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INTRODUCTION

Whether you’re on holiday or staying for a slightly longer period of time, your Collins Visual Dictionary is designed to help you find exactly what you need, when you need it. With over a thousand clear and helpful images, you can quickly locate the vocabulary you are looking for.

The Visual Dictionary includes:

10 chapters arranged thematically, so that you can easily find what you need to suit the situation

images – illustrating essential items

YOU MIGHT SAY… – common phrases that you might want to use

YOU MIGHT HEAR… – common phrases that you might come across

VOCABULARY – common words that you might need

YOU SHOULD KNOW… – tips about local customs or etiquette

USING YOUR COLLINS VISUAL DICTIONARY

The points set out below will help to make sure that your Collins Visual Dictionary gives you as much help as possible when using Mandarin Chinese:

1)How to address people politely

At work, you can call your peers by their names – a rule of thumb is to always address people by their job title or occupation with their family name first, for example, 张老师 (zhāng lǎo shī), “Zhang teacher”. You may also hear 小王 (xiǎo Wang), literally “young Wang” or 老李 (lǎo Lǐ), “old Li” in the workplace depending on age and seniority, although this is rather informal.

When invited to meet a friend’s family, unless they are younger or roughly the same age, you shouldn’t call them by their names. You can call their grandparents 爷爷／奶奶 (yé ye/nǎi nai) “grandfather/grandmother”, and their parents or anyone in that generation 叔叔／阿姨 (shū shu/ā yí) “uncle/auntie”, as if they were your own relatives. Addressing the older generations by their names is considered very rude in Chinese culture.

“你” or “您”？ Although both are translated as “you” in English, 您 is used to show respect when addressing, for example, your parents, grandparents, or boss. On the other hand, 你 is used to address friends and peers.

2)Measure words

Measure words are unique to Chinese, and are mandatory when using a noun with a numeral, for example, “one car” is 一辆车 (yī liàng chē) and “three bedrooms” is 三间卧室 (sān jiān wò shì). In these cases, the measure words are 辆 (liàng) and 间 (jiān) respectively. There are many different measure words in Chinese, and they are used for different types of objects. The most common measure word is 个 (gè) and this can be treated as a “default option” when you don’t know the exact measure word to use.

3)Tones for 一 and 不

To maintain consistency, we use yī (first tone) as the Pinyin for the character 一 and bù (fourth tone) for the character 不. This is in line with the authoritative Contemporary Chinese Dictionary. However, the pronunciations for these two characters may vary according to the tones of the characters that proceed or follow them, as shown below:

FREE AUDIO

We have created a free audio resource to help you learn and practise the Chinese words for all of the images shown in this dictionary. The Chinese words in each chapter are spoken by native speakers, giving you the opportunity to listen to each word twice and repeat it yourself. Download the audio from the website below to learn all of the vocabulary you need for communicating in Chinese.

www.collinsdictionary.com/resources

THE ESSENTIALS | 日常必备

Whether you’re going to be visiting China, or even staying there for a while, you’ll want to be able to chat with people and get to know them better. Being able to communicate effectively with acquaintances, friends, family, and colleagues is key to becoming more confident in Mandarin Chinese in a variety of everyday situations.

umbrella

伞

sǎn

1. green

绿色的

lǜ sè de

2. blue

蓝色的

lán sè de

3. red

红色的

hóng sè de

4. yellow

黄色的

huáng sè de

5. white

白色的

bái sè de

6. black

黑色的

hēi sè de

THE BASICS | 基础句型和词汇

Hello.

你好。

nǐ hǎo

Hi!

嗨！

hēi

Good morning/evening.

早／晚上好。

zǎo/wǎn shàng hǎo

Good afternoon.

下午好。

xià wǔ hǎo

Good night.

晚安。

wǎn ān

See you soon.

回头见。

huí tóu jiàn

See you tomorrow.

明天见。

míng tiān jiàn

Bye!

再见。

zài jiàn

Have a good day!

今天过得愉快！

jīn tiān guò de yú kuài

Yes.

是的。

shì de

No.

不是。

bù shì

I don’t know.

我不知道。

wǒ bù zhī dào

please

请

qǐng

Yes, please.

好的，请。

hǎo de , qǐng

Thank you.

谢谢。

xiè xie

No, thanks.

不，谢谢。

bù , xiè xie

Excuse me.

请问。

qǐng wèn

Sorry?

什么？

shén me

I’m sorry.

对不起。

duì bù qǐ

OK!

