Exercise compilation of Lessons Learnt

Here is the recap of all the past lessons introduced.
Lesson 1 & 2: Numbers
Lesson 3: Greetings
Lesson 5: Addressing People
Lesson 6: Day & Date
Lesson 7: Expressing Possessions
Lesson 8: Expressing Wants / Desire
Lesson 9: Adjective

Have a look at them again and start doing the following exercise:
1. August 17 is Indonesia's National Day!
Hint! Topic on Date and Possession!

2. The girl's Mom wants to take her to the hospital.
Hint! "to" in this case means they are going to

3. Mrs. Smith is not my sister's English teacher
Hint! Topic on Addressing People, Possession and Adjective

4. The red table is not belong to mom
Hint! Topics on negative sentence, possessive pronoun and adjective

5. My maternal grandma wants to visit Paris next month!
Hint! Possessive adjective, addressing people, expressing desire (Also, watch out for the placement of adverb of time!)

6. I call My father's elder brother as "Uncle"
Hint! Possessive adjective and addressing people


Happy Translating,
Linda Tan

Answer to Lesson 9: Adjectives

Here is the answer for Lesson 9: Adjective

1.      Beautiful flower
漂亮的花
Piàoliang de huā

2.      Good Teacher
好老师
Hǎo lǎoshi

3.      High mountain
高山
gāo shān

4.      Square Table
四方形的桌子
Sìfāngxíng de zhuōzi

5.      Delicious dinner
好吃的晚餐
Hǎochī de wǎncān

If you notice, The chinse words for Beautiful (Piào liang), Square (Sìfāngxíng) and Delicious (Hǎo chī) are all more than just one word, that's why they are followed by the word 的 de before the noun.

Happy Digesting!

Linda Tan

Lesson 9: Adjective (Describing something or someone)

Adjective in Bahasa Indonesia is called: Kata sifat. Its purpose it to describe something/nouns.

For example: When we say "dog", we can add an adjective to describe the dog, such as: small!

The pattern is: Adjective + Noun

Small dog
Small (Adj) = 小     xiǎo
Dog (Noun) = 狗     gǒu

So, we say: 小狗 xiǎo gǒu

Black dog
Black (Adj) = 黑     hēi
Dog (Noun) = 狗     gǒu

In Chinese we say: 黑狗  hēi gǒu


When the adjective is long (it is more than just one word), we will normally add 的 de in the middle (after the adjective and before the noun)

The pattern is: Adjective + 的 de + Noun

For example:

We can describe the word "House" with a few adjectives below:

Beautiful    漂亮       lán sè
Blue            蓝色      piào liang

Because the adjectives above are more than one words, than we have to use 的 de  in the middle.

Thus we say:
蓝色的屋子             lán sè de wū zi                 Blue House
漂亮的屋子             piào liang de wū zi          Beautiful House

Try to digest the above before going on to the following explanation.

There are times where the description about something consist of adjective + noun
For example: We would like to describe "Girl" with the adjective phrase "big eye"
"big" is an adjective, while "eye" is a noun

So, in Mandarin to translate "The girl with Big Eyes" we can say:
大眼睛的女孩

dà yǎnjīng de nǔ hái

眼睛           yǎnjīng        = eyes                     ==> the first noun
大               dà                = big                       ==> adjective that explains the first noun
女孩           nǔ hái          = girl                      ==> This is the second yet the MAIN noun


If you notice, there are two parts of adjective in the above phrase "The girl with big eyes".
a. the first is "big" that explains the "eyes"
b. the second is "big eyes" that explains the main noun, "the girl"

In this case, the eyes are being explained by an adjective word "big". Thus in the phrase "the girl with big eyes" the adjective is now 大眼睛 dà yǎnjīng (more than one word), therefore we need 的 de after the adjective and before the word "girl" - 女孩 nǔ hái. Same thing apply to the third phrase below!

