Conversation 1 : What country is this?

- Zhè
shì
guójiā?
国家?
- Zhè
shì
Zhōngguó.
中国。
-
shì
Táiwān
台湾
ma?
吗?
-
shì
Táiwān,
台湾,
shì
Hǎinándǎo.
海南岛。
zhè(pro)this
(pro)that
台湾Táiwān(n)Taiwan
海南岛Hǎinándǎo(n)Hainan island

Translation

- What country is this?
- This is China.
- Is that Taiwan?
- That is not Taiwan, that is Hainan Island.

Conversation 2 : What part of China is it?

- Zhè
shì
Zhōngguó
中国
shénme
什么
dìfang?
地方?
- Zhè
shì
Běijīng.
北京。
-
shénme
什么
dìfang?
地方?
-
Shànghǎi.
上海。
nǎr?
哪儿?
-
Nánjīng.
南京。
地方dìfang(n)locality, place
哪儿nǎr(pro)where
北京Běijīng(n)Peking, Beijing
上海Shànghǎi(n)Shanghai
南京Nánjīng(n)Nanjing

Translation

- What part of China is it?
- This is Peking (Beijing).
- What place are you going?
- I go to Shanghai. Where are you going?
- I go to Nanjing.

Conversation 3 : Where are you from?

-
shì
shénme
什么
dìfang
地方
rén?
人?
- Xiānggāngrén.
香港人。
shì
nǎr
哪儿
de
rén?
人?
- Xī'ānrén.
西安人
Xiānggǎng
香港
ma?
吗?
-
dà,
大,
hěn
xiǎo,
小,
kěshì
可是
rén
hěn
duō.
多。
香港Xiānggǎng(n)Honk Kong
西安Xī'ān(n)Xi'an
de(part)(structural particle)
(adj)big
xiǎo(adj)small
可是kěshì(conj)but
duō(adj)many

Translation

- Where are you from? ( What place are you the people of )
- Hong Kong ( Honk Kong people ). Where are you from?
- Xi'an ( Xi'an people ). Is Hong Kong big?
- No ( not big ), very small, but a lot of people ( people are numerous ).

Grammar

The structural particle 的 (de)

When a noun is used to modify another noun, it usually doesn't take 的 after it.
Example:
- 中国 人 : Chinese (people of China), instead of 中国的人.
- 北京 人 : Pekingese, Beijingese

Phrase structure

When an adjective is used as a predicate, the verb "to be" is not used.
Example:
- 香港 不 大 : Hong Konk is not big
- 北京 很 大 : Peking is very big

Exercises : Substitution Drills

Exercise 1

-
shì
Táiwān
台湾
ma?
-
shì
Táiwān.
台湾
北京Běijīng(n)Peiking, Beijing
广州Guǎngzhōu(n)Canton
桂林Guìlín(n)Guilin
西藏Xīzàng(n)Tibet
内蒙古Nèiménggǔ(n)Inner Mongolia

Exercise 2

-
shì
shénme
什么
dìfang
地方
rén?
-
shì
Xiānggāngrén.
香港人
北京人Běijīngrén(n)Peikingese
巴黎人Bālírén(n)Parisian
纽约人Niǔyuērén(n)New Yorker
伦敦人Lúndūnrén(n)Londoner
东京人Dōngjīngrén(n)people of Tokyo

Exercise 3

-
Xiānggǎng
香港
ma?
-
Xiānggǎng
香港
dà,
hěn
xiǎo.
Nadjadj
北京smallbig
上海人fewmany
西安人manyfew

Calligraphy exercises

15 new characters. Click on the character to open its page (calligraphy, writing rules, etymology...)

西

Character 香
Character 湾

Memorize, practice and test your vocabulary from lesson 6
Online chinese exercises
Review and memorize online chinese lessons vocabulary. Characters, pinyin and english definition.

Next Lesson

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Learn how to say the date in mandarin chinese.
Vocabulary : days of the week, months of the year, What day (date) is it today?

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