Lessons 1-10

Mandarin Lesson 36 现在下班了吗？ Have you finished work now?

现在 是 四 点。 (Right now) It's four.
Xiànzài shì sì diăn.
Now is four dot.

现在 是 四 点 二十五 分。 (Right now) It's four twenty-five.
Xiànzài shì sì diăn èr shí wŭ fēn.
Now is four dot two-ten-five minute.

郑 先生 现在不 在 家。 Mr. Zheng is not at home now.
Zhèng xiānshēng xiànzài bù zài jiā.
Zheng first-born now not is home.

现在 下班 了 吗？ Have (you) finished work now?
Xiànzài xiàbān le ma?
Now after-work finished question?

现在 是 六 点 二十五 分。 Right now it's six twenty-five.
Xiànzài shì liù diăn èr shí wŭ fēn.
Now is six dot two-ten-five minute.

现在 是 六 点 半。 (Right now) It's six thirty.
Xiànzài shì liù diăn bàn.
Now is six dot half.

现在 是 九 点 。 (Right now) It's nine.
Xiànzài shì jiŭ diăn.
Now is nine dot.

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.