The girl with black hair
黑头发的女孩

hēi tóufa de nǔ hái

黑                 hēi           = black           ==> the adjective to explain the first noun

头发             tóu fa      = hair              ==> the first noun
女孩             nǔ hái     = girl               ==> the main noun

Try the following:

The room on the left side

left                 左        zuǒ                     ==> the adjective to explain the first noun

side                边       biǎn                    ==> the noun

room              房间   fáng jiān            ==> the main noun

You should get:

左边的房间

zuǒ biǎn de fáng jiān

Please translate the following by applying the above:

1. Beautiful flower

2. Good Teacher

3. High mountain

4. Square Table

5. Delicious dinner

Good day!

Linda Tan

Answer to Lesson 8: Expressing Wants / Desire

Here are the answers for Lesson 8 (Expressing wants / desire)

1. I want to see your teacher

我想见你（的）老师
Wǒ xiǎng jiàn nǐ (de) lǎo shī

2. My elder brother wants a bike

我 (的) 哥哥要一辆自行车
Wǒ (de) gē ge yào yī liàng zì xíng chē

(Measure word for bike is 辆 liàng)

3. Dad and mom want to go out tonight 

今晚爸爸和妈妈要出去
Jīn wǎn bàba hé māma yào chūqù

(Note: In Chinese, Adverb of time is used in the beginning of the sentence) 

4. My younger sister wants to eat spaghetti
我 (的) 妹妹想吃意大利面
Wǒ (de) mèi mei xiǎng chē yì dà lì miàn

(when we use xiǎng it seems to mean that my sister hasn't eaten spaghetti for sometimes, I feel like eating it now)

我 (的) 妹妹要吃意大利面

Wǒ (de) mèi mei yào chē yì dà lì miàn

(When we use yào the meaning seems to change from "feeling like" to she just "opt" for spaghetti, not because of any particular reason)

5. My dog wants that ball!
我的狗要那个球
Wǒ de gǒu yào nà gè qiú

Listen to the following:

Want More? Watch out for Next Post!
Linda Tan

Lesson 8: Expressing Wants/Desire for something or to do Something

In English, we use "want" to express our need and desire to do something or for something. In Chinese we use 要 yào or 想 xiǎng. There are not much different in the usage. However, when you use 想 xiǎng, it shows more desire than just wanting for something. Also 想 xiǎng can only be followed by verb.

For example: I want to drink

we can say...

我要喝水

wǒ yào hē shuǐ

or... we can also say...

我想喝水

wǒ xiǎng hē shuǐ

As for this sentence: My younger brother want a bowl of rice.

We do not normally say:

我的弟弟想一碗饭

wǒ de dì di xiǎng yī wǎn fàn

we will say...

我的弟弟要一碗饭

wǒ de dì di yào yī wǎn fàn

When it comes to the negative form, we use "does/do not want" and translated as 不要 bù yào or 不想 bù xiǎng (which meaning is leaning towards: "do not feel like ..."

For example:

I do not want to drink

我不要喝水

Wǒ bù yào hē shuǐ

When you say:

我不想喝水

Wǒ bù xiǎng hē shuǐ

It means that "I do not feel like drinking water", slightly different meaning from "I do not want to drink water."

How about the following sentence?

My mom doesn't want a bowl of rice

Yup, because mom wants "something - noun" and NOT wants "to do something - verb", that's why it is more appropriate to use bù yào, instead of bù xiǎng

我（的）妈妈不要一碗饭

Wǒ (de) mā ma bù yào yī wǎn fàn

Try translating the following sentences:

1. I want to see your teacher

2. My elder brother wants a bike

(remember to include the measure word for bike! Identify it on Pleco)

3. Dad and mom want to go out tonight 

(Note: In Chinese, Adverb of time is used in the beginning of the sentence) 

4. My younger sister wants to eat spaghetti

5. My dog wants that ball!

Answer to be revealed in next post!

Regards,
Linda Tan

Answers to Lesson 7

Here are the answers to the previous exercise in Lesson 7

1. House                 家                         jiā

2. Car                     车                         chē 

3. Pen                     笔                         bǐ 

4. Dog                    狗                         gǒu 

5. Cat                     猫                         māo    

6. Handphone        手机                     shǒu jī 

7. Laptop                笔记本电脑        bǐ jì běn diàn nǎo           

8. Children             孩子                    hǎi zi    

9. Daughter            女儿                    nǚ ér  

10. Son                   儿子                    ér zi

Now the sentences!

