Two Weeks of Learning Mandarin

Reviewing my progress learning Mandarin thus far. Also has my notes up to chapter 8 of HSK 1.

Jul 23, 2024

— 13 min read

Background

For the past two weeks, I've been learning Mandarin. I cannot emphasize how difficult it has been. It's extremely disheartening trying to remember Chinese characters. I would sometimes forget them after like a day and it feels bad man.

The reason I decided to write after 2 weeks from starting is because today is also officially the day I've finished a deck of 150 cards.

Technically, I started about 4 weeks ago, but I wasn't consistent. But every day, for these two weeks, I would study 10 cards. I would like to increase this up to 30 to 40 cards per day.

As part of learning, I've also begun to watch Peppa Pig¹. I remember a very long time ago when I was kid that I used to watch Peppa Pig. I don't know how far I got into Peppa Pig though, so, now as an adult, it's a bit jarring to rewatch a childhood show of mine. This version of Peppa Pig I'm watching is in Mandarin, of course. It would be quite embarrassing to watch it for any other reason than to learn Mandarin.

However, I admit it has been a catharsis and full circle moment for me to revisit childhood shows like Steven Universe and now Peppa Pig.

Notes

There's a lot of things to remember when it comes to grammar, tone sandhi² (tone changes) rules, or just things adjacent to or associated with Mandarin.

In the following sections, I note them down to indicate their importance and to revisit them at a later time.

The terms Mandarin and Chinese are used interchangeably.

Writing Systems

Mandarin has several writing systems: Pinyin, Hanzi, and Zhuyin.

Pinyin³ is a romanized version of Hanzi—helpful to people familiar with the Latin alphabet.

Hanzi⁴ (or Chinese characters) are the squiggly lines which represent a sound. Pinyin is used alongside Hanzi.

Zhuyin⁵ is a system commonly used in Taiwan.

Keyboard Input Source

It's vital to be able to type Chinese characters. This can be accomplished by adjusting our keyboard input sources.

On MacOS:

System Preferences > Keyboard > (Chinese) Pinyin - Simplified

Additionally, adding a shortcut to quickly change between the two is convenient. I have too many shortcuts, so I resorted to Control + Option + Space.

Tones

There are four basic tones in Mandarin. They are called the first, the second, the third, and the fourth tone. There's a fifth tone referred to as the soft tone or just fifth tone.

These tones⁶ are indicated by either using marks⁷ or numbers.

Tone	Description	Pinyin (Mark)	Pinyin (Number)	Meaning
1st	High and level	mā	ma1	吗, mother
2nd	Rising	má	ma2	麻, fibrous crops
3rd	Falling-rising	mǎ	ma3	马, horse
4th	Falling	mà	ma4	骂, scold
5th	Soft	ma	ma5 or ma	吗, indicates yes or no question

Indicating tones using numbers is more convenient for typing.

Note: I will rely mostly on numbering the tones instead of using marks. And, for the soft tone, I'll default to omitting its number when typing pinyin.

Chinese Syllables

A Chinese syllable is usually composed of three things: an optional initial, a final, and a tone.

Note their usage below (some lacking an initial), for example:

Syllable	Initial	Final	Tone
māo (猫, cat)	m	ao	1
yī (一, one)		i	1
gǒu (狗, dog)	g	ou	3
èr (二, two)		e	4

Notice yi1 has no initial. Refer to this section regarding rules pertaining to i and u.

Rules of Tone Sandhi

These are rules that dictate how tones change when spoken. They help to make the language sound more natural. They do not affect how the pinyin is written.

3rd Tone

In Mandarin, when two 3rd tones are next to each other, the first 3rd tone becomes a 2nd tone.

For example, 你好 is written in pinyin as nǐ hǎo (ni3 hao3), but pronounced as ní hǎo (ni2 hao3).

There are exceptions to these and it seems to get complicated so below I try to list all of them:

Basic rule: 你好 is read as ni2 hao3
Three 3rd tones: 你很好 is read as ni2 hen2 hao3

不 (bu4)

When 不 is followed by a 4th tone, it changes into a 2nd tone.

