MVC Mandarin Year 7 Vocabulary Book

中
文
Name: ______________________

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JINBU 1 Chapters 1—4
1. Greetings and Numbers 问候和数字

2. Age 年龄

3. Name 名字

4. Family 家人

5. Pets 宠物

6. Birthday 生日

7. Hobbies 1 爱好 一

8. Hobbies 2 爱好 二

9. Sports 运动

10. Days of the week 星期

11. School subjects 学科

12. Time 时间

13. Timetable 时间表

14. Class 班级

15. Nationality 国籍

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1. Greetings and Numbers (问候和数字)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

你 好 nǐ hǎo Hello
谢 谢 xiè xie Thank you
再 见 zài jiàn Good-bye
一 yī one
二 èr two
三 sān three
四 sì four
五 wǔ five
六 liù six
七 qī seven
八 bā eight
九 jiǔ nine
十 shí ten
十 一 shí yī eleven
十 二 shí èr twelve
十 三 shí sān thirteen
十 四 shí sì fourteen
十 五 shí wǔ fifteen

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十 六 shí liù sixteen
十 七 shí qī seventeen
十 八 shí bā eighteen
十 九 shí jiǔ nineteen
二 十 èr shí twenty
三 十 sān shí thirty
四 十 sì shí forty
五 十 wǔ shí fifty
六 十 liù shí sixty
七 十 qī shí seventy
八 十 bā shí eighty
九 十 jiǔ shí ninety

二. Basic strokes and stroke order (see Appendix)

三. Numbers

Learning numbers in Chinese is really easy! Numbers above 10 are

simple to remember, you just say ‘十(ten)一(one)’ for 11, ‘十(ten)二(two)’

for 12, etc. For higher numbers, you say ‘二(two)十(ten)’ for 20, ‘三

(three)十(ten)’ for 30, etc. Therefore, ‘五(five)十(ten)六(six)’ for 56, ‘七

(seven)十(ten)九(nine)’ for 79, etc.

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2. Age (年龄)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

你 nǐ you
我 wǒ I
岁 suì years old
多 duō lots, many
大 dà big
多 大 duō dà how big

二. Grammar—Asking and talking about age

• What is Chinglish?

Chinglish is formed by using Chinese grammatical structures in

English.

The word Chinglish is a mixture of the words “Chinese” and

“English”, making it Chinglish and tends to be used in a humorous.

• To ask someone’s age: 你多大？(how old are you)

Chinglish: You how big? – person + 多大(how big)?

• To talk about your age: 我十二岁。(I am 12 years old)

Chinglish: I twelve years old. – person + number + 岁(years old)

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3. Name (名字)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

他 tā he
她 tā she
叫 jiào to call (to be called)
什 么 shén me what?

二. Grammar—Asking and talking about name

• To ask someone’s name: 你叫什么？(What is your name?)

you are called what? – Subject + 叫(call) + what?

• To talk about your name: 我叫 Grace。(My name is Grace)

I am called Grace. – Subject + 叫(call) + name

• Verbs in Chinese are simple! Unlike other foreign languages you may

have studied, in Chinese the form of the verb stays the same whatever

the subject (he, she, you, etc). For example:

我叫 TOM。(I am called TOM.)

他叫 TOM。(He is called TOM.)

In both sentences the verb 叫 stays the same

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4. Family (家人)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

爸 爸 bà ba dad
妈 妈 mā ma mum
哥 哥 gē ge older brother
姐 姐 jiě jie older sister
弟 弟 dì di younger brother
妹 妹 mèi mei younger sister
two
两 liǎng
(before a measure word)
most commonly used
个 ge
measure word
家 jiā home/family
measure word for total
口 kǒu
number of family
和 hé and,
有 yǒu to have
没 有 méi yǒu not to have
人 rén person/people

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二. Grammar

• The use of ‘和’

和, which means ‘AND’, is only used between nouns. It is not used to

connect clauses or sentences in Chinese. Notice the difference:

爸爸和妈妈 =dad and mum

爸爸叫 David, 妈妈叫 Jenny = Dad is called David, (and) mum is called

Jenny.

• The use of measure word ‘个’

In Chinese, a measured must be used between a number and a noun. Such

as: number + measure word + noun

‘个’ is the most commonly used measure word. For example:

三个哥哥 (three elder brothers)

Three (number) + measure word ‘个’ + elder brother

一个妹妹 (one younger sister).