1. Ms Linda has an older sister

Linda xiǎo jiě yǒu yī gè jiě jie

NOTE:  "gè" is used to measure the number of people/things in general. So if I would like to say 3 older sister, I say: sān gè jiě jie (三个姐姐）

2. Her sister is Casandra

Tā de jiě jie shì Casandra

3. My dog is Blacky

Wǒ de gǒu shì Blacky

4. Her house is big

Tā de jiā dà

NOTE: verb to be (is/am/are) doesn't have to be translated as "shì" if it is followed by adjective.

5. Our father is Mr Chen

Wǒ men de bà ba shì Chen xiān sheng

6. Their mother is Mrs Li

Tā men de mā ma shì Li nǚ shì

7. They have 2 dogs

Tā men yǒu liǎng zhī gǒu

NOTE: "zhī" " is the unit of measure for most animals, such as cat, dog, lion, etc. There are some that use different unit of measure. For example: fish. They use: "tiáo"

8. That kid do not have a grandfather (maternal / paternal)

Nà gè hái zi méi yǒu gōng gong /  yé ye

NOTE: "Nà" means That. "hái zi" is kid. Literally when we translate "That Kid" you will probably say "Nà hái zi", however we need to add unit of measure for kid "ge" after the demonstrative pronoun, such as "this" and "that", in this case, unit of measure of kid is "gè", 个。

When we want to say: ”That dog“, we say "那只狗“ - Nà zhī gǒu

To say "This fish", we translate it s "这只鱼" - zhè zhī yú

Listen to the following:

Happy Learning,

Linda Tan

Lesson 7: Expressing Posession in Mandarin (Adult)

To show possession in English, we often use have/has or there is/ there are something.... 

In Mandarin, have/has is translated as 有 yǒu

For example:
I have younger brother
我有弟弟                  Wǒ  yǒu dì di

However, in English we can also use possessive adjective (such as, my, your, her, etc).

In Chinese, the character that shows possession is 的 (de)

The owner + 的 de + the possession
He has older sister, we say:
他有姐姐
tā yǒu jiě jie

or if we use possessive adjective, we can  also say:
His older sister
他的姐姐

tā de jiě jie

Example in sentence:
I have older brother
我有哥哥
Wǒ yǒ gē ge

Mr. Li is my older brother
李先生是我的哥哥

Lí xián sheng shì wǒ de gē ge

The negative form of have and has can be don't have or have not got / has not got. In Chinese, it is "没有" méi yǒu.

Furthermore, in English we knows about possessive pronouns (such as: mine, hers, theirs, yours, etc)

Look at how we do this in Chinese:

1.  I have an elder brother

我有一个哥哥

2.  That is my elder brother

那是我的哥哥

3. This is his elder brother，That is mine.

这是他的哥哥， 那是我的
(We do not have to mention "My elder brother" anymore, because, the first part of the sentence we have already introduced someone else's elder brother, so we assume that everyone knows that when I say MINE, in this context I am talking about "MY Elder Brother"

Another example:
That house is belong to Mr. Li
那个屋子是李先生的

which means
That's house is Mr Li's house
那个屋子是理想生的屋子

In order for you to be able to form more sentences to show your possession, first you need to know the Mandarin for things that you own, for example car, house, handphone and more.

Here are a few things that you might own, please translate it to Mandarin (feel free to add more):
1. House
2. Car
3. Pen
4. Dog
5. Cat
6. Handphone
7. Laptop
8. Children
9. Daughter
10. Son


Now you can try to translate the following simple sentences:
1. Ms Linda has an older sister
2. Her sister is Casandra
3. My dog is Blacky
4. Her house is big
5. Our father is Mr Chen
6. Their mother is Mrs Li
7. They have 2 dogs
8. That kid do not have a grandfather

Have a good day,
Linda Tan

Answers to Lesson 6

In Lesson 6, we learn about telling day and date. There are some exercises given at the end of the post. Check your answer here:

1. What date is the day after tomorrow?
hòu tiān shì jǐ hào?

2. The day after tomorrow is August the 4th
hòu tiān shì bā yuè sì hào

3. What day is yesterday?
 zuó tiān xīng qī jǐ?

4. Yesterday is Sunday
zuó tiān (shì) xīng qī rì

5. What date and month is 2 days ago?
qián tiān shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào?

6. 2 days ago was 31st of July
qián tiān shì qī yuè sān shí yī hào


Listen to the following

Practice it everyday! Wake up in the morning and tell yourselves that:
Today is Monday, Yesterday is Sunday, Tomorrow is Tuesday, 2 days ago is Saturday, and the day after tomorrow is Wednesday.

