Languages have specific expressions that speakers use to start conversations and to keep them going. These expressions often reflect the degree of formality of the situation, the relationship of the participants in the conversation, and the attitudes of the speakers. This section presents the most commonly used expressions in Mandarin.
In Mandarin, the most common way to attract someone’s attention is to address them with their name, a title, or a kinship term.
► 22.4
| 马教授/馬教授 | 王玫玲 |
| Mǎ jiàoshòu | Wáng Méilíng |
| Professor Ma | Wang Meiling |
| 先生 | 小姐 |
| Xiānsheng | Xiǎojie |
| Mr./sir | Miss |
In mainland China, to politely get the attention of a male whom you do not know, you can say:
| 师傅/師傅 | shīfu | master (as in, ‘master craftsman’) |
Taxi drivers are typically addressed as:
| 司机/司機 | sījī | driver |
An informal way to attract someone’s attention is by using the interjection:
| 欸 | ēi | hey |
| 麻烦你 | 对不起 | 劳驾 |
| 麻煩你 | 對不起 | 勞駕 |
| máfan nǐ | duìbuqǐ | láojià |
| excuse me (I am bothering you) |
excuse me (sorry for being rude) |
excuse me (for creating extra work for you) |
| 请问 | (我想) 打听一下 |
| 請問 | (我想) 打聽一下 |
| qǐng wèn | (wǒ xiǎng) dǎting yí xià |
| may I ask | I’d like to inquire for a moment |
| 请帮 (个) 忙。 | 劳驾 |
| 請幫 (個) 忙。 | 勞駕 |
| Qǐng bāng (gè) máng. | láojià |
| Please help me. | excuse me (for creating extra work for you) |
Asking for help is an appropriate strategy when dealing with friends or acquaintances. It is not a good strategy when speaking with strangers, who may be reluctant to get involved in a troublesome situation. When speaking with strangers, apologizing for or acknowledging an intrusion (麻烦你/麻煩你 máfan nǐ) or beginning your request with a question (请问/請問 qǐng wèn) is more effective.
The most common way to respond to a call for attention is to use the phrase
什么事？
甚麼事？
Shénme shì?
What is the matter?/What do you want?
Other responses include
| 有事吗？ | 怎么了？ |
| 有事嗎？ | 怎麼了？ |
| Yǒu shì ma? | Zěnme le? |
| Is something the matter? | What’s the matter? |
| 清楚吗？ | 懂不懂？ | 懂吗？ |
| 清楚嗎？ | 懂嗎？ | |
| Qīngchu ma? | Dǒng bù dǒng? | Dǒng ma? |
| Is it clear? | Do you understand? | Do you understand? |
| 好。 | 行。 | (我) 懂 (了) 。 |
| Hǎo. | Xíng. | (Wǒ) dǒng (le). |
| Okay. | Okay. | (I) understand (now). |
| 我不懂。 | ||
| Wǒ bù dǒng. | ||
| I don’t understand. |
请你再说。
請你再說。
Qǐng nǐ zài shuō.
Please repeat./Please say it again.
(那是) 什么意思？
(那是) 甚麼意思？
(Nà shì) shénme yìsi?
What does that mean?
请你说慢一点。
請你說慢一點。
Qǐng nǐ shuō màn yīdiǎn.
Please speak a little slower.
| 怎么念？ | 这个字怎么念？ |
| 怎麼唸？ | 這個字怎麼唸？ |
| Zěnme niàn? | Zhège zì zěnme niàn? |
| How is it pronounced? | How is this character pronounced? |
| 怎么写？ | 那个字怎么写？ |
| 怎麼寫？ | 那個字怎麼寫？ |
| Zěnme xiě? | Nàge zì zěnme xiě? |
| How do you write it? | How do you write that character? |
| ‘qīngchu’ 怎么写？ | |
| ‘qīngchu’ 怎麼寫？ | |
| ‘qīngchu’ zěnme xiě? | |
| How do you write the word ‘qingchu’? | |
| 那个字是什么意思？ | |
| 那個字是甚麼意思？ | |
| Nàge zì shì shénme yìsi? | |
| What does that character mean? |
The following strategies are commonly used to help a listener identify a character.
• Present a common word in which the character in question occurs
「清楚」的「清」
‘qīngchu’ de ‘qīng’
the ‘qing’ in ‘qingchu’
「朋友」的「友」
‘péngyou’ de ‘yǒu’
the ‘you’ of ‘pengyou’
• List the components of the character in question
「三点水」的「清」
「三點水」的「清」
‘sāndiǎn shuǐ’ de ‘qīng’
the character ‘qing’ with the ‘three dot water’ radical
「木子」「李」
‘mù’‘zǐ’‘Lǐ’
the character ‘李 Lǐ’ that consists of the character ‘木 mù’ and the character ‘子 zǐ’
To indicate that you are following a speaker, say:
| 是，是 | shì, shì | yes, yes |
| 嗯，嗯 | en, en | yeh, yeh |
| 对，对/對，對 | duì, duì | right, right |
To interrupt a speaker say:
| 对不起/對不起 | duìbuqǐ | excuse me |
A filler is an expression that fills a pause in a conversation and keeps the conversation going. English uses expressions such as ‘well,’ ‘mmm,’ ‘uh.’ Mandarin uses these expressions:
| 那么/那麼 | nàme | well |
| 嗯，嗯 | en, en | yeh |
| 这个，这个 …/這個，這個 … | zhège, zhège | this, this … |
To formally introduce a topic in a talk or written report, use the following expressions:
今天要谈到的问题是 …
今天要談到的問題是 …
Jīntiān yào tándào de wèntí shì…
The issue/problem we are going to discuss today is …
今天要讲的题目是 … (今天要讨论的题目是 …)
今天要講的題目是 … (今天要討論的題目是 …)
Jīntiān yào jiǎng de tímù shì … (jīntiān yào tǎolùn de tímù shì …)
The topic I am going to talk about today is … (The topic I am going to discuss today is …)
请各位多多指教。
請各位多多指教。
Qǐng gèwèi duōduō zhǐjiào.
