Use this page to quickly learn some basic Chinese words and common Chinese phrases. If you are serious about learning Chinese then start at The Chinese Language page where you will find free language videos for learning the alphabet, numbers, Chinese greatings, apologizing and Chinese listening skills for absolute beginners.

When you are more confident, you can move onto English to Chinese grammar where we have listed useful Chinese videos and information to get you started. You will learn about diacritical marks, Chinese pronunciation, nouns, masculine and feminine and the rules of stress.



Chinese word list for everyday conversation

Here's a list of common Chinese phrases that will help you communicate whilst travelling in Italy. Your trip will be much more enjoyable if you have a basic Chinese vocabulary and the locals will appreciate your efforts.

English
Chinese
Good morning, Mr.Wang
王先生,您早
Wáng sian sheng nín zǎo
How are you?
您好嗎?
nín hǎo må
you
good, well, fine, all right, hello
hǎo
Hello
您好
nín hǎo
Are you all right?
好嗎?
hǎo må
You're welcome
Prego
Here is
Qui è...
Here are
Ecco...
There is
C'è...
There are
Ci sono...
Hello/Good morning/afternoon
Ciao / Buon giorno / pomeriggio
Hello/Good evening
Ciao / buona sera
Goodbye
addio
Good night
Buona notte
Buonanotte! Good night!
How are you? / How are you feeling?
Come stai? / Come ti senti?
Very well, thanks
Molto bene grazie
Excuse me
Scusami
Mi scusi! Excuse me!, Pardon! Scusi! Excuse me!, Sorry!, Pardon!, Say!
Do you speak English?
Lei parla inglese?
Can you help me?
Mi potete aiutare?
I don't understand.
Non capisco
I don't know.
Non lo so
Could you please write it down
Potresti scriverlo per favore
Sorry
scusate
Scusa! Sorry! Scusi! Excuse me!, Sorry!, Pardon!, Say!
Leave me alone!
Lasciami solo!
Mi lasci in pace. Leave me in peace.
Where?
Dove?
When?
Quand?
How?
Quando?
Why?
Perché?
Who?
Chi?
Which?
Quale?
Where is...?
Dov'è...?
How much?
Quanto?
How many?
Quanti?
What's that?
Cos'è quello?
Che cos'è quello? What's that?
I'd like...
Mi piacerebbe...
I want...
Voglio...
I like it.
mi piace
I don't like it.
Non mi piace
OK
va bene
Agreed
Concordato
convenuto / pattuito
That's fine.
Va bene
I love you
ti amo


Chinese measurements

English Word
Chinese Word
Centimeter
Centimetro
(0.39 in.)
Meter
metro
(3.28 feet)
Kilometer
le kilomètre
(0.621 mile)
Liter
Chilometro
(1.75 pints)
Gram
Grammo
(0.0352 oz.)
Kilogram
Chilogrammo
(2.20 lbs)


Chinese Colors (US) / Colours (UK)

The below English Chinese translations show colors and there pronunciation with links to Chinese lessons by Lya and ChinesePod101. You can watch all the Chinese videos here: Chinese Colors | Tutorial Videos.

English Word
Chinese Word
Beige beige
Black Nero
Blue Blu
Brown Marrone
Green verde
Grey Grigio
Orange arancia
Pink Rosa
Purple Viola
Red Rosso
Yellow Giallo
White bianca
Dark Buio
Light Luce


Chinese words for saying the time

English Phrase
Chinese Phrase
Time Tempo
What time is it? Che ore sono?
It is a quarter to two Sono le due meno un quarto
1am l'una in punto
1:05 cinque minuti dopo
2:10 le due e dieci
3:15 le tre e un quarto
4:30 quattro e mezza
5:35 cinque e trentacinque
11:25 am venticinque minuti prima
noon mezzogiorno
midnight mezzanotte
today oggi
morning mattina
afternoon pomeriggio
evening sera
night notte
tonight stasera
an hour ago un'ora fa
a long time ago tanto tempo fa
not so long ago non molto tempo fa
next month il prossimo mese
next summer la prossima estate
next year l'anno prossimo
this weekend questo fine settimana
soon presto
yesterday ieri
the day before yesterday l'altro ieri
that day quel giorno
at that moment al momento
tomorrow Domani
the day after tomorrow il giorno dopo domani

Chinese words for weather

English Phrase
Chinese Phrase
Weather Tempo metereologico
What's the weather like? Che tempo fa?
The weather is nice Il tempo è bello
It's warm È caldo
It is foggy È nebbioso
It is sunny C'è il sole
It is windy C'è vento
It's cold Fa freddo
The weather is bad Il tempo è brutto
It rains / It's raining Piove / Sta piovendo
It snows / It's snowing Nevica / Nevica
It is cloudy È nuvoloso

Learn Chinese words with native speakers


You will learn Chinese words faster when you listen to native speakers. These videos and lessons have been developed by Chinese speaking teachers in a fun and friendly way. You will find your ability to remember essential words improves with every lesson and your pronunciation will being to flow much more naturally. We have included speaking exercises were ever possible. Listening to conversations in real life situations that you will expect to find whilst travelling around Chinese speaking countries will be your greatest asset.

Common Chinese words


The advantage of learning the most common Chinese words first is that you will have a better chance of understanding parts of the conversations going on around you, helping you to pick up more Chinese word patterns.

To become fluent in Chinese you will need to learn around 5% of all available words which equates to 10,000 words. We can break this down into smaller steps: Learning just 100 of the most common words will enable you to understand half of the words you can expect to read in a book or online in a blog. Learn 1000 words and you will start to understand 75% of what you read.

Now concider, when you learn a word, how many words which sound similar are related?

On average, for every word you learn you will be able to work out 50 other words. Suddenly the world is a smaller place!

:)