For example:

不是 is read as bu2 shi4
不看 is read as bu2 kan4
不会 is read as bu2 hui4

When 不 is followed by a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd tone, it remains as a 4th tone.

一 (yi1)

When 一 is followed by a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd tone, it changes into the 4th tone.

yi4 zhang1
yi4 tiao2
yi4 zhong3

When 一 is followed by a 4th tone, it changes into the 2nd tone.

yi2ding4
yi2kuai4

When 一 is used alone or in a number, its tone doesn't change.

di2 yi1
yi1 er4 san1
xing1qi1 yi1
shi2yi1
bai3fen1zhi1 yi1

Pinyin

Tone Marking

When there are two or more vowels in a syllable (e.g., āi, uē, iāo), the tone mark goes on the one that is pronounced with the mouth more open. From highest priority to lowest: a, e, i, o, u, ü.

When indicating the tone of a syllable using numbers, we don't need to worry about this. Adding the tone number to end of the syllable is good enough.

Abbreviation

iu, ui, and un are abbreviations for iou, uai, and uen, respectively.

ü

When ü or a final beginning with ü follows after an initial j, q, or x, the dots are removed and the ü is written as u. For example, jü becomes ju; qü becomes qu; xü becomes xu.

If the initial is l or n, the dots are kept.

Note that they only affect how their written, not how they're pronounced. So, regardless if ü did change to u because it followed after initials j, q, or x, it is still pronounced as ü.

j, q, x and zh, ch, sh

z, c, s

i, u, ü

r

y and w (i, u, ü)

If a final beginning with i, u, or ü has no initial before it, y or w is used in the written form:

Final	Written Form
i, in, ing	yi, yin, ying
ia, ie, iao, ian, iang, iong	ya, ye, yao, yan, yang, yong
iu	you
u	wu
ua, uo, uai, uan, uang, ueng	wa, wo, wai, wan, wang, weng
ui, un	wei, wen
ü, üe, üan, ün	yu, yue, yuan, yun

Retroflex Final

儿 (er2) can be combined with a syllable before it, forming a retroflex syllable, which is written as "character + 儿" and spelt "syllable + r" in pinyin.

小孩儿 in pinyin is xiao3hai2r
小鸟儿 is xiao3niao3r
饭馆儿 is fang4guan3r
香水儿 is xiang1shui3r

Syllable-Dividing Mark

When a syllable beginning with a, o, or e follows another syllable, the syllable-dividing mark (') is used to separate the two syllables.

piao1 (to float) is a different word than pi2'ao3
xian1 (earlier, before) vs Xi1'an1 (City of Xi'an)
jie1 (to receive) vs ji1'e4 (hungry)
jiang1 (will, shall) vs ji1'ang2 (excited and impassioned)
fan1dan4 (to launch an attack) vs fan1'an4 (to reverse a verdict)
fang3an (to loathe) vs fang1'an4 (work plan)

Grammar

Interrogative Pronoun 什么

什么 is used in interrogative sentences (or questions).

Subject + Verb + 什么?
- 这是什么？
Subject + Verb + 什么 + Noun?
- 这是什么书？
- 你叫什么名字？

The 是 Sentence

是 is used in determinative (or declarative?⁸) sentences which are sentences used to indicate what somebody or something is equal to or belongs to. Adding the negative adverb 不 makes it negative.

Subject + 是 + Noun.
- 李月是老师。
- 我是美国人。
Subject + 不 + 是 + Noun.
- 我不是老师。

Interrogative Particle 吗

吗 indicates an interrogative mood. It's placed at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate that the sentence is a yes-no question.

你是美国人吗？
你是中国人吗？
你是老师吗？

Interrogative Pronouns 谁 and 哪

谁 is used to ask about the name or identity of a person.

谁 + Verb?
- 谁来了？
谁 + 是 + Noun?
- 谁是李月？
- 谁是老师？
Subject + Verb Phrase + 谁？
- 她是谁？
- 他是谁？
- 你在找谁？

哪 is used to ask about which one(s) among a set of options.

哪 + Measure Word + Noun?
- 你本书？
- 你个人？
哪 + Noun?
- 你是哪国人？

Structural Particle 的

的 indicates possession. It functions similarly to the possessive "'s" in English or the word "of". When the noun following 的 is a term of kinship or indicates a person, 的 can be omitted.