One (number) + measure word ‘个’ + younger sister

• The use of measure word ‘口’

‘口’ is a measure word which is used to describe the total number of

people in a family. ‘口’ literally means ‘mouth’, so here it means the

number of mouths to feed. For example:

我家有六口人 (There are six people in my family).

Six (number) + measure word ‘口’ + people

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• The use of ‘两’(two)

While ‘二’ (two) is used in counting or saying a number by itself, ‘两’ is

used to talk about an amount of something, such as:

两个哥哥 (two elder brothers)

5. Pets (宠物)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

鸟 niǎo bird
狗 gǒu dog
猫 māo cat
兔 子 tù zi rabbit
measure word for most
只 zhī
animals and birds

鱼 yú fish
蛇 shé snake
measure word for long
条 tiáo
thin animals

吗 ma question word
大 dà big
小 xiǎo small

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二. Grammar

• Measure word ‘只’ and ‘条’

The most common measure word used for animals and birds is ‘只’,

such as ‘三只兔子’ (three rabbits), ‘九只鸟’ (nine birds). However,

‘条’ is a measure word used for animals with a long thin body, or

some long thin things, such as ‘四条鱼’ (four fishes), ‘两条蛇’ (two

snakes)

• The use of question word ‘吗’

In Chinese, put the question word ‘吗’ at the end of the sentence to

turn it into a yes/no question. For example:

Statement Yes/no question

他有猫。 他有猫吗？

He has a cat. Does he have cat?

你有三只兔子。 你有三只兔子吗？

You have three rabbits. Do you have three rabbits?

• To ask someone has or does not have something:

你有狗吗？(Do you have dog?)

Chlinglish: You have dog?

Sb + 有(have) + Sth + 吗(question word)?

你没有狗吗? (Don’t you have dog?)

Chinglish: You don’t have dog?

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Sb + 没有(not have) + Sth + 吗(question word)?

To answer these questions, the replier just repeats the sentence with verb

‘有’ (have) or ‘没有’ (not to have) and without the question word ‘吗’,

such as: 我有狗 (I have dog). or 我没有狗 (I don’t have dog).

6. Birthday (生日)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

一 月 yī yuè January
二 月 èr yuè February
三 月 sān yuè March
四 月 sì yuè April
五 月 wǔ yuè May
六 月 liù yuè June
七 月 qī yuè July
八 月 bā yuè August
九 月 jiǔ yuè September
十 月 shí yuè October
十 一 月 shí yī yuè November
十 二 月 shí èr yuè December
日 rì date; sun
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月 yuè month; moon
生 日 shēng rì birthday
的 de possessive word
是 shì to be; yes
今 天 jīn tiān today
明 天 míng tiān tomorrow
昨 天 zuó tiān yesterday

二. Grammar

• Date format

Date format in Mandarin is ‘number+月(month)+number+日(day)’

In Chinese culture, people like to describe things from big to small.

Therefore, the date format will start form year to month, then day,

which is opposite way to the English date format. For example, 25th

May will be ‘五月二十五日’ in Mandarin.

• The use of verb ‘是’

- ‘是’ can be used as ‘YES’, while the negative word ‘不是’

means NO, they are used to answer yes/no question. For example:

这是你的狗吗？ (Is this your dog?)

是，这是我的狗。(Yes, this is my dog.)

不是，这不是我的狗。(No, this is not my dog.)

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- Another meaning of ‘是’ can be translated into English as ‘to be’,

such as ‘is/am/are/be/been/being’ . For example:

今天是我的生日。(Today is my birthday.)

我是哥哥。(I am elder brother.)

• The use of possessive word ‘的’

In Chinese, the possessive is made by adding ‘的’ after the pronoun

(I, you, he, etc) or noun. For example:

我 (I) 我的 (my) — 我的小猫 (my little cat)

你 (you) 你的 (your) — 你的大鸟 (your big bird)

他 (he) 他的 (his) — 他的兔子 (his rabbit)

爸爸 (dad) 爸爸的 (dad’s) — 爸爸的鱼 (dad’s fish)

狗 (dog) 狗的 (dog’s) — 狗的生日 (dog’s birthday)

Note: ‘的’ is often omitted where there is a close relationship, such as 我

(的)姐姐=my elder sister; 她(的)家=her family/home.

