In the second lesson we will learn "how to make simple questions" using the question word 吗? ''ma?''
So how do you make a question? Well, we're glad you asked! All you have to do is add 吗? ''ma?'' to the end of the sentence.
In fact, it's much easier than in English, where you have to switch the verb and noun (I am going to the store vs. Are you going to the store?)
In Chinese it is the equivalent of being able to say, "You are going to the store, question?"
We will also learn about "countries and nationalities".
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Remember that the word order in Chinese sentences is the same for statements as it is for questions, which is quite different from English, where there is special word order signifying that the sentence is an interrogative one.
Because there is no shift in word order, Chinese speakers indicate to their listeners that the sentence is a question by adding the question marker 吗 ''ma'' to the end of the sentence. In essence, 吗 ''ma'' is a question mark spoken aloud.
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To make a statement about a person's nationality, simply add the character 人 ''rén'' to the name of the country. There is no difference between singular and plural, thus 美国人 could mean "an American" or "Americans". There is another word for referring to people in the abstract, 人民 ''rénmín''. For instance, "''the'' Chinese people"would be 中国人民 ''zhōnɡɡuó rénmín'', a phrase you see a lot in political situations.
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Wow! Our first dialogue in Chinese - did you understand it all?
Hopefully you did, as it contains vocabulary and sentence structures we have already covered.
In just a short time, you have learned to share information in Chinese in a meaningful way. If you go to China you will have many, many opportunities to practice the above dialogue, in fact you might get quite sick of it. Still, regionalisms are a big thing in China, and talking about where the other person is from can be a great way to develop a real conversation.
Transcribe the characters below into pinyin 1. 美国 2. 中国 3. 德国 4. 印度 5. 英国
Translate the pinyin into English 1. Déguó 2. Zhōngguó 3. Yīngguó 4. Měiguó
Transcribe the characters into pinyin and then translate into English 1. 中国人 2. 英国人 3. 德国人 4. 美国人 4. 印度人
Fill in the blanks for this dialogue" A: Nǐ shì ma? B: Shì，wǒ shì Yīngguórén. Nǐ shì ma? A: Shì，wǒ Zhōngguórén.
Match the character to its pinyin"
| 1 | 美 | lǎo |
| 2 | 男 | guó |
| 3 | 中 | tā |
| 4 | 国 | zhōng |
| 5 | 老 | měi |
| 6 | 她 | nán |