Standard Chinese language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Standard Chinese |
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| 普通話 / 普通话 Pǔtōnghuà 國語 / 国语 Guóyǔ 華語 / 华语 Huáyǔ |
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| Native to | China, Taiwan, Singapore | |||
| Native speakers | (has begun acquiring native speakers, cited 1988) L2 speakers: 7% of China (2014) |
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| Language family | ||||
| Early forms: |
Middle Mandarin
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| Writing system | Traditional Chinese Simplified Chinese Mainland Chinese Braille Taiwanese Braille Two-Cell Chinese Braille |
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| Official status | ||||
| Official language in | China (as Putonghua) Taiwan (as Guoyu) |
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| Regulated by | National Language Regulating Committee (China) National Languages Committee (Taiwan) Promote Mandarin Council (Singapore) Chinese Language Standardisation Council (Malaysia) |
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Standard Mandarin or Standard Chinese is the official modern Chinese spoken language used in mainland China and Taiwan, and is one of the four official languages of Singapore. It is based off the Mandarin dialect and should not be confused with other varieties of Chinese.
Common phrases
| English | Chinese (Traditional) |
Chinese (Simplified) |
Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hello | 你好 | 你好 | Nǐhǎo |
| What's your name? | 你叫什麼名字？ | 你叫什么名字？ | Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi? |
| My name is... | 我叫... | 我叫... | Wǒ jiào... |
| How are you? | 你好嗎？/ 你怎麼樣？ | 你好吗？/ 你怎么样？ | Nǐ hǎo ma? / Nǐ zěnmeyàng? |
| I am fine, and you? | 我很好，你呢？ | 我很好，你呢？ | Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne? |
| I don't want it. | 不要。 | 不要。 | Bú yào. |
| Thank you | 謝謝 | 谢谢 | Xièxiè |
| Welcome! / You're welcome! | 歡迎您！/ 不用謝！ | 欢迎您！/ 不用谢！ | Huānyíng nín! / bú yòng xiè! |
| Yes | 是的 | 是的 | Shì de |
| No | 不 | 不 | Bù |
| When? | 什麼時候？ | 什么时候？ | Shénme shíhou? |
| How much (money)? | 多少錢？ | 多少钱？ | Duōshǎo qián? |
| How long (distance)? | 多長？ | 多长？ | Duō cháng? |
| Can you speak a little more slowly? | 您能講得再慢些嗎？ | 您能讲得再慢些吗？ | Nín néng jiǎng de zài màn xiē ma? |
| Good morning! | 早上好！ (早安！ in Taiwan) | 早上好！ | Zǎoshang hǎo! (Zǎo an in Taiwan) |
| Goodbye! | 再見！ | 再见！ | Zàijiàn! |
| How do you get to the airport? | 去機場怎麼走？ | 去机场怎么走？ | Qù jīchǎng zěnme zǒu? |
| I want to fly to London on the eighteenth | 我想18日坐飛機到倫敦 | 我想18日坐飞机到伦敦 | Wǒ xiǎng shíbā rì zuò fēijī dào Lúndūn |
| How much will it cost to get to Munich? | 到慕尼黑需要多少錢？ | 到慕尼黑需要多少钱？ | Dào Mùníhēi xūyào duōshǎo qián? |
| My Chinese isn't so good. | 我的中文講得不太好. | 我的中文讲得不太好. | Wǒ de Zhōngwén jiǎng de bú tài hǎo. |
Related pages
Images for kids
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Zhongguo Guanhua (traditional Chinese: 中國官話; simplified Chinese: 中国官话), or Medii Regni Communis Loquela ("Middle Kingdom's Common Speech"), used on the frontispiece of an early Chinese grammar published by Étienne Fourmont (with Arcadio Huang) in 1742
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Distribution of Mandarin subgroups in mainland China, as of 1987
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A poster outside a high school in Yangzhou urges people to "Speak Putonghua to welcome guests from all around, use the language of the civilized (Putonghua) to give your sincere feelings".
See also
In Spanish: Mandarín estándar para niños