Also... Today is Aug 2nd, Tomorrow is Aug 3rd, Yesterday is Aug 1st, and so on...

It will not take long, do it while you are showering, etc... In a month time, you will be very fluent in asking and telling day and date as well as in numbers! :)

Happy Weekend,
Linda Tan

Lesson 6: Day and Date in Mandarin (A)

If you first visit this blog, you should know that it will only be useful if you know how to read hanyu pinyin (the phonics in Chinese), so feel free to learn in our first post!

For those who have been following, how is the learning going? So far, we have covered the following:

1. Numbers

2. Greetings

3. Addressing Family Members

If you have committed every 20-30 minutes to review the lessons for the past month, you should be able to greet your family member and people around you in General.

Here is some example:

Moving on, let's learn about date:

Here is a few words that you need to know to be able to tell day and date in Mandarin.

星期           Xīng qī               .... day

1. Monday               Xīng qī yī             星期一

2. Tuesday              Xīng qī èr             星期二

3. Wednesday         Xīng qī sān           星期三

4. Thursday             Xīng qī sì             星期四

5. Friday                  Xīng qī wǔ           星期五

6. Saturday              Xīng qī liù            星期六

7. Sunday                Xīng qī tiān/rì      星期天 / 星期日

However, when we say;

一个星期          yī gè xīng qī            One Week

How about date???

In English we will write Date as the following:

1st Aug 2016 or Aug 1st, 2016

In Chinese, we have to start from the year, then month, then end with date. Here are a few words you will need:

1. 日                rì                       Date (use only in writing)

2. 号               hào                     Date (use in spoken language)

3. 月               yuè                      Month

4. 年               nián                    Year

How to say 2nd of Aug 2016?

2016年    8月    2日

        nián    yuè      rì

OR

二O一六年  八月   二 日

               nián    yuè        rì

In spoken language... we say:

Simple right?

Here is a few words that you should know to be able to form a full sentence in telling day/date.

Today (Hari ini)                                  今天              jīn tiān 

Tomorrow (Besok)                             明天              míng tiān

Yesterday (Kemarin)                          昨天              zuó tiān

Day after tomorrow (Lusa)                后天               hòu tiān 

2 days ago (2 hari lalu)                       前天              qián tiān 

verb to be, is/am/are  (adalah...)        是                  shì 

Asking amount (berapa)                    几                   jǐ     --> It can also means "a few" or "some"

So you can form a sentence to say:

Today is Tuesday, 2nd of August

今天是星期二，八月 二号

jīn tiān shì xīng qī èr, bā yuè èr hào

Tomorrow is Wednesday, 3rd of August 2016     

明天是星期三，2016年  八月  三号

míng tiān shì xīng qī sān, èr ling yī liù nián bā yuè sān hào

To form a negative sentence, we use 不是 bù shì

For example:

Today is not Friday.

今天不是星期五

jīntiān bùshì xīngqīwǔ

When you need to ask QUESTION, here is the example:

What date (and month) is today?
今天是几月几号？
jīn tiān shì  jǐ yuè jǐ hào?

What if you are would like to ask for a date only (assuming you are aware what month we are in now)?
Yup! You can say:

What date is today?
今天几号？
jīn tiān jǐ hào?

What day is tomorrow?
明天星期几？
míng tiān xīng qī jǐ?

Listen to the following:

Please translate the following:
1. What date is the day after tomorrow?
2. The day after tomorrow is Thursday.
3. What day is yesterday?
4. Yesterday is Sunday
5. What date and month is 2 days ago?
6. 2 days ago was 31st of July

(Answer to be revealed in next post by the end of this week)

Happy Tuesday,
Linda Tan