Basic Chinese phrases: 20 lines for month one

A basic phrase is a full line you can already say in month one, not a loose dictionary sticker.

Teaching note. The three repair lines beat ten new greetings: if you cannot stop the other person, the rest of the deck is theatre.

Four jobs, not a dump of 200. Greeting opens. Introducing yourself puts you in the sentence. Price forces numbers and 买 versus 卖. Repair lets you stay in Chinese when the ear drops.

Classic six-level HSK 1 asks for about 150 words, listening, and reading. This list of 20 is not that inventory. The long table is HSK 1 vocabulary. The paper, if it ever comes, is booked on chinesetest.cn. The framework sits with CLEC.

A line is rehearsed out loud. Seeing 谢谢 on a screen is not saying it. If it sounds flat, do not open travel or a menu. The ear is in tones.

A phrase is not a sticker. 要 changes with what sits around it. In 我要这个 it asks for an object. In 要不要 it asks a question. Study the full line. Use the English gloss only to enter; drop it when the syllable already sounds.

我要这个 (wǒ yào zhège, I want this)

要不要 (yào bu yào, do you want it?)

Pinyin does not replace tone. 问 and 闻 are not the same word. Record one line before memorizing ten more. If 买 and 卖 come out the same, stop there: the stall and HSK 1 listening pick the other box.

问 (wèn, to ask)

闻 (wén, to smell / to hear of)

Do not mix this deck with restaurant phrases the same week. 不要辣 does not repair 我不懂. Do not clone the calendar on Chinese for travel: that page picks the day; this page picks the mouth.

When you meet a new line, look at the hanzi, hear the audio, say the gloss, and on day three cover the pinyin. If the line dies when the Latin letters disappear, the scaffold became a wall.

Six lines open almost any month-one counter. This is not the full register essay: that lives in greetings and farewells. The job here is not to walk in silent, and not to use 嗨 with an older stranger.

你好 (nǐ hǎo, hello)

您好 (nín hǎo, hello — polite you)

In connected speech, 你好 takes sandhi: the first third tone is realized as a second. The dictionary cites nǐ. The street connects. Detail: tones.

谢谢 (xièxie, thanks)

不客气 (bú kèqi, you are welcome)

对不起 (duìbuqǐ, sorry)

没关系 (méi guānxi, it is fine)

The four courtesy lines show up every week. 谢谢 closes a shop. 对不起 apologizes. 没关系 lets the other person off. If they sound flat, do not open an airport.

请问 (qǐngwèn, excuse me — a question)

请 (qǐng, please / inviting someone to…)

请问 before a question to a stranger. Without it, 这个 sounds like pointing with an elbow. 请 also invites: 请坐, 请进. Do not treat it as English please glued on the end.

Month one does not ask for a zodiac sign. It asks for a name, a role, and a yes or no. Three turns are enough. If they do not come out loud, do not add an extra job, a hobby, or a hometown.

我叫… (wǒ jiào…, my name is…)

我是学生 (wǒ shì xuésheng, I am a student)

我是老师 (wǒ shì lǎoshī, I am a teacher)

你是哪国人？ (nǐ shì nǎ guó rén, what country are you from?)

我是西班牙人 (wǒ shì Xībānyá rén, I am Spanish)

Do not calque I am from Spain with 从 if you do not have it yet. 我是西班牙人 is enough. 我会说… names the language that actually comes out. If the other person has no Spanish, ask about English.

我会说西班牙语 (wǒ huì shuō xībānyáyǔ, I speak Spanish)

你会说英语吗？ (nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma, do you speak English?)

Mini dialogue, four turns. If it does not come out without reading, do not move to the price block.

你好。我叫安娜。 (nǐ hǎo. wǒ jiào Ānnà, hello. my name is Anna)

你是老师吗？ (nǐ shì lǎoshī ma, are you a teacher?)

不是，我是学生。 (bú shì, wǒ shì xuésheng, no, I am a student)

Price forces what greeting forgives: numbers, a classifier, and the pair 买 / 卖. Practice 1–100 the same day as 多少钱. If the number drops, the line does not work at a stall.

这个多少钱？ (zhège duōshao qián, how much is this?)

我要这个 (wǒ yào zhège, I want this)

不要 (bú yào, I do not want it)

太贵了 (tài guì le, too expensive)

Numbers: 三个人 takes a classifier. 三个书 is wrong; 三本书 is what HSK 1 expects. Measure detail: classifiers.