7. Hobbies 1 (爱好 1)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

看 书 kàn shū to read books
听 音乐 tīng yīn yuè to listen to music
买 东西 mǎi dōng xi to go shopping

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上 网 shàng wǎng to surf the internet
不 bù negative word
爱好 ài hào hobby

二. Grammar

• The use of negative word ‘不’

In Chinese, by adding the word ‘不’ in front of most verbs can turn

the sentence into a negative. For example:

我听音乐. (I listen to music) 我不听音乐. (I don’t listen to music)

他看书. (He reads books) 他不看书. (He doesn’t read books)

妈妈买东西. 妈妈不买东西.

(Mum goes shopping) (Mum doesn’t go shopping)

• Position of time words

In Chinese, time words are at the very beginning of a sentence or

straight after the subject. This is different from English, in which

the time words are often put at the end of the sentence. For example:

今天我不买东西。or 我今天不买东西

(I am not going shopping today)

• To ask someone’s hobby

你的爱好是什么？ (What is your hobby?)

Chinglish: Your hobby is what?

Someone’s 爱好(hobby) + is + what?

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To answer this question, just repeat the sentence and change the

question word ‘什么’ (what) into your answer. Such as:

我的爱好是看书。 (My hobby is to read books.)

8. Hobbies 2 (爱好 2)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

看 电影 kàn diàn yǐng to watch films
看 电视 kàn diàn shì to watch TV
玩 电脑游戏 wán diàn nǎo to play computer
yóu xì games
玩 滑板 wán huá bǎn to skateboard
喜欢 xǐ huan to like
不 喜欢 bù xǐ huan to dislike
也 yě also, too
呢 ne question word

二. Grammar

• The use of ‘也’

The character ‘也’ means ‘ALSO’ or ‘TOO’. Its position is always

just before the verb in Chinese sentences – it is not as flexible as

English. For example:

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我也喜欢看电影。(I like watching films, too)

Chinglish: I also like watching film.

Sb + 也(also, too) + verb + doing /to do Sth

• The use of question word ‘呢’

The question word ‘呢’ can be used to ask reciprocal questions, also

known as "bounce back" questions. ‘呢’ can also be used to form

simple questions asking ‘what about...?" or "how about...?’

For example:

你好吗？(How are you?)

我很好，你呢？(I am fine, how about you?)

Chinglish: you how about?

Subject + 呢(how about) ?

9. Sports (运动)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

运动 yùn dòng sport
踢 足球 tī zú qiú to play football
打 篮球 dǎ lán qiú to play basketball
打 乒乓球 dǎ pīng pāng qiú to play table tennis
打 网球 dǎ wǎng qiú to play tennis

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跑步 pǎo bù to run
游泳 yóu yǒng to swim
谁 shéi/shuí who
会 huì can

二. Grammar

• The use of the question word ‘谁’

The question word ‘谁’ can be used at the beginning or end of a

question, wherever the answer to ‘WHO?’ is required. When you use

question words like this in Chinese, you don’t have to change the

word order as you do in English. You answer by taking out the

question word and replacing it with the answer. Such as:

他是谁? (Who is he?) 他是我爸爸. (He is my father.)

Chinglish: He is who? – Sb + is + 谁(who)?

谁喜欢看书? (Who likes reading?) 我喜欢看书. I like reading.

Chinglish: Who likes reading? – 谁(who) + verb + doing/to do Sth

• The use of ‘会’

The verb ‘会’ (can) refers to a skill rather than being physically able

to do something. To make the negative, you just put ‘不’(negative

word) in front of ‘会’ to make ‘不会’ (can’t). For example:

我哥哥会打篮球，不会踢足球。

My elder brother can play basketball. He can’t play football.

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10. Days of the week (星期)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

星期 xīng qī week
星期 一 xīng qī yī Monday
星期 二 xīng qī èr Tuesday
星期 三 xīng qī sān Wednesday
星期 四 xīng qī sì Thursday
星期 五 xīng qī wǔ Friday
星期 六 xīng qī liù Saturday
星期 日/天 xīng qī rì/tiān Sunday

二. Grammar

• Days of the week

It is easy to remember the days of the week in Mandarin. From

Monday to Saturday, you just put the numbers after ‘星期’ (week),

such as ‘星期一’ (Monday), ‘星期二’ (Tuesday), etc. However,

Sunday in Mandarin will be ‘星期日’ or ‘星期天’ because it is the

‘Day of the Sun (日)’.

