Black & White , a popular Taiwanese drama

Black & White is a very popular Taiwanese drama in 2009.
If you like police story, you shouldn't miss this drama!!!

[The Story of Black & White]




[The Cast]

Official Website: http://web.pts.org.tw/~web03/ruffian_hero/

Zhen Li Hai (super / powerful)

Notes:
When you want to say someone/something is powerful/super/excellent, you can use this word "li hai"
"Zhen(really)" is an adverb, you can use "hao(so)" or "hen(very) to replace it.
By the way, it's similar to "su go i(凄い)" in Japanese.

Li Hai De Gou (Super Dog)
Mame, a Japanese shiba dog, can control its barking volume~

Subtitle of above video:
Owner: Mame~ (the dog' name)
Dog: Bow! (barking loudly)
Owner: It that okay?
Dog: Bow! (still loudly)
Owner: It that okay?
Dog: Bow! (a little bit less loudly)
Owner: Please quieter!
Dog: Bow... (less loudly)
Owner: Much more quiet, please...
Dog: Bow... (with unvoiced sound)
Owner: Try to be cute~
Dog: (open mouth, nearly no sound)

Ni Zhen Mei (You are beautiful)

ni = you

mei = beautiful

ni zhen mei =  you are really beautiful

ni hao mei =  you are so beautiful

ni hen mei =  you are very beautiful







Grammar:
The sentence structure is: [Subject] + [Adverb] + [Adjective]

Ni Zhen Cong Ming (You are so smart)

ni = you

cong ming = smart / intelligent

ni zhen cong ming = you are really smart

ni hao cong ming = you are so smart

ni hen cong ming = you are very smart







Grammar:
The sentence structure is: [Subject] + [Adverb] + [Adjective]

Ni Zhen Ke Ai (You are so cute)

ni = you

ke ai = cute

ni zhen ke ai = you are really cute

ni hao ke ai = you are so cute

ni hen ke ai = you are very cute








Grammar:
The sentence structure is: [Subject] + [Adverb] + [Adjective]

Note:
Some Chinese learners may create sentences like:
"Ni shi ke ai" or "ni ke ai" ---> They are ungrammatical.

Ni Zhen Shuai (You are handsome)

ni = you

shuai = handsome

ni zhen shuai =  you are really handsome

ni hao shuai =  you are so handsome

ni hen shuai =  you are very handsome








Grammar:
The sentence structure is: [Subject] + [Adverb] + [Adjective]












Note:
Some Chinese learners may create sentences like:
"Ni shi shuai" or "ni shuai" ---> They sound weird to native speaker's ears.

Ni Zhen Piao Liang (You are pretty)

If you want to praise a girl, you can use:

ni = you

piao liang = pretty

ni zhen piao liang = you are really pretty

ni hao piao liang = you are so pretty

ni hen piao liang = you are very pretty

Wo De Jia & Wo De Jia Ren (My Home & My Family)

When do the self-intro... you may want to mention about your family~
Let's learn some things about family today!
Let's go~


My = Wo de
Home = Jia
my home = wo de jia

My = Wo de
Family = Jia Ren
my family = wo de jia ren

Family members:

Wo De Xing Qu (My interest)

wo de = my
xing qu = interest
ni de xing qu shi shen me? = What's your interest?

In this post, Ten Ten will introduce how to describe your interest in Chinese...

Grammar: [Wo de] + [Xing Qu] + [Shi] + Your interest

For example:
My interest is swimming = Wo de (My) + Xing Qu (Interest) + Shi (is) + You Yong (Swimming)

Wo De Gong Zuo (My job)

Wo de = my

Ni de = your

Qung Zuo = Job

Wo de gong zuo = my job

Ni de gong zuo = your job

Shi = is

shen me = what

When someone ask "What's your job" in Chinese, you can reply:

 [Wo de] + [Gong zuo] + [Shi] + JOB

OR

 [Wo]  + [Shi] + JOB

For example:

My job is a teacher = [Wo de] + [Gong zuo] + [Shi] + [Lao shi] 
I am a teacher =  [Wo] + [Shi] + [Lao shi] 

Note: lao shi = teacher

What's your job? (Ni de gong zuo shi shen me?)
Let's check it out...

