Read Online Chinese For Dummies by Wendy Abraham - Free Book Online Page A

wǎnshàng yào búyào qù fànguǎn chīfàn?
    nee-mun jin-tyan wahn-shahng yaow boo-yaow chyew fahn-gwahn chir-fahn?
    Do you both want to go to a restaurant tonight?
    Stella:
    Nà tài hǎole. Dāngrán yào.
    nah tye how-luh. dahng-rahn yaow.
    That’s a great idea. Of course I’d like to go.
    Laurie:
    Wǒ búyào. Wǒ méiyǒu qián.
    waw boo-yaow. waw mayo chyan.
    I don’t want to. I have no money.
    Harvey:
    Wǒ yě méiyǒu qián, dànshì méiyǒu guānxi. Wǒ zhÄ«dào yíge hěn hǎo, hěn piányì de Zhōngguó fànguǎn.
    waw yeah mayo chyan, dahn-shir mayo gwahn-she. waw jir-daow ee-guh hun how, hun pyan-yee duh joong-gwaw fahn-gwan.
    I don’t have any money either, but it doesn’t matter. I know a great but very inexpensive Chinese restaurant.
    Laurie:
    Hǎo ba. Zánmen zǒu ba.
    how bah. dzah-men dzoe bah.
    Okay. Let’s go.

    Getting possessive with the particle de
    The particle de 的 is ubiquitous in Chinese. Wherever you turn, there it is. Wǒde tiān! 我的天 ! (waw-duh tyan) ( My goodness! ) Oops . . . there it is again. It’s easy to use. All you have to do is attach it to the end of the pronoun, such as nǐde chē 你的车 ( 你的車 ) (nee-duh chuh) ( your car ), or other modifier, such as tā gōngsÄ« de jÄ«nglǐ 他公司的经理 ( 他公司的經理 ) (tah goong-suh duh jeeng-lee) ( his company’s manager ), and — voilà — it indicates possession.
    The particle de acts as the ’s in English when it’s not attached to a pronoun. It also makes the process of modification exactly the opposite of the French possessive de or the English of, with which you may be tempted to compare it.
    Asking Questions
    You have a few easy ways to ask questions in Chinese at your disposal. Hopefully you’re so curious about the world around you these days that you’re itching to ask lots of questions when you know how. I break them down in the following sections.
    The question particle ma
    By far the easiest way to ask a question is simply to end any given statement with a ma. That automatically makes it into a question. For example, Tā chÄ«fàn. 他吃饭 . ( 他吃飯 .) (tah chir-fahn.) ( He’s eating./He eats. ) becomes Tā chÄ«fàn ma? 他吃饭吗 ? ( 他吃飯嗎 ?) (tah chir-fahn mah?) ( Is he eating?/Does he eat? ) Nǐ shuō Zhōngwén. 你说中文 . ( 你說中文 .) (nee shwaw joong-one.) ( You speak Chinese. ) becomes Nǐ shuō Zhōngwén ma? 你说中文吗 ? ( 你說中文嗎 ?) (nee shwaw joong-one mah?) ( Do you speak Chinese? )
    Yes/no choice questions using bù between repeating verbs
    Another way you can ask a Chinese question is to repeat the verb in its negative form. The English equivalent is to say something like Do you eat, not eat? Remember: This format can be used for only yes-or-no questions, though. Here are some examples:
    Nǐ shì búshì Zhōngguórén? 你是不是中国人 ? ( 你是不是中國人 ?) (nee shir boo-shir joong-gwaw-run?) ( Are you Chinese? )
    Tāmen xǐhuān bùxǐhuān chÄ« Zhōngguó cài? 他们喜欢不喜欢吃中国菜 ? ( 他們喜歡不喜歡吃中國菜 ?) (tah-men she-hwahn boo-she-hwahn chir joong-gwaw tsye?) ( Do they like to eat Chinese food? )
    Tā yào búyào háizi? 他要不要孩子 ? (tah yaow boo-yaow hi-dzuh?) ( Does he want children? )
    To answer this type of question, all you have to do is omit either the positive verb or the negative prefix and the verb following it:
    Nǐ hǎo bù hǎo?