NCEA L1 Chinese cheat sheet

Tones: mā (high level), má (rising), mǎ (fall dip-rise), mà (falling). Tone changes meaning, so 妈/麻/马/骂 differ only by tone.

Third-tone sandhi: two 3rd tones in a row → first becomes 2nd (nǐ hǎo → ní hǎo). Three in a row: group by meaning (wǒ hěn hǎo → wǒ hén hǎo).

不 (bù) becomes bú before a 4th tone (bú shì, bú kèqi); 一 (yī) becomes yì before 1st/2nd/3rd tone and yí before 4th tone.

Question forms: yes/no with 吗 (Nǐ hǎo ma?); choice with A不A (Nǐ qù bu qù?); 呢 for 'and…?' (Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?).

Question words stay in the answer's position: 谁 shuí, 什么 shénme, 哪儿 nǎr, 几 jǐ, 怎么 zěnme, 为什么 wèishénme. No word-order inversion.

Measure words: 个 gè (general), 只 zhī (animals), 本 běn (books), 张 zhāng (flat things), 件 jiàn (clothes/items), 位 wèi (people, polite).

Opinion frames: 我觉得… (I think), 我认为… (I believe), 我喜欢…因为… (I like… because…), 但是 dànshì (but), 也 yě (also), 还 hái (still/also).

Politeness and repair: 请问 qǐngwèn (may I ask), 对不起 duìbuqǐ (sorry), 没关系 méi guānxi (no problem), 请再说一遍 qǐng zài shuō yí biàn (please say that again).

Numbers and dates: 11–99 built as 十-based (èrshí sān = 23); dates ordered year-month-day (2024年5月3日); 星期xīngqī+number for weekdays.

Purpose determines register: 你 nǐ for peers/friends, 您 nín for elders/teachers/strangers; 请 qǐng softens requests in both.

Invitation pattern: 你愿意…吗? (Are you willing to…) or …好吗? (…, okay?) with a time/place: 星期六下午我们去公园，好吗?

Request pattern: 能不能…? (Can/can't you…) or 可以…吗? (May I…); refusal with 对不起，我不能…因为…

Narrative sequencing: 先 xiān (first), 然后 ránhòu (then), 接着 jiēzhe (next), 最后 zuìhòu (finally) to structure a spoken recount.

Describing routines: time expression goes before the verb (我七点起床), never after; 每天 měitiān, 常常 chángcháng, 有时候 yǒushíhou sit before the verb too.

Comparison for opinions: A 比 B + adjective (我比他高); 最 zuì = most (最好); 跟…一样 gēn…yíyàng = same as.

Past and completion: 了 le marks completed action (我吃了饭); 过 guo marks past experience (我去过中国); 没 méi negates both.

Transaction purpose: 多少钱 duōshao qián (how much), 太贵了 tài guì le (too expensive), 便宜一点 piányi yìdiǎn (a bit cheaper), 我要这个 wǒ yào zhège.

Characters encode meaning via radicals: 氵water (河, 洗), 讠speech (说, 请), 忄heart (忙, 快), 亻person (你, 他), 口mouth (吃, 喝).

Common signs and notices: 出口 chūkǒu (exit), 入口 rùkǒu (entrance), 禁止 jìnzhǐ (prohibited), 小心 xiǎoxīn (caution), 免费 miǎnfèi (free), 营业中 yíngyè zhōng (open).

Menu and shop vocabulary: 饭 fàn (rice/meal), 面 miàn (noodles), 汤 tāng (soup), 茶 chá (tea), 水 shuǐ (water), 钱 qián (money), 块 kuài (yuan, colloquial).

Text-message abbreviations and particles: 吗 ma (question), 吧 ba (suggestion), 啊 a (softener), 了 le (change/completion); 哈哈 hāhā (haha), 再见 zàijiàn (goodbye).

Reading strategy: scan for known characters first, then infer unknown words from radical + context; numerals and 点 diǎn (o'clock) anchor times in schedules.

Negation in writing: 不 bù (not, present/habit), 没 méi (not, past/possession: 没有 méiyǒu = don't have), 别 bié (don't, imperative: 别走).

Connectors in short texts: 因为…所以… (because…so…), 虽然…但是… (although…but…), 如果…就… (if…then…).

Listen for tone contours to disambiguate homophones: 买 mǎi (buy) vs 卖 mài (sell); 问 wèn (ask) vs 闻 wén (smell).

Numbers are frequent in announcements: 两点 liǎng diǎn (2 o'clock), 三点半 sān diǎn bàn (3:30), 十五号 shíwǔ hào (the 15th), 第几 dì jǐ (which one, ordinal).

Directions and locations: 前面 qiánmiàn (ahead), 后面 hòumiàn (behind), 左边 zuǒbiān (left), 右边 yòubiān (right), 对面 duìmiàn (opposite), 附近 fùjìn (nearby).

Transport and travel cues: 车站 chēzhàn (station), 飞机场 fēijīchǎng (airport), 上车 shàng chē (board), 下车 xià chē (get off), 票 piào (ticket).

Weather and time talk: 天气 tiānqì (weather), 下雨 xià yǔ (rain), 冷 lěng (cold), 热 rè (hot), 今天 jīntiān (today), 明天 míngtiān (tomorrow), 昨天 zuótiān (yesterday).

Discourse markers signal turns: 那么 nàme (then/so), 可是 kěshì (but), 对了 duìle (by the way), 好的 hǎo de (okay), 嗯/啊 fillers indicate hesitation.

Numbers with measure words often mark quantities in shops and classrooms: 三个 sān gè (three), 两本 liǎng běn (two books), 一杯 yì bēi (one cup).