More Reference:
http://163.16.60.27/atlantia/learn-more/profession.htm

Wo De... (My...)

In previous posts, we've already introduced some things about self-intro in Chinese:
1) Talking about you age:
http://mandarineveryday.blogspot.com/2012/04/wo-er-shi-sui-i-am-20-years-old.html#links
2) A simple sample of Chinese self-intro:
http://mandarineveryday.blogspot.com/2012/04/zi-wo-jie-shao-self-intro-in-chinese.html#links

In this post, you'll learn how to use "wo de" (meaning: My) to create more useful sentences...
And make your self-intro more colorful~

Let's go...

Grammar:  [Wo de] + Noun + [Shi]

For example:

My name is =  [Wo de] + [Ming Zi] + [Shi] 

More Examples:

Ming Zi = Name

Sheng ri = Birthday

Gu xiang = Hometown

Xing Qu = Interest

Gong Zuo = Job

Xue Xiao = School

In later posts, Ten Ten will introduce more about jobs and interests...
Please check it out ^^

Wo er shi sui (I am 20 years old)

Wo = I
Er shi = 20
Sui = Years old
Wo er shi sui = Ｉ am 20 years old.

You can also say...



Jin nian = this year
Wo jin nian er shi sui = I am 20 years old this year.


Before introduct your age, you should learn numbers in Chinese first.
Let's go...

Note: What we used here are sampled Chinese characters. 

Chinese numbers is quite simple...
You only have to memorize 1~10.
Then you can do 11, 12, 20, 21, 30, 40, 50, and so on...

For example,

Yi = 1

Er = 2

San = 3

Shi = 10

And...

11 = 10 +1 = Shi Yi

12 = 10 + 2 = Shi Er

13 = 10 + 3 = Shi San

20 = 2 * 10 = Er Shi

30 = 3 * 10 = San Shi

Simple, Right?

Are you ready for talking about your age?

Let's go...

The sample sentence goes like "Wo _______ Sui"

Just put your age into the blank~

For example,

I am 20 = Wo 20(Er Shi) Sui

I am 30 = Wo 30(San Shi) Sui

So... How old are you? 你几岁呢?（nǐ jǐ suì ne）

Zi Wo Jie Shao (A sample self-intro in Chinese)

Zi wo = Self

Jie shao = Introduction

Zi wo jie shao = Self Introduction

Today, let's learn how to introduce ourselves... Let's learn some terms first...

Following is a simple sample of self-intro:

[English Translation of Simple sample]

Hello, everyone!
I am Ten-Ten.
I am a student.
I like traveling and making friends.
Nice to meet you.

If you want to add more things into your self-intro~
You can refer to...

1. My...
2. My interest
3. My job
4. My family
5. My age

Difference between "Chi bao le ma" and "Ni hao ma"

My dear friends~ Chi bao le ma?

A facebook friend of mine asked an interesting question~
"What's the difference between [Ni hao ma] and [Chi bao le ma]?"

As greetings, both『 Chi bao le ma 』and 『 Ni hao ma 』are similar to "How are you? (in English)"
Both 『 Chi bao le ma 』 and 『 Ni hao ma 』 are very common greetings in Chinese.
In fact, there is no big difference.

If you must distinguish them, you can do like this:
『 Chi bao le ma 』---> used in more casual occasions
『 Ni hao ma 』---> used in both formal and casual occasions

Therefore, You can use『 Chi bao le ma 』between friends.
In formal occasions, 『 Ni hao ma 』is used.

For more information:
Ni hao: http://mandarineveryday.blogspot.com/2012/04/greeting-ni-hao.html#links
Chi bao le ma: http://mandarineveryday.blogspot.com/2012/04/greeting-chi-bao-le-ma.html#links

New Year: xīn nián kuài lè (Happy New Year!)

Xin Nian = "New Year"
Kuai Le = "Happy"
Xin Nian Kuai Le = "Happy New Year"

Other Informaton: 

During Chinese New Year, people often use 恭喜(gōng xǐ) to replace "Ni Hao"
恭喜(gōng xǐ) = "Congratulations!"