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11. School subjects (学科)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

中 文 zhōng wén Chinese
英 文 yīng wén English
法 文 fǎ wén French
德 文 dé wén German
科 学 kē xué science
数 学 shù xué maths
历 史 lì shǐ history
地 理 dì lǐ geography
体 育 tǐ yù PE
音 乐 yīn yuè music
学 校 xué xiào school
课 kè lesson

二. Grammar

• The use of question word ‘什么’

- Question word ‘什么’ is usually put at the end of the sentence and

means ‘WHAT?’, such as the grammar learned in Hobbies 1 – to

ask someone’s hobby.

- Sometimes a noun (such as ‘person’, ‘pet’, ‘book’, ‘lesson’, etc)

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follows it to specify the question. For example:

你喜欢什么？ What do you like? (The answer could be anything)

你喜欢什么课 What lesson do you like？(The answer must be a lesson)

我喜欢数学课。 I like maths. (It is one of the possible answers)

12. Time (时间)

一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

点 diǎn o’clock; dot
分 fēn minute; separate
半 bàn half
几 jǐ how many/much
几 点 jǐ diǎn what time
现 在 xiàn zài now
上 午 shàng wǔ morning
下 午 xià wǔ afternoon
节 jié a measure for lessons

二. Grammar

• The use of ‘几’

‘几’ means ‘HOW MANY?’ or ‘HOW MUCH’. It is always used

with a measure word and when expecting a low number (10 or less) in

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reply. Its place in a question depends on where the answer is going to

be. For example:

Q: 今天星期几？ A: 今天星期三。

What day of the week is it today? It is Wednesday today.

Q: 你有几只猫? A: 我有三只猫。

How many cats you have? I have three cats.

• To ask current time

现在几点？(What time is it now?)

Chinglish: Now what time?

Q: 现在几点? (What time is it now?) A: 现在三点半. (It is 3:30)

Chinglish — Now what time? Chinglish — Now 3:30

• The order of time words

The order of time words in a Chinese sentence is always from the

least specific (the month, the day of the week, etc.) to the most

specific (the time). In short, it is from big to small. For example:

我星期三下午一点有中文课.

Chinglish: — I Wednesday afternoon 1:00 have Mandarin lesson.

• Measure word ‘节’

‘节’ is the measure word for section of bamboo, sugarcane, branch

of tree, etc. It also is the measure word for carriage of train (as it

looks like a section of bamboo). ‘节’ is a measure word for lessons

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because every lesson takes a period of time and those lessons are in

sequences like sections of bamboo.

13. Timetable (时间表)

一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

们 men plural word
上 学 shàng xué to go to school
放 学 fàng xué to finish school

二. Grammar

• Making plural pronouns

To make plural pronouns in Chinese, you just need to add plural

word ‘们’ to the singular pronoun. Such as:

Singular 我 (I) 你 (you) 他 她 (she)

Plural 我们 (we) 你们 (you) 他们 (they) 她们 (they)

(all male or mixed) (all female)

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14. Class (班级)
一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

男 nán male
女 nǚ female
学 生 xué shēng student
班 bān class
多 少 duō shǎo how many/much
二. Grammar

• To ask how many students in the class

你们班有多少(男/女)学生？

How many (male/female) students are there in your class?

Chinglish—Your class has how many (male/female) students?

15. Nationality (国籍)

一. Vocabulary list

Character Pinyin English Meaning

国 guó country
中 国 zhōng guó China
英 国 yīng guó Britain
法 国 fǎ guó
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France
德 国 dé guó Germany
在 zài to be located; in, on, at
吃 chī to eat
午 饭 wǔ fàn lunch

二. Grammar

• Nationality

In Chinese, you just put ‘人’ (human/person) after your country’s

name to say your nationality. For example:

中国人 China + person = Chinese

英国人 Britain + person = British

法国人 France + person = French

德国人 Germany + person = German

• The use of ‘在’

- ‘在’ means ‘to be located (in, on, at)’. For example:

我在中国。(I am in China)

Chinglish: I in China — Sb + 在(in) + Somewhere

- The sentence can be extended as someone in somewhere to do

something. For example:

我在中国学习 。（I am studying in China）

Chinglish: I in China study.

— Sb + 在(in) + Somewhere + to do sth

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Radical
Definition:

Radicals are part of Chinese characters which can give you clues about

the meaning of the character.

