Vocabulary: Common Verbs and Nouns
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 吃 | chī | to eat |
| 喝 | hē | to drink |
| 睡觉 | shuì jiào | to sleep |
| 起床 | qǐ chuáng | to get up |
| 去 | qù | to go |
| 回 | huí | to return, go back |
| 做 | zuò | to do |
| 工作 | gōngzuò | to work / job |
| 学习 | xuéxí | to study |
| 看 | kàn | to watch / to look |
| 听 | tīng | to listen |
| 说 | shuō | to speak / to say |
| 饭 | fàn | food, meal, rice |
| 中文 | Zhōngwén | Chinese (language) |
| 电影 | diànyǐng | movie |
| 音乐 | yīnyuè | music |
| 学校 | xuéxiào | school |
| 时候 | shíhou | (a point in) time, moment |
Basic Sentence Pattern: Subject + Verb + Object (SVO)
Chinese sentences often follow the Subject + Verb + Object (SVO) structure.
Examples:
- 我吃饭。
(Wǒ chī fàn.) → I eat (a meal). - 他学习中文。
(Tā xuéxí Zhōngwén.) → He studies Chinese. - 我们看电影。
(Wǒmen kàn diànyǐng.) → We watch a movie. - 她听音乐。
(Tā tīng yīnyuè.) → She listens to music.
Note: The object can be a noun (饭, 书, 电视), a verb object (like 吃饭), or even a whole noun phrase (电影, 音乐).
Adding Time Expressions
You can add a time expression before the verb to describe when something happens.
Structure:
[Subject] + [Time] + [Verb] + [Object]
Examples:
- 我早上七点起床。
(Wǒ zǎoshang qī diǎn qǐchuáng.) → I get up at 7 in the morning. - 她晚上十点睡觉。
(Tā wǎnshàng shí diǎn shuìjiào.) → She sleeps at 10 in the evening. - 我们中午十二点吃饭。
(Wǒmen zhōngwǔ shí’èr diǎn chī fàn.) → We eat lunch at 12 noon.
Talking About Where You Go
To say you are going somewhere, use the structure:
[Subject] + 去 (qù) + [Place]
You can add a time expression too:
[Subject] + [Time] + 去 (qù) + [Place]
Examples:
- 我去学校。
(Wǒ qù xuéxiào.) → I go to school. - 她早上八点去工作。
(Tā zǎoshang bā diǎn qù gōngzuò.) → She goes to work at 8 a.m. - 你什么时候回家？
(Nǐ shénme shíhou huí jiā?) → When do you go home?
Notes
- 吃饭 (chī fàn) is often used without specifying what kind of meal. It can mean “to eat” in general, or refer to lunch or dinner depending on context.
- 去 (qù) means “to go,” and 回 (huí) means “to return” or “to go back.”
- You can always place time expressions (like 早上, 晚上, or a clock time) before the verb.
- Verbs do not change form based on subject or tense in Chinese. Instead, tense is usually indicated with time words or context.