Sheng Ri Kuai Le (Happy Birthday!)

"Sheng Ri Kuai Le" means "Happy Birthday~"


Other words you may want to learn:

Birthday Present = 生日礼物 (shēng rì lǐ wù)

Birthday Cake = 生日蛋糕 (shēng rì dàn gāo)

More Information:

In Chinese, we have a special term for the person whose birthday is today~
We use "寿星(shòu xīng)" to refer to the person whose birthday is today.

"寿(shòu)" means "Age"
"星(xīng)" means "Star"
So we can translate "寿星(shòu xīng)" into English as "Birthday Star"

For example~
Today is 4 / 28.
Momoko's birthday is 4 / 28.
So Momoko is "Shou Xing" today.

Zai Jian (See you / Good-bye)

"Zai Jian" means "See you" or "Good-bye"

"Zai" means "again"
"Jian" means "see"
So the literal meaning of "zai jian" is similar to "see you again" in English.

Zao an! Wu an! Wan an! (Good morning / afternoon / night)

zǎo ān (Good morning!)
wǔ ān (Good afternoon!)
wǎn ān (Good night!)

Note: some people use "zao" instead of "zao an"

Explanation: 

"zao" means "early" and "an" means "good" or "peaceful"

"zao an"  means "Good morning!" 

"wu" means "afternoon"
"wu an" means "Good afternoon!"

"wan" means "late" or "night"
"wan an" means "Good night!"

Other Information:

In English, we have "Good Evening!"
In Japanese, we have "Kon Ban Wa!" (こんばんは)
In Chinese, we also have something similar~
We have "晚上好(wǎn shàng hǎo)"
However, "wǎn shàng hǎo" is seldom used...
People use other greetings (ex. Ni Hao) instead.

Greeting: ni hao! (Hello!)

"ni hao" (nǐ hǎo)  is one of the most common greeting in China.
Its usage is similar to "Hello" in English.

You can also say: "ni hao ma?"
Literally it means "Are you fine?"
It is similar to "How are you?" in English.

Example:

[Chinese]
Mr. Wang:  nǐ hǎo ma?
Ms. Chen:  wǒ hěn hǎo!

[English]
Mr. Want: How are you?
Ms. Chen: I'm fine.

More Information:

You might wonder what's the difference between "chi bao le ma" and "ni hao ma"
Please check:
Difference between "Chi bao le ma" and "Ni hao ma"

Greeting: chi bao le ma? (Are you full? = How are you?)

Literally, "chi bao le ma?" means "have you eaten yet?"
Or more exactly  "have you eaten to fullness?"

Chinese people usually use "chi bao le ma?" as a greeting~
It is similar to "How are you today?" in English.

Example:

[Chinese]
Mr. Wang:  chī bǎo le ma?
Ms. Chen:  chī bǎo le!

[English]
Mr. Wang:  Have you eaten yet? (meaning: How are you?)
Ms. Chen:  I've eaten~ (meaning: I'm fine)

More Information:

You might wonder what's the difference between "chi bao le ma" and "ni hao ma"
Please check:
Difference between "Chi bao le ma" and "Ni hao ma"

Welcome to Everyday Mandarin (天天學中文)

Want to learn Modern Mandarin Chinese Conversation?
Start to learn from now with Ten Ten!

Hello, everybody, I am Ten Ten, a native Mandarin Chinese speaker from Taiwan.

Welcome to my new blog --- Everyday Mandarin (天天學中文) --- a blog helping you learn correct modern Mandarin conversation with fun.

In this blog, you can learn Mandarin Chinese (Standard Chinese pronunciation+simplified characters) used in the whole Mandarin Chinese region.


About Me
Name: Ten Ten Lin (林天天)
Hometown: Taiwan
Major: Language learning and teaching

What can this blog help you?
1) Learn latest Mandarin Chinese words and sentences (Stand Pronunciation+Simplified Characters)
2) Learn Chinese and Taiwanese cultures

If you like this blog, you may click "join this site" on the righthand margin (if you have a gmail account), or add TenTen's Facebook~ to follow this blog
http://www.facebook.com/tenten.lin.10?ref=tn_tnmn