Essential Mandarin Phrases for Travelers in China

China’s official language is Mandarin, which is also called Putonghua (普通话, means “common speech”) in China. There are many dialects […]

China’s official language is Mandarin, which is also called Putonghua (普通话, means “common speech”) in China. There are many dialects in China, and many of them are mutually unintelligible. However, standard Mandarin is taught all over the country, and it’s close to Beijing dialect. All dialects in China use the same set of characters in reading and writing, so even if people with different dialects can’t understand each other, they can read what the other writes.

Mandarin pronunciation uses Hanyu Pinyin, or Pinyin as its official phonetic system. If you understand how Pinyin works, then it will allow you to pronounce Chinese accurately. To learn Chinese and pronounce it correctly, the first step is to learn the principle of Pinyin. There are many Pinyin tutorials on Internet, both in text and video. Travelers can learn the basic use of it before travelling to China.

Here we list some basic and common Chinese phrases that will be useful in the trip. Check it when necessary.

Basics

EnglishChinesePinyin
YesShì
No不是Búshì
Hello你好Nǐ hǎo
How are you你好吗Nǐ hǎo ma
Fine, thank you很好, 谢谢Hěn hǎo, xièxie
May I please ask, what is your name请问你叫什么名字Qǐngwèn nǐjiào shěnme míngzi
What is your name你叫什么名字Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi
My name is _____我叫 _____Wǒ jiào ______
Nice to meet you很高兴认识你Hěn gāoxìng rènshì nǐ
PleaseQǐng
Thank you谢谢Xièxiè
You’re welcome不客气Bú kèqi
Excuse me. (getting attention请问qǐng wèn
Excuse me. (begging pardon打扰一下/麻烦您了Dǎrǎo yixià/Máfán nín le
Excuse me. (coming through对不起/请让一下Duìbùqǐ/Qǐng ràng yixià
I’m sorry对不起Duìbùqǐ
It’s okay(polite response to “I’m sorry”)没关系méiguānxi
Goodbye再见Zàijiàn
Byebye拜拜Bāi-bāi
I can’t speak Chinese我不会讲中文Wǒ bú huì jiáng zhōngwén
Do you speak English你会说英语吗Nǐ huì shuō yīngyǔ ma
DIs there someone here who speaks English这里有人会说英语吗Zhèlĭ yǒu rén hùi shuō Yīngyǔ ma
Help! (in emergencies)救命Jiùmìng
Good morning早安zǎo ān
Good evening晚上好Wǎnshàng hǎo
Good night晚安Wǎn’ān
I don’t understand (something heard)我听不懂Wǒ tīng bù dǒng
I don’t understand (something read)我看不懂Wǒ kàn bù dǒng

Asking for Help and Directions

EnglishChinesePinyin
I’m lost我迷路了Wǒ mílù le
Can I help you?有什么需要我帮你的Yǒu shénme xūyaà wǒ bang nĭ de
Can you help me你能帮助我吗
Where is the (bathroom/pharmacy)(洗手间/药房)在哪里(Xǐshǒujiān/yào fáng) zaì nǎlǐ
Go straight! then turn left/ right!直往前走!左/右拐弯到Zhízǒu wǎngqián! Zuǒ/yóu guaǐwān dào
I’m looking for_____我在找_____Wǒzaì zhǎo
One moment please!请等一下Qǐng děngyíxià
Hold on please! (phone)请稍后Qǐng shāohóu

Hotels

EnglishChinesePinyin
Do you have any rooms available你们有房间吗Nǐmen yǒu fángjiān ma
Does the room come with… 房间有没有…Fángjiān yǒu méiyǒu…
…bedsheets…床单..chuángdān
…bathroom…浴室…yùshì
…a telephone…电话…diànhuà
…a TV…电视…diànshì 
I will stay for _____ night(s)我打算住_____夜Wǒ dǎsuàn zhù _____ yè
Do you have a safe你们有没有保险箱Nǐmen yǒu méiyǒu bǎoxiǎn xiāng
Can you wake me at _____请明天早上_____叫醒我Qǐng míngtiān zǎoshàng _____ jiàoxǐng wǒ
I want to check in我要入住Wǒ yào rùzhù
I want to check out我现在要走Wǒ xiànzài yào zǒu

Eating

EnglishChinesePinyin
Can I look at the menu, please请给我看看菜单qǐng gěi wǒ kànkan Càidān
Do you have an English menu你有没有英文菜单…nǐ yŏu méi yǒu yīngwén Càidān..
Yes, we have oneYǒu
No, we don’t没有Méi yǒu
I’m a vegetarian我吃素的wǒ chī sù de
It was delicious好吃极了hǎochī jí le
The check, please请结帐qǐng jiézhàng
Do you have a safe你们有没有保险箱Nǐmen yǒu méiyǒu bǎoxiǎn xiāng

Numbers

Arabic NumeralsChinesePinyin
0líng
1
2è
3sān
4
5
6liù
7
8
9jiǔ
10shí
100一百yī-bǎi
1,000一千yī-qiān
10,000一万yī-wàn
100,000十万shí-wàn
1,000,000一百万yī-bǎi-wàn
10,000,000一千万yī-qiān-wàn
100,000,000一亿yī-yì

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