Question

Mandarin HSK I Tutorial: Activities & Transportation

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

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

Activities:

你在做什么呢? (nǐ zài zuò shénme ne?) what are you doing?
我在…呢. (wǒ zài… ne) I am … (put a verb before ne)
看电视 (kàn diàn shì) to watch TV
睡觉 (shuì jiào) to sleep
打电话 (dǎ diànhuà) to call on the phone
电话 (diànhuà) as a noun, phone number
做饭 (zuò fàn) to cook
学习 (xué xí) to study/learn
英语 (Yīng yǔ) English
听 (tīng) to listen

Travel:

看见 (kàn jiàn) to see
开 (kāi) to drive
车 (chē) car
飞机 (fēi jī) airplane
出租车 (chū zū chē) taxi
回来 (huí lai) to come back
(Subject) + 是 + (means of transportation) + 来的 = (Subject) came by. Ex: 我们是飞机来 (We came by plane.)

Shopping:

衣服 (yī fu) clothing
商店 (shāng diàn) store
书店 (shū diàn) bookstore
一点(儿) (yì diǎn (er)) a few/little
东西 (dōng xi) things/stuff
饭店 (fàndiàn) restaurant


Misc:

喂 (wèi) hello/hey (said when beginning/answering a phone call)
也 (yě) also
给 (gěi) to give, but also the preposition to. Used in the expression 给 + (recipient) + 打电话 (to call _recipient_)
吧 (ba) put at the end of imperative sentences (requests, suggestions, orders, etc.) Has a “softening” effect.
苹果 (píng guǒ) apple
先生 (xiān sheng) Mr./Sir. Note: last name comes before 先生.
漂亮 (piào liang) beautiful
啊 (a) particle, used at the end of a phrase/sentence to indicate confirmation, ex: 是啊 is yes, said to confirm something said earlier.
少 (shǎo) little/few
不少 (bù shǎo) many
都 (dōu) both or all (use after the noun being described)
这些 (zhè xiē) these
大学 (dà xué) university
后 (hòu) after (see grammar notes)
认识 (rèn shi) to meet/to know (see grammar notes)
年 (nián) year (see grammar notes)
一起 (yì qǐ) together. Note: put 一起 after the noun, ex: 我们一起.
高兴 (gāo xìng) happy

Answer 3

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

✩ 在 + verb + 呢: indicates action in progress. Ex: 他在睡觉呢 = He is sleeping.

☾ Reading telephone numbers: read digit by digit, except 1, which becomes yāo

✩ 了: indicates that an action has been completed. Can be used at the end of the sentence, or between the verb and object. Ex: 我买了不少衣服. Omit 了 in the negative form, ex: 我没买.

☾ 后: Put 后 after the time, ex: 一分钟后 = after a minute, 一点后 = after 1 o’clock)

✩ 是…的: To emphasize the time, place, or manner at which an action occurred, put the time/place/manner word(s) in between 是 and 的. Ex: 他们在出租车来的.

☾ 认识: To specify when you met someone: Subject(s) + 是什么时候认识的? (When did _subject(s)_ meet?) Subject + 是 + (time) + 认识的. To specify where you met someone: Subject(s) + 在哪儿认识的？Subject + 是在 + (location) + 认识的.

✩ Expressions with 认识: 很高兴认识你 (Nice to meet you.) 认识你我也很高兴 (Nice to meet you, too.)

☾ 年: When saying a year, put 年 after the actual number. To specify the year, spell out the individual digits of the year. Ex: 2021 = 二零二一年.

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)

Answer 5

Wow... I can't believe it. I got through an entire textbook without getting my tutorials interrupted.

Good job for QC users for learning to respect other people's hard work!