Lessons 1-10

Mandarin Lesson 10 这是我的朋友, 郑先生。This is my friend Mr. Zheng.

这 是 你的 手机 吗? Is this your cell phone?
Zhè shì nǐde shǒujī ma?
This si you-of hand-machine question?

这 是 他的 手机。This is his cell phone.
Zhè shì tāde shǒujī.
This is he-of hand-machine.

这 是 你的 课本 吗? Is this your textbook?
Zhè shì nǐde kèběn ma?
This is you-of lesson-source question?

这 是 他的 雨伞。This is his umbrella.
Zhè shì tāde yǔsǎn.
This is he-of rain-umbrella.

这 是 你的 词典 吗? Is this your dictionary?
Zhè shì nǐde cídiǎn ma?
This is you-of expression-collection question?

这 是 我的 朋友, 郑 先生。This is my friend Mr. Zheng.
Zhè shì wǒde péngyou, Zhèng xiānsheng.
This is you-of friend, Zheng first-born.

这 是 筷子。These are chopsticks.
Zhè shì kuàizi.
This is chopstick-thing.

Lessons 11-20
Lessons 21-30
Lessons 31-40
Lessons 41-50
Lessons 51-60
Lessons 61-70
Lessons 71-80
Lessons 81-90
Lessons 91-100
Lessons 101-110
Lessons 111-120
Mandarin is a tone language--that is, different pitch patterns actually distinguish one word from another. Mandarin has no irregular verbs or noun plurals to learn, because words have only a single form. Because Mandarin is completely unrelated to any European language, you may think it might be difficult to develop your vocabulary. However, it really is not that difficult. Why? The reason is that the meanings of many words consisting of two or more characters can be inferred from the meanings of the characters or even the roots of individual characters. So, your vocabulary can rapidly expand when you have grasped the basic characters and character roots.