三个人 (sān gè rén, three people)

三本书 (sān běn shū, three books)

买 and 卖 is the pair that most betrays a flat tone. Same initial, same final, tones 3 and 4. A stall has no subtitles. Do not leave it until I know more.

买 (mǎi, to buy)

卖 (mài, to sell)

我买茶 (wǒ mǎi chá, I buy tea)

他卖茶 (tā mài chá, he sells tea)

These three beat ten new greetings. When the other person speeds up, do not switch to English: stop the sentence. Month one is measured here, not in how many time-of-day greetings you memorize.

我不懂 (wǒ bù dǒng, I do not understand)

请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yí biàn, please say it again)

请说慢一点 (qǐng shuō màn yìdiǎn, a bit slower, please)

我不知道 is not the same as 我不懂. Not knowing a fact is not failing to hear the syllable. 是 and 不是 close yes and no. 吗 at the end: word order does not invert the way English questions do.

我不知道 (wǒ bù zhīdào, I do not know)

是 (shì, yes / to be)

不是 (bú shì, no / not to be)

你是学生吗？ (nǐ shì xuésheng ma, are you a student?)

谢谢 and 再见 close. 拜拜 is informal: classmates, not the first counter. Leaving a shop, 谢谢 is enough. 一路顺风 is for someone actually setting off; do not drop it in a supermarket. That rehearsal lives in greetings, not in this pack of 20.

再见 (zàijiàn, goodbye)

It is not travel. 登机牌, platforms, and 网约车 do not belong here. The T-21 calendar lives in Chinese for travel.

It is not restaurant. 不要辣, 打包, and 买单 wait for the table. Pointing at a dish does not repair 我不懂.

It is not business or the fair path. 收到 and 附件 are not month one. 您好 shows up here as distance, not as a quote table.

It is not the greetings and farewells essay. 嗨, 早上好, and 一路顺风 have register rules; this page only asks you not to greet badly on day one.

It is not the secret exam syllabus. Dates and centres: chinesetest.cn. Classic counts: Wikipedia HSK. Framework body: CLEC. This site is not a test centre.

Minutes 1–5: the courtesy lines out loud, no pinyin on screen. 你好, 谢谢, 不客气, 对不起, 没关系, 请问. One take. Listen back. If 您 and 你 merge, do not move to price.

Minutes 6–10: introduction + 多少钱. Name, 是 + role, 我要这个 or 不要. Then the pair 买 / 卖 inside 我_____茶.

我买茶 (wǒ mǎi chá, I buy tea)

Minutes 11–15: the three repair lines plus 我不知道. Record 请再说一遍 twice. Keep the take where 请 is audible, not the one that sounds like a clipped English request.

请再说一遍 (qǐng zài shuō yí biàn, please say it again)

If you only have ten minutes, cut the price block and leave it for tomorrow. Fifteen minutes most days beat an hour on Sunday. The mouth does not store marathons.

When the 20 come out without reading, move to the month-one plan and the HSK 1 list. Do not open HSK 2 because the deck is already seen. If 请再说一遍 is red, the floor is not there.

Collecting stickers. Fifty greetings in a note do not open a shop. These 20, said, do. The dump of 200 is the advert; month one is the mouth.

Leaving tone for later. 买 and 卖 look alike in Latin letters. In official audio they are two verbs. An English ear uses pitch for questions, not for lexicon. Train it on purpose: tones.

Calquing are you a student with inversion. Chinese does not invert. 你是学生吗 stays in statement order. 吗 at the end does the work.

Mixing 不要 for an object with 不要辣 at a table. The first closes a price. The second asks for flavour. Study them the same day and the brain stores one 不要 and fires it wrong.

Using 从 on day three because a video taught it. 我是西班牙人 covers month one. 从北京来 waits until 从 already sounds in other sentences, not as an I am from sticker.

You greet with 你 or 您 by distance. You introduce name and 是 + role. You ask a price and say 我要这个 or 不要. You tell 买 from 卖 out loud. You can stop the other person with 请再说一遍 without switching language.

If that is red, do not open HSK 2. Do not open travel or restaurant. Go back to the 20 and the recorder.

If it is green and the problem is time of day or 一路顺风, go to greetings. If the problem is the whole first month, start Chinese. The paper: HSK 1 guide. Signup, if it comes: chinesetest.cn.