Question

Mandarin HSK Tutorial: Locations & Occupations

Answer 1

\({\bf{Welcome~to~My~Tutorial:}}\)

✩ This is a tutorial, not a question.
☾ Please save all comments or questions for the end.
✩ Please do not copy-paste my content.
☾ Please do not leave irrelevant or disrespectful comments.
✩ Interrupting/rude comments will be reported as spam/harassment.

This tutorial is meant to be a study guide for the HSK, as well as a general tutorial to help people learning Chinese. The HSK (Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi) is a proficiency examination in Mandarin Chinese (the most widely spoken dialect of Chinese).

Answer 2

\({\bf{Vocabulary:}}\)

Shopping
钱 (qián) money
多少 (duō shao) how many/how much (see grammar notes)
块 (kuài) unit of money for the RMB (人民币, rénmínbì). Only use 块 when speaking; in writing, the unit of RMB is 元 (yuán). As of the time of writing this tutorial, 1 RMB is about 15 cents.
商店 (shāng diàn) store
买 (mǎi) to buy

Occupation:
医生 (yī sheng) doctor
医院 (yī yuan) hospital
工作 (gōng zuò) as a verb, to work; as a noun, job/occupation

Location::
这 (zhè) this. Can be used as a modifier of a noun (ex: 这个杯字) or by itself (ex: 这是什么?)
那 (nà) that. Similar usage to 这.
下面 (xià miàn) under/beneath
前面 (qián miàn) in front of
后面 (hòu miàn)
里 (lǐ) inside
在 (zài) to be (used for location, see grammar notes) Used in 在那儿? (where?)
这儿 (zhèr) here
那儿 (nàr) there
呢 (ne) In addition to our previous usage of 呢, you can also use 呢 at the end of a question asking where something is. Ex: 我的杯字呢? (Where is my cup?)

Other Vocabulary:
下午(xià wǔ) afternoon
个 (gè) generic measure word (see grammar notes)
本 (běn) measure word for books
狗 (gǒu) dog
猫 (māo) cat
坐 (zuò) to sit
椅子 (yǐzi) chair
桌子(zhuō zi) table
电脑 (diàn nǎo) computer
和 (hé) and
没有 (méi yǒu) there is not (see grammar notes)
能 (néng) can/may (see grammar notes)

Answer 3

\({\bf{Grammar~Notes:}}\)

✩ 多少: how many, for numbers 10+. Construction: 多少 + noun (do not use a measure word in between 多少 and the noun) Ex: 这个杯字多少钱?

☾ Asking about prices: (noun) 多少钱? (How much does _noun_ cost?) _#_ 块钱. (It costs # yuan).

✩ countable/measurable nouns in Chinese have measure words in front of them. 个 is a generic one that can be used with most nouns. However, some nouns use specific measure words. An example of another measure word is 口(kǒu) which is used for family members. Ex: 我家有三口人. A list of measure words can be found here: http://employees.csbsju.edu/hjakubowski/classes/chinastudyabroad/list_of_chinese_measure_words.htm

☾ 在 (to go). Structure: Noun + 在 + location/direction. Ex: 医生在医院. Additionally, you can add a verb at the end to indicate an action that occurs at some specific place. Ex: 我在学校看书.
在那儿? ([to be] where?). Structure: Noun + 在那儿? Ex: 椅子在那儿?

✩ Talking about locations: To point out the location of an item, a basic structure is: (location) + (preposition). Ex: 桌子上有一本书
Examples using interrogatives: 椅子后面有什么？椅子后面有… (What is behind the chair? Behind the chair there is a…) 小猫在那儿? 小猫在这儿. (Where is the cat? The cat is here.)

☾ 能: can/may. Used before a verb to indicate the possibility of that action. Ex: 你能坐在这里. (You may sit here.

✩ 有/没有: there is/there is not. When using the affirmative 有, include the number + appropriate measure word. Ex: 我家有三口人. When using the negative 没有, do not use the number/measure word. Ex: 他家没有小狗.

Answer 4

\({\bf{References:}}\)

Liping, J., Fang, W., Feng, W., Liping L. (2018). HSK Standard Course 1. Beijing Language and Culture University Press.

Other helpful resources:
https://www.purpleculture.net/online-chinese-input/ (will let you type pinyin and get characters)

https://www.chinese-tools.com/tools/converter-pinyin-unicode.html (will convert plaintext to pinyin, with accent marks)

https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php (pinyin dictionary. Would also recommend the app Pleco)