
.
3
.
4
.

Even

()

Flat or high level tone

Rising

(
)
(
)
(
)

Starts medium in tone, then rises to the

top

Falling
-rising
Falling

Starts low, dips to the bottom, then rises

toward the top

** The tones are represented by the

symbols on top of the letters. When
there are no diacritical marks over the
letters it means they are pronounced
flat.

Starts at the top, then falls sharp and

strong to the bottom

SOME GRAMMAR RULES

1. The sentence order in Mandarin is the same as of English.
Subject + Verb + Object
Subject
Verb
English
I
love
2. The
subject
of
the
Chinese
Wo
ai
sentences (I, HE, SHE,
THEY, IT) is generally not expressed when it is obvious from the context.

Object
you.
ni.

Example: ? (Are you going?/Going?)

3. There are no verb conjugations in Chinese, no articles (a, an, the) and no plurals. To make
the Chinese words for I, YOU, HE, SHE and IT plural, just add the suffix men

to

them.
I

wo

we

wo-men

you

ni

you (all)

ni-men

he, she, it

ta

they

ta-men

Prepared by: Jerahmeel Christine E. Torrefranca

4. There is just one word in Mandarin for all the variations of the verb to be shi (shr)

which expresses BE, AM, IS, ARE and WERE. Same with qu (chwee)
expresses GO, GOES, WENT and GONE.

which

5. The past tense is formed by adding the term le (ler) after the verb.
6. The future tense is formed by adding the term jiang (jee-ahng)

before the verb.

7. To make a sentence negative, just add the term bu (boo) before the verb.
8. A question with an interrogative pronoun has the same word order as that of a declarative
sentence.
Subject + Verb + Object
Example:
Who is he?
Ta shi shui?
Subject

Verb

Object

He is my teacher.
Ta shi wode laoshi.

Subject

Verb

Object

Furthermore, when the interrogative particle ma

sentence, it becomes a question.
Example:
He is a teacher.

is added at the end of a declarative

Ta shi laoshi.
Is he a teacher?
Ta shi laoshi ma?

9. To show possession, a noun usually takes the structural particle de

I, me

wo

my

wode

you

ni

your

nide

after it.

10.Yes and no are generally not used by themselves. The custom is to use the negative or
the positive of the appropriate verb or adjective to express these meaning. In other words,
the usual response to Are you going? is not no. It is the negative form of going that
is, not going, with the subject (I) understood.
Example:

A:

B:

(Im not going.)

(Are you going?)

Prepared by: Jerahmeel Christine E. Torrefranca