Number of strokes / Positions in

Radical Examples
meaning character

nǐ tā xiū tǐ pú
亻 2 / person left
你, 他, 休 , 体, 仆

lùn shuō jiǎng tán yǔ

讠 2 / speech left
论 , 说 , 讲 , 谈 ,语

cǎo huā chá yīng yá

艹 3 / grass, plant top
草 , 花 , 茶 , 英 ，芽

chī hē jiào tīng hào

口 3 / mouth left, top
吃 ，喝， 叫 ， 听 ， 号

dǎ bā lā bàn zhuā
扌 3 / hand left
打, 扒, 拉, 拌 , 抓

jiā bǎo ān zì fù zāi

宀 3 / roof top
家 , 宝 , 安, 字, 富， 灾

hé zhī xǐ hǎi méi

氵 3 / water left
河, 汁 ，洗, 海, 没

māo gǒu láng

犭 3 /dog left
猫 , 狗 , 狼

dì chǎng chéng chén

土 3 / earth, left, base
地, 场 , 城 , 尘 ，

zhè biān hái jìn

辶 3 / to walk left
这, 边 , 还, 进,

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tā hǎo jiě mā
女 3 / women left
她, 好, 姐, 妈

cūn xiāng jià lín tiáo

木 4 / wood, tree left, top, base
村， 相 ，架，林， 条

shí míng zuó zǎo qíng

日 4 / day, sun left, top, base
时, 明 , 昨, 早， 晴

nán lèi jiè wèi

田 5 / field top, base, left
男 , 累, 界, 畏

lù t ī pǎo tiào jù
足 7 / foot left
路，踢， 跑 ， 跳 ，距

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Basic Rules for writing Chinese
characters

Basic strokes
1. The horizontal stroke is written from left to right.

2. The vertical stroke is written from the top downward.

3. The downward stroke to the left is written from top-right to bottom-left.

4. The downward stroke to the right is written from top-left to bottom-right.

5. The dot is usually written from the top to the bottom-right. Sometimes it is
written from the top to the bottom-left.

6. The stroke with a hook: the hook is written by lifting the pen quickly as you
approach the end of the hook.

7. The upward stroke to the right is written from bottom-left to top-right.

8. The horizontal stroke with a downward turn is written first from left to right and
then downward.
9. The vertical stroke with a horizontal turn to the right is written first from the top
downward and then horizontally to the right.

10. The horizontal stroke with a downward turn and hook is written first from left
to right, then downward, and finally a turn is made toward the top-left by quickly
lifting the pen to make the hook.

11. The vertical stroke with a right turn and a hook is written first from the top
downward, then toward the right. Finally, an upward turn is added by quickly lifting
the pen to make the hook.

12. The horizontal stroke with a turn to the bottom-left is written first from left to
right and then toward the bottom-left.

Basic rules for stroke order

1. A horizontal stroke precedes a vertical stroke or a downward stroke either to the
left or to the right.

shí : 1) 2)

tian : 1) 2) 3) 4)

2. A downward stroke to the left precedes one to the right.

rén : 1) 2)

mù : 1) 2) 3) 4)
3. The strokes are usually written from the top down.

liù : 1) 2) 3) 4)

yán : 1) 2) 3) 4)

5) 6) 7)

4. The strokes are usually written from left to right.

ér : 1) 2)

shén : 1) 2) 3) 4)

5. When strokes are enclosed by another stroke or strokes on the top-right, top-left,
or left-top-right sides (that is, with an open bottom), the enclosing strokes usually
precede the enclosed strokes.

ycng : 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

7)

xí : 1) 2) 3)

tóng : 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

6. When strokes are enclosed by another stroke or strokes on the bottom-left, or left-
bottom-right sides (that is, with an open top), the enclosed strokes usually precede
the enclosing strokes.

zhè : 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

huà : 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

7) 8)

7. When strokes are enclosed by other strokes on all four sides, the strokes on the
left, top and right sides are written first, then the enclosed strokes, and finally the
stroke at the bottom. This is commonly described as “putting everything inside before
the door is closed”.

mù : 1) 2) 3) 4) 5)

ycn : 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

8. A vertical stroke in the middle usually precedes strokes on either side.

xifo : 1) 2) 3)

shuh : 1) 2) 3) 4)

9. If a vertical stroke in the middle crosses other strokes, it is usually written last.

zhdng : 1) 2) 3) 4)

fbng : 1) 2) 3) 4)