I invite your comments and corrections. (used in formal speeches and written presentations)
► 57.1
To introduce additional points in a discussion or in writing, say:
| 首先 | shǒuxiān | in the first place |
| 第一 | dì yī | first |
| 除了 (noun phrase) 以外 | chúle (noun phrase) yǐwài | besides (noun phrase) |
| 还有/還有 | hái yǒu | also, in addition |
| 请看/請看 | qǐng kàn (+ noun phrase) | please look at (noun phrase) |
| 第一 | dìyī | first |
| 第二 | dì èr | second |
| 第三 | dì sān | third |
| 然后/然後 | ránhòu | afterwards |
| 后来/後來 | hòulái | afterwards (only used to describe sequence in the past) |
To refer to information that is relevant to the conversation, use these expressions:
关于/關於 guānyú ‘regarding (noun phrase)’
关于买飞机票的事，请你负责。
關於買飛機票的事，請你負責。
Guānyú mǎi fēijī piào de shì, qǐng nǐ fùzé.
As for buying the airplane tickets, please take charge.
至于/至於 zhìyú ‘in reference to (noun phrase)’
至于定旅馆的事，你不必费心。
至於定旅館的事，你不必費心。
Zhìyú dìng lǚguǎn de shì, nǐ bù bì fèixīn.
As for making the hotel reservations, you don’t have to bother (doing that).
甚至于/甚至於 shènzhìyú ‘even, go so far as to (noun phrase or verb phrase)’
一切手续都办好了，甚至于你住的地方。
一切手續都辦好了，甚至於你住的地方。
Yīqiè shǒuxù dōu bànhǎo le, shènzhìyú nǐ zhù de dìfang.
All of the arrangements have been taken care of, even down to the place where you will live.
为什么有时候打开网页的速度很慢甚至于无法连接？
為什麼有時候打開網頁的速度很慢甚至於無法連接？
Wèishénme yǒu shíhòu dǎkāi wǎngyè de sùdù hěn màn shènzhìyú wúfǎ liánjie?
Why is it that sometimes it takes a very long time for a web page to open, sometimes not even connecting at all?
► 57.1.1
To give examples, use these expressions to introduce your remarks:
比方说/比方說 bǐfang shuō ‘for example’ (+ sentence)
中文跟英文不同。比方说，中文有声调，英文没有。
中文跟英文不同。比方說，中文有聲調，英文沒有。
Zhōngwén gén Yīngwén bù tóng. Bǐfang shuō, Zhōngwén yǒu shēngdiào, Yīngwén méi yǒu.
Chinese and English are different. For example, Chinese has tones, English doesn’t have tones.
例如 lìrú ‘for example’ (+ sentence)
请你说一下你是怎么学中文的，例如每天花多少时间，听多少时间录音，等等。
請你說一下你是怎麼學中文的，例如每天花多少時間，听多少時間錄音，等等。
Qǐng nǐ shuō yīxià nǐ shì zěnme xué Zhōngwén de, lìrú měitiān huā duōshao shíjiān, tīng duōshao shíjiān lùyīn, děng děng.
Please tell (me) how you study Chinese, for example, how many hours you spend every day, how long you listen to recordings, etc.
譬如 pìrú ‘for example’ (used the same way as 例如 lìrú, but in more formal contexts) 举例来说/舉例來說 jǔlì láishuō ‘to give an example’ (+ sentence)
中国话有很多词可以重叠，举例来说，走走，哥哥，天天，等。
中國話有很多詞可以重疊，舉例來說，走走，哥哥，天天，等。
Zhōngguó huà yǒu hěn duō cí kěyǐ chóngdié, jǔ lì lái shuō, zǒu zǒu, gēge, tiāntiān, děng.
The Chinese language has a lot of words that can be reduplicated, for example, ‘zou zou,’ ‘gege,’ ‘tiantian,’ etc.
To summarize and conclude, use these expressions to introduce your remarks:
总而言之/總而言之 zǒng’éryánzhī ‘in other words, to put it another way’
这件事我们已经谈了很多次了。总而言之，希望我们能互相信任。
這件事我們已經談了很多次了。總而言之，希望我們能互相信任。
Zhè jiàn shì wǒmen yǐjing tán le hěn duō cì le. Zǒng’éryánzhī, xīwàng wǒmen néng hùxiāng xìnrèn.
We’ve talked about this matter many times before. To put it another way, I hope we can trust each other.
总括来说/總括來說 zǒngkuò láishuō ‘to sum up’
总括来说，中国文字太复杂，需要改革。
總括來說，中國文字太複雜，需要改革。
Zǒngkuò láishuō, Zhōngguó wénzì tài fùzá, xūyào gǎigé.
To sum things up, the Chinese language is too complicated and needs to be revised.
最后/最後 zuìhòu ‘finally’
以下是我的看法，最后希望各位能多提意见。
以下是我的看法，最後希望各位能多提意見。
Yǐxià shì wǒde kànfǎ, zuìhòu xīwàng gè wèi néng duō tí yìjian.
What follows is my opinion. Finally, I hope that everyone will provide feedback.