basic mandarin chinese | lesson 11 | basic numbers and talking about your family

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Nǐ hǎo Lesson 11 on Basic Mandarin!


Revision

English Mandarin

Family, home Jiā

Father Bàba

Mother Māma

Son Érzi

Daughter Nǚ’er


Revision

English Mandarin

Elder sister Jiějie

Younger sister Mèimei

Elder brother Gēge

Younger brother Dìdi


Revision - Familial relations

English Mandarin Colloquial

My home Wǒ de jiā Wǒ jiā

My father Wǒ de bàba Wǒ bàba

My mother Wǒ de māma Wǒ māma

My son Wǒ de érzi Wǒ érzi

My daughter Wǒ de nǚ’er Wǒ nǚ’er

My elder brother Wǒ de gēge Wǒ gēge

My younger brother Wǒ de dìdi Wǒ dìdi

My elder sister Wǒ de jiějie Wǒ jiějie

My younger sister Wǒ de mèimei Wǒ mèimei


Lesson objectives

1 Numerals

2 Familial conversation


What's in store today?

Today we will learn how to say numerals and have a small

conversation regarding family!


Lesson objectives

1 Numerals



Numerals

Let us learn to read and pronounce numerals in Mandarin!

We’ll start with 1-5, revise and then cover 6-10!

Let’s begin!


Numerals

It is pronounced with a high level tone

One

Yī


Numerals

It is pronounced with afalling tone

Two

Èr


Numerals

It is pronounced with ahigh level tone

Three

Sān


Numerals

It is pronounced with a falling tone

Four

Sì


Numerals

It is pronounced with a falling rising tone

Five

Wǔ


Revision-Numerals

Great! Now let’s cover 6-10!

English Mandarin

One Yī

Two Èr

Three Sān

Four Sì

Five Wǔ


Numerals

It is pronounced with afalling tone

Six

Liù


Numerals


Seven

Qī


Numerals


Eight

Bā


Numerals


Nine

Jiǔ


Numerals

It is pronounced with a mid rising tone

Ten

Shí


Revision - Numerals

English Mandarin

Six Liù

Seven Qī

Eight Bā

Nine Jiǔ

Ten Shí


Grammar tip

Remember that pronunciation is key in Mandarin

Notice that the translation for ‘ten’ is ‘Shí’ while that of ‘am’ is ‘Shì’,

the only difference being that of tone


Lesson objectives

1 Numerals



Familial conversation

Great! Now that we know how to say numbers, lets learn vocabulary

for a familial conversation!




How many/ a few

Jǐ




Measure word (for family)

Kǒu


Revision


Grammar tip

The literal meaning of the word ‘Kǒu’, is ‘mouth’, as a noun

However, as a measure word, ‘Kǒu’ means ‘how many’


Familial Conversation

How many people are there in your family?



How many people are there in your family measure word

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Jǐ rén yǒu nǐ jiā kǒu



Literally, ‘Your family has howmany (kǒu) people?'

How many people are there in your family?

Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?


Let's see if you remember…


Pick the right option

How do we say ‘How many'?

1

Jǐ

2

Rén

3

Kǒu


Soution

How do we say 'How many'?

1

Jǐ

2

Rén

3

Kǒu


Familial Conversation

Moving on, in answer to the question, we say the following:

My family has four people, my dad, mom, an elder brother and me, what

about your family?



To learn this, we will break the sentence into three parts

My family has four people, My dad, mom, an elder brother and me

What about your family?



My family has four people (measure word)

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Wǒ jīa yǒu sì rén kǒu



Literally, ‘my family has four (kǒu)people'

There are four people in my family

Wǒ jīa yǒu sì kǒu rén



My dad, mom, an elder brother and me

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Wǒ bàba, māma, yí ge gēge hé wǒ



Remember that 'yí ge'means 'an'

My dad, mom, an elder brother and me

Wǒ bàba māma yí ge gēge hé wǒ



‘What about your family?’ is translated as ‘Your family has how many people?’



Your family has how many people measure word

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ rén kǒu



Literally, ‘Your family hashow many people?

What about your family?

Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?



English Mandarin

How many people are there in your

family?Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?

There are four people in my family Wǒ jīa yǒu sì kǒu rén

My dad, mom, an elder brother and meWǒ bàba māma yí ge gēge hé

wǒ

What about your family? Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?


Grammar tip

Note that, ‘How many people are there in your family?’ and ‘What about your family?’ have the same translation


Let's see if you remember…



How do we say 'There are four people in my family' ?

1


2

Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén

3

Yě wǒ shì rén


Solution

How do we say 'There are four people in my family' ?

1


2

Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén

3

Yě wǒ shì rén


Moving on…

In reply to this conversation, we say ‘There are five people in my family,

my dad, mum, an older brother,

an older sister and me’

We shall break this into two again



‘There are five people in my family’, translates as

‘My family has five people’



My family has five people (measure word)

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Wǒ jīa yǒu wǔ rén kǒu



Literally, ‘My family has five(kǒu) people'

There are five people in my family

Wǒ jīa yǒu wǔ kǒu rén



‘My dad, mum, an older brother, an older sister and me’

is translated literally



My dad mom elder brother elder sister and me

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Wǒ bàba māma gēge jiějie hé wǒ



My dad, mom, elder brother, elder sister and me

Wǒ bàba, māma, gēge, jiějie hé wǒ


Let’s see if you remember…



How do you say ‘My dad, mom, elder brother,

elder sister and me’?

1


2



Solution

How do you say ‘My dad, mom, elder brother,

elder sister and me’?

1


2




How do we say ‘And me’?

1

Hé wǒ

2

Kǒu rén

3

Wǒ jīa


Solution

How do we say ‘And me’?

1

Hé wǒ

2

Kǒu rén

3

Wǒ jīa


Let’s revise!

English Mandarin

How many people are there in your

family?Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?

There are four people in my family Wǒ jīa yǒu sì kǒu rén

My dad, mom, an elder brother and meWǒ bàba māma yí ge gēge hé

wǒ

What about your family? Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén?

There are five people in my family Wǒ jīa yǒu wǔ kǒu rén

My dad, mum, older brother, older

sister

and me

Wǒ bàba, māma, gēge, jiějie hé

wǒ


Culture leaf


Culture leaf

Tea culture in China differs from that of Europe, Britain or Japan in such things as preparation methods, tasting methods and

the occasions for which it is consumed

In addition to being a drink, Chinese tea is used in traditional Chinese medicine and in Chinese

cuisine


Culture leaf

In modern China, virtually every dwelling — even down to the

simplest mud hut — has a set of tea

implements for brewing a hot cup of tea

These implements are symbols of welcome for visitors or neighbours


Culture leaf

China also boasts of a tea museum

located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China

The exhibitions display tea production, and different kinds of

tea


What's next?

In the next lesson we will learn about occupations!


Credits

Content Team CultureAlley, Sunny Dang

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_tea_culture Images

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chinese_tea_utensils_shelve.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DAR_pot_-_IMG_86 58.JPG

Gary Stevens Daderot


See you at the Alley!


basic mandarin chinese | lesson 11 | basic numbers and talking about your family

Travel

ahigh level

falling rising

mew bba mma

measure word

afalling tone

elder brother

elder sister

english mandarin