Noun + 的 + Noun
- 李月是我的老师。
- 这是我的书
Pronoun + 的 + Noun
- 她不是我同学，他是我朋友。

Interrogative Particle 呢

呢 is used after a noun/pronoun to indicate a question about the situation mentioned previously.

A...。 What about B + 呢？
- 我不是老师，我是学生。你呢？
- 他叫李月。他呢？
- 我是美国人。你呢？

了 Indicating a Change

了 is used at the end of a sentence to indicate a change or occurrence of a new situation.

李老师今年50岁了。
我朋友的女儿今年四岁了。
你女儿几岁了？

Interrogative Phrase 多 + 大

多 + 大 is used to ask about one's age.

你多大了？
你女儿今年多大了？
李老师多大了？

会 is used before a verb to indicate the ability to do something that is typically acquired through learning or practice. It's negative form is 不会.

Subject + 会 + Verb
- 我会写汉字。
- 你妈妈会说汉语吗？
Subject + 不会 + Verb
- 我不会做中国菜。

Sentences with an Adjectival Predicate

In Mandarin, when describing the nature or state of somebody or something, the structure involves a subject followed by an adverb of degree (like 很) and then the adjective. The negative form is created by using 不 instead of the adverb of degree before the adjective.

Subject + Adverb of Degree + Adjective
- 我很好。
- 中国菜很好吃。
Subject + 不 + Adjective
- 我妈妈的汉语不好。

Interrogative Pronoun 怎么

怎么 is used before a verb to ask about the manner or method of an action. It's equivalent to asking "how" in English.

Subject + 怎么 + Verb?
- 这个汉字怎么读？
- 你的汉语名字怎么写？
- 这个字怎么写？

Expression of a Date: month, date, day of the week

The expression of dates in Mandarin follows the principle of "the bigger unit coming before the smaller one". The month is said first, then the date, and finally the day of the week.

9月1号，星期三。
9月2号，星期四。
8月31号，星期二。

Sentences with a Nominal Predicate

A sentence with a nominal predicate has a noun or noun phrase as the predicate. It's often used to indicate age, time, date, and similar information.

Subject + Predicate (Nominal Element)
- 我的汉语老师33岁. wo3 de Han4yu3 lao3shi1 means "my Chinese teacher", and san1shi2san1 sui4 means "33 years old".
- 明天星期三。
- 今天9月1号。

Sentences with a Serial Verb Construction: 去 + place + to do sth

A serial verb construction involves two or more verbs where the second verb typically indicates the purpose of the action of the first verb. The object of the first verb (often a place) can sometimes be omitted.

Subject + 去 + Place + Verb (to do something)
- 我们去中国吃中国菜。
- 我去学校看书。
Subject + 去 + Place (omitted) + Verb (to do something)
- 我去学习汉语。

想 is used before a verb to express a hope or a plan.

Subject + 想 + Verb
- 我想学汉语。
- 明天我想去学校看书。
- 我想买一个杯子。

Interrogative Pronoun 多少

多少 is used to ask about quantities larger than 10 and to inquire about prices. The measure word following 多少 can often be omitted.

你们学校有多少（个）学生？
你有多少（个）汉语老师？
这个杯子多少钱？

Measure Words 个 and 口

个 is the most common measure word in Mandarin usually used before a noun that does not a have specific measure word of its own.

三个老师
五个学生
一个杯子

口 is a measure word used to describe the number of family members.

李老师家有六口人。
你家有几口人？
我家有三口人。

Resources

Youtube Playlist: HSK 1 Standard Course Book with Audio

Footnotes

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY4Sb2NLTvt7wtKrubEx305zA9vcrEvvy. I downloaded all the videos just in case. ↩
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_sandhi ↩
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinyin ↩
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_characters ↩
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bopomofo. I include Zhuyin because I think it's historically important. And cool. In another world, I would've learned all three writing systems at the same time. Alas, time is limited. ↩
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Chinese_phonology#Tones ↩
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diacritic ↩
The HSK 1 book switches between declarative and determinative. I'm sure there are meaningful differences, but I suppose it's not very meaningful this early on. ↩

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