好的！

hǎo de

You’re welcome.

不客气。

bù kè qì

I don’t understand.

我没听懂。

wǒ méi tīng dǒng

YOU SHOULD KNOW…

Shaking hands is important for Chinese people when meeting and parting, especially in formal settings. However, a kiss on the cheek or an embrace might be considered rude as most people are still unfamiliar with these gestures of affection.

ABOUT YOU | 你自己

How old are you?

你多少岁？

nǐ duō shǎo suì

When is your birthday?

你的生日是什么时候？

nǐ de shēng rì shì shén me shí hou

I’m … years old.

我…岁。

wǒ … suì

I was born in…

我是…生的。

wǒ shì … shēng de

Where do you live?

你住哪里？

nǐ zhù nǎ lǐ

Where are you from?

你从哪里来？

nǐ cóng nǎ lǐ lái

I’m from…

我从…来。

wǒ cóng … lái

I live in…

我住在…。

wǒ zhù zài

I’m…

我是…。

wǒ shì

Scottish

苏格兰的／人

sū gé lán de/rén

English

英格兰的／人

yīng gé lán de/rén

Irish

爱尔兰的／人

ài ěr lán de/rén

Welsh

威尔士的／人

wēi ěr shì de/rén

British

英国的／人

yīng guó de/rén

Are you married/single?

你结婚了／单身吗？

nǐ jié hūn le/dān shēn ma

I’m married.

我结婚了。

wǒ jié hūn le

I have a partner.

我有伴侣。

wǒ yǒu bàn lǚ

I’m single.

我单身。

wǒ dān shēn

I’m divorced.

我离婚了。

wǒ lí hūn le

I’m widowed.

我丧偶。

wǒ sàng ǒu

Do you have any children?

你有孩子吗？

nǐ yǒu hái zi ma

I have … children.

我有…个孩子。

wǒ yǒu … gè hái zi

I don’t have any children.

我没有孩子。

wǒ méi yǒu hái zi

YOU SHOULD KNOW…

You might be asked about your age, occupation, or even your salary by people who are not that close to you. Don’t be offended, this is part of the Chinese culture, although people’s views on privacy are starting to change.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS | 家人和朋友

This is my…

这是我的…。

zhè shì wǒ de

These are my…

这些是我的…。

zhè xiē shì wǒ de

husband

丈夫

zhàng fu

wife

妻子

qī zǐ

boyfriend

男朋友

nán péng you

girlfriend

女朋友

nǚ péng you

partner

伴侣

bàn lǚ

fiancé/fiancée

未婚夫／妻

wèi hūn fū/qī

son

儿子

ér zi

daughter

女儿

nǚ ér

parents

父母

fù mǔ

mother

母亲

mǔ qīn

father

父亲

fù qīn

brother

兄弟

xiōng dì

sister

姐妹

jiě mèi

grandfather

祖父

zǔ fù

grandmother

祖母

zǔ mǔ

granddaughter

孙女

sūn nǚ

grandson

孙子

sūn zi

mother-in-law

婆母／岳母

pó mǔ/yuè mǔ

father-in-law

公公／岳父

gōng gong/yuè fù

daughter-in-law

儿媳妇

ér xí fù

son-in-law

女婿

nǚ xu

brother-in-law

姐夫／妹夫

jiě fu/mèi fu

sister-in-law

嫂子／弟妹

sǎo zi/dì mèi

stepmother

继母

jì mǔ

stepfather

继父

jì fù

stepson

继子

jì zǐ

stepdaughter

继女

jì nǚ

uncle

叔叔／舅舅

shū shu/jiù jiu

aunt

姑妈／姨妈

gū mā/yí mā

nephew

侄子／外甥

zhí zi/wài sheng

niece

侄女／外甥女

zhí nǚ/wài sheng nǚ

cousin

堂／表兄弟姊妹

táng/biǎo xiōng dì zǐ mèi

extended family

亲戚

qīn qi

friend

朋友

péng you

baby

婴儿

yīng ér

child

孩子

hái zi

teenager

青少年

qīng shào nián

YOU SHOULD KNOW…

You may have noticed that relatives from the maternal side and paternal side have different names. For example, an aunt from your father’s side is 姑姑 (gū gu) but one from your mother’s side is called 姨姨 (yí yi). When talking about your siblings, their age (as compared to your own) is always indicated, for example, 哥哥 (gē ge) is older brother and 弟弟 (dì di) is younger brother.

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