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.

啊

• Pinyin: ā
• Numbered pinyin: a1
• English translation: ah, oh

必须

• Pinyin: bì xū
• Numbered pinyin: bi4 xu1
• English translation: must

遍

• Pinyin: biàn
• Numbered pinyin: bian4
• English translation: (time) once, a time

不但

• Pinyin: bú dàn
• Numbered pinyin: bu2 dan4
• English translation: not only

不过

• Pinyin: bú guò
• Numbered pinyin: bu2 guo4
• English translation: but, however

才

• Pinyin: cái
• Numbered pinyin: cai2
• English translation: only, just

层

• Pinyin: céng
• Numbered pinyin: ceng2
• English translation: floor, layer

场

• Pinyin: chǎng
• Numbered pinyin: chang3
• English translation: field, MW for games, shows

但

• Pinyin: dàn
• Numbered pinyin: dan4
• English translation: but, however

但是

• Pinyin: dàn shì
• Numbered pinyin: dan4 shi4
• English translation: but, however

倒

• Pinyin: dào
• Numbered pinyin: dao4
• English translation: instead, on the contrary

得

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

的话

• Pinyin: de huà
• Numbered pinyin: de5 hua4
• English translation: if (spoken usage)

等

• Pinyin: děng
• Numbered pinyin: deng3
• English translation: etc., to wait

段

• Pinyin: duàn
• Numbered pinyin: duan4
• English translation: section, paragraph

对

• Pinyin: duì
• Numbered pinyin: dui4
• English translation: to, toward, correct

而且

• Pinyin: ér qiě
• Numbered pinyin: er2 qie3
• English translation: moreover, and also

份

• Pinyin: fèn
• Numbered pinyin: fen4
• English translation: portion, copies, share

封

• Pinyin: fēng
• Numbered pinyin: feng1
• English translation: letters

该

• Pinyin: gāi
• Numbered pinyin: gai1
• English translation: should, ought to

过

• Pinyin: guò
• Numbered pinyin: guo4
• English translation: to pass, particle for experience

回

• Pinyin: huí
• Numbered pinyin: hui2
• English translation: time(s) (of an event)

或

• Pinyin: huò
• Numbered pinyin: huo4
• English translation: or

或者

• Pinyin: huò zhě
• Numbered pinyin: huo4 zhe3
• English translation: or, perhaps

件

• Pinyin: jiàn
• Numbered pinyin: jian4
• English translation: piece, item

节

• Pinyin: jié
• Numbered pinyin: jie2
• English translation: festival, section

斤

• Pinyin: jīn
• Numbered pinyin: jin1
• English translation: catty (500g)

句

• Pinyin: jù
• Numbered pinyin: ju4
• English translation: sentence

可是

• Pinyin: kě shì
• Numbered pinyin: ke3 shi4
• English translation: but, however

刻

• Pinyin: kè
• Numbered pinyin: ke4
• English translation: quarter of an hour

老

• Pinyin: lǎo
• Numbered pinyin: lao3
• English translation: always

老是

• Pinyin: lǎo shì
• Numbered pinyin: lao3 shi4
• English translation: always (negative sense)

辆

• Pinyin: liàng
• Numbered pinyin: liang4
• English translation: vehicles

名

• Pinyin: míng
• Numbered pinyin: ming2
• English translation: (MW) people

那

• Pinyin: nà
• Numbered pinyin: na4
• English translation: then, in that case

排

• Pinyin: pái
• Numbered pinyin: pai2
• English translation: row, line, rows

篇

• Pinyin: piān
• Numbered pinyin: pian1
• English translation: pieces of writing

片

• Pinyin: piàn
• Numbered pinyin: pian4
• English translation: slice, flat things

瓶

• Pinyin: píng
• Numbered pinyin: ping2
• English translation: bottle, bottles

其他

• Pinyin: qí tā
• Numbered pinyin: qi2 ta1
• English translation: other

其中

• Pinyin: qí zhōng
• Numbered pinyin: qi2 zhong1
• English translation: among, in which

全

• Pinyin: quán
• Numbered pinyin: quan2
• English translation: all, whole

全部

• Pinyin: quán bù
• Numbered pinyin: quan2 bu4
• English translation: all, entire

然后

• Pinyin: rán hòu
• Numbered pinyin: ran2 hou4
• English translation: then, afterwards

如果

• Pinyin: rú guǒ
• Numbered pinyin: ru2 guo3
• English translation: if

什么样

• Pinyin: shén me yàng
• Numbered pinyin: shen2 me5 yang4
• English translation: what kind (of)

虽然

• Pinyin: suī rán
• Numbered pinyin: sui1 ran2
• English translation: although

所以

• Pinyin: suǒ yǐ
• Numbered pinyin: suo3 yi3
• English translation: so, therefore

所有

• Pinyin: suǒ yǒu
• Numbered pinyin: suo3 you3
• English translation: all, to own

它

• Pinyin: tā
• Numbered pinyin: ta1
• English translation: it

它们

• Pinyin: tā men
• Numbered pinyin: ta1 men5
• English translation: they (non-human)

套

• Pinyin: tào
• Numbered pinyin: tao4
• English translation: set, cover

条

• Pinyin: tiáo
• Numbered pinyin: tiao2
• English translation: strip, item

头

• Pinyin: tóu
• Numbered pinyin: tou2
• English translation: head, measure word for livestock

为

• Pinyin: wèi
• Numbered pinyin: wei4
• English translation: for, because of

为什么

• Pinyin: wèi shén me
• Numbered pinyin: wei4 shen2 me5
• English translation: why

位

• Pinyin: wèi
• Numbered pinyin: wei4
• English translation: (polite measure word for people)

下

• Pinyin: xià
• Numbered pinyin: xia4
• English translation: time(s), e.g., 一下

也许

• Pinyin: yě xǔ
• Numbered pinyin: ye3 xu3
• English translation: perhaps, maybe

因为

• Pinyin: yīn wèi
• Numbered pinyin: yin1 wei4
• English translation: because

应该

• Pinyin: yīng gāi
• Numbered pinyin: ying1 gai1
• English translation: should, ought to

又

• Pinyin: yòu
• Numbered pinyin: you4
• English translation: again, also

越

• Pinyin: yuè
• Numbered pinyin: yue4
• English translation: the more…, to exceed

越来越

• Pinyin: yuè lái yuè
• Numbered pinyin: yue4 lai2 yue4
• English translation: more and more

咱

• Pinyin: zán
• Numbered pinyin: zan2
• English translation: we (inclusive)

咱们

• Pinyin: zán men
• Numbered pinyin: zan2 men5
• English translation: we, us (inclusive)

这么

• Pinyin: zhè me
• Numbered pinyin: zhe4 me5
• English translation: so, this (much)

这样

• Pinyin: zhè yàng
• Numbered pinyin: zhe4 yang4
• English translation: this way, like this

正是

• Pinyin: zhèng shì
• Numbered pinyin: zheng4 shi4
• English translation: precisely, exactly

只

• Pinyin: zhǐ
• Numbered pinyin: zhi3
• English translation: only

只能

• Pinyin: zhǐ néng
• Numbered pinyin: zhi3 neng2
• English translation: can only

只要

• Pinyin: zhǐ yào
• Numbered pinyin: zhi3 yao4
• English translation: as long as

自己

• Pinyin: zì jǐ
• Numbered pinyin: zi4 ji3
• English translation: oneself

座

• Pinyin: zuò
• Numbered pinyin: zuo4
• English translation: seat, building, mountain

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