Qualities: Vocabulary for conditions, states, and descriptive qualities

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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.

安静

• Pinyin: ān jìng
• Numbered pinyin: an1 jing4
• English translation: quiet, peaceful

安全

• Pinyin: ān quán
• Numbered pinyin: an1 quan2
• English translation: safe, safety

白色

• Pinyin: bái sè
• Numbered pinyin: bai2 se4
• English translation: white (colour)

饱

• Pinyin: bǎo
• Numbered pinyin: bao3
• English translation: full (after eating)

不行

• Pinyin: bù xíng
• Numbered pinyin: bu4 xing2
• English translation: not OK, won’t do

不一定

• Pinyin: bù yí dìng
• Numbered pinyin: bu4 yi2 ding4
• English translation: not necessarily

出生

• Pinyin: chū shēng
• Numbered pinyin: chu1 sheng1
• English translation: to be born

出现

• Pinyin: chū xiàn
• Numbered pinyin: chu1 xian4
• English translation: to appear

倒

• Pinyin: dǎo
• Numbered pinyin: dao3
• English translation: to fall, collapse

方便

• Pinyin: fāng biàn
• Numbered pinyin: fang1 bian4
• English translation: convenient

改变

• Pinyin: gǎi biàn
• Numbered pinyin: gai3 bian4
• English translation: to change

故意

• Pinyin: gù yì
• Numbered pinyin: gu4 yi4
• English translation: deliberately, on purpose

好事

• Pinyin: hǎo shì
• Numbered pinyin: hao3 shi4
• English translation: good deed, good thing

好像

• Pinyin: hǎo xiàng
• Numbered pinyin: hao3 xiang4
• English translation: to seem like, to resemble

黑

• Pinyin: hēi
• Numbered pinyin: hei1
• English translation: black

黑色

• Pinyin: hēi sè
• Numbered pinyin: hei1 se4
• English translation: black (colour)

红

• Pinyin: hóng
• Numbered pinyin: hong2
• English translation: red

红色

• Pinyin: hóng sè
• Numbered pinyin: hong2 se4
• English translation: red (colour)

黄

• Pinyin: huáng
• Numbered pinyin: huang2
• English translation: yellow

黄色

• Pinyin: huáng sè
• Numbered pinyin: huang2 se4
• English translation: yellow (colour)

可能

• Pinyin: kě néng
• Numbered pinyin: ke3 neng2
• English translation: possible, maybe

蓝

• Pinyin: lán
• Numbered pinyin: lan2
• English translation: blue

蓝色

• Pinyin: lán sè
• Numbered pinyin: lan2 se4
• English translation: blue (colour)

例如

• Pinyin: lì rú
• Numbered pinyin: li4 ru2
• English translation: for example

凉

• Pinyin: liáng
• Numbered pinyin: liang2
• English translation: cool

凉快

• Pinyin: liáng kuai
• Numbered pinyin: liang2 kuai5
• English translation: pleasantly cool

绿

• Pinyin: lǜ
• Numbered pinyin: lü4
• English translation: green

绿色

• Pinyin: lǜ sè
• Numbered pinyin: lü4 se4
• English translation: green (colour)

那么

• Pinyin: nà me
• Numbered pinyin: na4 me5
• English translation: so, such

漂亮

• Pinyin: piào liang
• Numbered pinyin: piao4 liang5
• English translation: pretty, beautiful

随便

• Pinyin: suí biàn
• Numbered pinyin: sui2 bian4
• English translation: casual, at will

态度

• Pinyin: tài du
• Numbered pinyin: tai4 du4
• English translation: attitude

条件

• Pinyin: tiáo jiàn
• Numbered pinyin: tiao2 jian4
• English translation: condition, requirement

习惯

• Pinyin: xí guàn
• Numbered pinyin: xi2 guan4
• English translation: habit, custom

相同

• Pinyin: xiāng tóng
• Numbered pinyin: xiang1 tong2
• English translation: same, identical

响

• Pinyin: xiǎng
• Numbered pinyin: xiang3
• English translation: to sound, ring, echo

像

• Pinyin: xiàng
• Numbered pinyin: xiang4
• English translation: to resemble, to be like

小心

• Pinyin: xiǎo xīn
• Numbered pinyin: xiao3 xin1
• English translation: to be careful

行为

• Pinyin: xíng wéi
• Numbered pinyin: xing2 wei2
• English translation: behaviour

颜色

• Pinyin: yán sè
• Numbered pinyin: yan2 se4
• English translation: colour

样子

• Pinyin: yàng zi
• Numbered pinyin: yang4 zi5
• English translation: appearance, look

脏

• Pinyin: zāng
• Numbered pinyin: zang1
• English translation: dirty

长大

• Pinyin: zhǎng dà
• Numbered pinyin: zhang3 da4
• English translation: to grow up

正常

• Pinyin: zhèng cháng
• Numbered pinyin: zheng4 chang2
• English translation: normal

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