Grammar: Common particles, pronouns, measure words, and function words

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Pinyin is the standard romanisation used to show Mandarin pronunciation using the Latin alphabet. You’ll often see tone marks on the vowels to show the four tones (plus the neutral tone), for example mā / má / mǎ / mà / ma. “Numbered pinyin” shows the same tones using a number after the syllable instead of tone marks, for example ma1 / ma2 / ma3 / ma4 / ma (sometimes written as ma5 for the neutral tone). Numbered pinyin is handy when you can’t easily type tone marks, while tone-mark pinyin is usually easier to read once you’re used to it.

吧

• Pinyin: ba
• Numbered pinyin: ba5
• English translation: modal particle

本

• Pinyin: běn
• Numbered pinyin: ben3
• English translation: measure word for books

别

• Pinyin: bié
• Numbered pinyin: bie2
• English translation: don’t, other

别的

• Pinyin: bié de
• Numbered pinyin: bie2 de5
• English translation: other

不

• Pinyin: bù
• Numbered pinyin: bu4
• English translation: not, no

次

• Pinyin: cì
• Numbered pinyin: ci4
• English translation: measure word for times/occurrences

从

• Pinyin: cóng
• Numbered pinyin: cong2
• English translation: from

地

• Pinyin: de
• Numbered pinyin: de5
• English translation: structural particle (adverbial)

的

• Pinyin: de
• Numbered pinyin: de5
• English translation: possessive/structural particle

第

• Pinyin: dì
• Numbered pinyin: di4
• English translation: prefix for ordinal numbers

都

• Pinyin: dōu
• Numbered pinyin: dou1
• English translation: all, both

对

• Pinyin: duì
• Numbered pinyin: dui4
• English translation: correct

个

• Pinyin: gè
• Numbered pinyin: ge4
• English translation: general measure word

跟

• Pinyin: gēn
• Numbered pinyin: gen1
• English translation: with, to follow

过

• Pinyin: guo
• Numbered pinyin: guo5
• English translation: indicating a past experience

还

• Pinyin: hái
• Numbered pinyin: hai2
• English translation: still, also

还是

• Pinyin: hái shì
• Numbered pinyin: hai2 shi4
• English translation: or (in questions), still

还有

• Pinyin: hái yǒu
• Numbered pinyin: hai2 you3
• English translation: also have, in addition

和

• Pinyin: hé
• Numbered pinyin: he2
• English translation: and

很

• Pinyin: hěn
• Numbered pinyin: hen3
• English translation: very

还

• Pinyin: huán
• Numbered pinyin: huan2
• English translation: to return (something)

间

• Pinyin: jiān
• Numbered pinyin: jian1
• English translation: measure word for rooms

就

• Pinyin: jiù
• Numbered pinyin: jiu4
• English translation: just, exactly

了

• Pinyin: le
• Numbered pinyin: le5
• English translation: particle indicating change or completion

吗

• Pinyin: ma
• Numbered pinyin: ma5
• English translation: question particle

没

• Pinyin: méi
• Numbered pinyin: mei2
• English translation: not, no

没有

• Pinyin: méi yǒu
• Numbered pinyin: mei2 you3
• English translation: not have, there isn’t

们

• Pinyin: men
• Numbered pinyin: men5
• English translation: plural marker for pronouns/nouns

哪

• Pinyin: nǎ
• Numbered pinyin: na3
• English translation: which

哪里

• Pinyin: nǎ lǐ
• Numbered pinyin: na3 li3
• English translation: where

哪儿

• Pinyin: nǎr
• Numbered pinyin: nar3
• English translation: where

哪些

• Pinyin: nǎ xiē
• Numbered pinyin: na3 xie1
• English translation: which (plural)

那

• Pinyin: nà
• Numbered pinyin: na4
• English translation: that

那些

• Pinyin: nà xiē
• Numbered pinyin: na4 xie1
• English translation: those

呢

• Pinyin: ne
• Numbered pinyin: ne5
• English translation: (question particle)

你

• Pinyin: nǐ
• Numbered pinyin: ni3
• English translation: you

你们

• Pinyin: nǐ men
• Numbered pinyin: ni3 men5
• English translation: you (plural)

您

• Pinyin: nín
• Numbered pinyin: nin2
• English translation: you (polite)

谁

• Pinyin: shéi / shuí
• Numbered pinyin: shei2 / shui2
• English translation: who

什么

• Pinyin: shén me
• Numbered pinyin: shen2 me5
• English translation: what

是

• Pinyin: shì
• Numbered pinyin: shi4
• English translation: to be

是不是

• Pinyin: shì bu shì
• Numbered pinyin: shi4 bu5 shi4
• English translation: is it or not

岁

• Pinyin: suì
• Numbered pinyin: sui4
• English translation: year (of age)

他

• Pinyin: tā
• Numbered pinyin: ta1
• English translation: he, him

他们

• Pinyin: tā men
• Numbered pinyin: ta1 men5
• English translation: they, them (male or mixed group)

她

• Pinyin: tā
• Numbered pinyin: ta1
• English translation: she, her

她们

• Pinyin: tā men
• Numbered pinyin: ta1 men5
• English translation: they, them (female)

我

• Pinyin: wǒ
• Numbered pinyin: wo3
• English translation: I, me

我们

• Pinyin: wǒ men
• Numbered pinyin: wo3 men5
• English translation: we, us

也

• Pinyin: yě
• Numbered pinyin: ye3
• English translation: also

有的

• Pinyin: yǒu de
• Numbered pinyin: you3 de5
• English translation: some

怎么

• Pinyin: zěn me
• Numbered pinyin: zen3 me5
• English translation: how

这

• Pinyin: zhè
• Numbered pinyin: zhe4
• English translation: this

这些

• Pinyin: zhè xiē
• Numbered pinyin: zhe4 xie1
• English translation: these

着

• Pinyin: zhe
• Numbered pinyin: zhe5
• English translation: particle indicating ongoing action

子

• Pinyin: zi
• Numbered pinyin: zi5
• English translation: noun suffix (桌子 meaning table, 子 without meaning, but it makes the word sound complete)

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