imkoy

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7. Learning Chinese

I started learning Chinese on Duolingo, might as well document the lessons taken so far! Please, do not expect me to understand anything that is not listed on this post 🤣.

7.0.1 Glossary

Note to self: Pay attention to the symbols.

  1. Esto - zhè (这)
  2. Es (ser/estar) - shì (是)
  3. Caliente - rè (热)
  4. Caffee - kāfēi (咖啡)
  5. Agua - shuǐ (水)
  6. Beber - hē (喝)
  7. Té - chá (茶)
  8. Arroz cocido - Mǐfàn (米饭)
  9. Y - hē (和)
  10. Sopa - Tāng (汤)
  11. Esto - zhè (这), normally 这是
  12. Es - shì (是), normally 这是
  13. Tofu - dòufu (豆腐)
  14. Japón - Rìběn (日本)
  15. Yo - Wǒ (我)
  16. China - zhōngguó (中国)
  17. Persona - rén (人)
  18. Estados Unidos - Měiguó (美国)
  19. Japón - Rìběn (日本)
  20. Ser - shì (是)
  21. Coreano - Hánguó (韩国)
  22. Ser - shì (是)
  23. ¿y tu? - nǐ ne (你呢)
  24. Hola - Nǐ hǎo (你好)
  25. Hola (casual) - hāi (嗨)

7.1. Section 1: Names, foods and drinks

Sentence: Esto es caffe caliente - (这是热咖啡) Zhè shì rè kāfēi

  1. Esto es: Zhè shì (这是)
  2. .1. Donde (zhè) - 这 significa "esto" y 是 es el verbo "ser/estar"
  3. Caliente (Rè) 热
  4. Caffee (kāfēi) - 咖啡

It is interesting how the sentence order varies from Spanish to Chinese, as it goes; a, c, b.

Sentence: Agua y té. - (水和茶) Shuǐ hé chá

  1. Agua (shuǐ) 水
  2. Y (hē) - 和
  3. Té (chá) - 茶

Sentence: Arroz y sopa. - (米饭和汤) Mǐfàn hé tāng

  1. Arroz cocido (Mǐfàn) - 米饭
  2. Y (hē) - 和
  3. Sopa (Tāng) - 汤

From now on I will not repeat the conjuction hē (和).

Sentence: Esto es tofu. - (这是豆腐) Zhè shì dòufu

  1. Esto (zhè) es (shì): 这是
  2. Tofu (dòufu): 豆腐

Sentence: Agua caliente y té. - (热水和茶) Rè shuǐ hé chá

We already have all the words to write this sentence so there is no need to deconstruct, just note that the caliente term 热 (Rè) goes before the water term 水 (shuǐ).

7.2. Section 2: Nationalities

  1. Esto/Este/Esta (Zhè): 这
  2. Es/Ser (shì): 是
  3. Japón (Rìběn): 日本

Sentence: Yo soy chino. - (我是中国人) Wǒ shì zhōngguó rén

  1. Yo (Wǒ): 我
  2. Soy, es, eres, etc (shì): 是
  3. China (zhōngguó): 中国
  4. *Persona(rén): 人

Notice how we use rén (人) after the country. This is to denote you are denoting the nationality (people of the country) and not the country itself.

Sentence: Estados Unidos y Japón. - (美国和日本) Měiguó hē Rìběn

  1. Estados Unidos (Měiguó): 美国
  2. Japón (Rìběn): 日本
From now on I will not list (hē) 和 when used.

Note that all countries names have characters with meaning. For example, the meaning of 美国 is "Beautiful Country" while for 日本 is "Sun origin".

Sentence: Yo soy coreano, ¿y tú? - (我 是 韩国人, 你 呢?) Wǒ shì Hánguórén, nǐ ne?

  1. Yo (Wǒ): 我
  2. Ser/Soy (shì): 是
  3. Coreano / Persona de Corea (Hánguórén): 韩国人
  4. ¿y tu? (nǐ ne): 你呢

Sentence: Hola, yo soy de Estados Unidos - (你好，我是美国人) Nǐ hǎo, wǒ shì Měiguó rén

  1. Hola (Nǐ hǎo): 你好
  2. Yo (Wǒ): 我
  3. Ser (shì): 是
  4. Estadounidense / Persona de Estados Unidos (Měiguó rén): 美国人
Note that we used Nǐ hǎo (你好) instead of hai (嗨), they have the same meaning but one is more informal than the other, just as "Hello" and "Hi".

7.3. Section 3: Professions

Sentence:

Post date: 2025-12-22

Last edit: 2025-12-23