Collins Mandarin Chinese Visual Dictionary. Collins Dictionaries

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:

一	TONE	EXAMPLES
When it’s the last character of a phrase or sentence	First tone	第一 (dì yī) first统一 (tǒng yī) unity
When followed by characters of the first, second, and third tones	Fourth tone	一天 (yì tiān) one day一起 (yì qǐ) together
When followed by characters of the fourth tone	Second tone	一夜 (yí yè) one night一切 (yí qiè) all

不	TONE	EXAMPLES
When it’s the last character of a phrase or sentence	Fourth tone	绝不 (jué bù) never也不 (yě bù) nor
When followed by characters of the first, second, and third tones	Fourth tone	不行 (bù xíng) no不好 (bù hǎo) bad
When followed by characters of the fourth tone	Second tone	不错 (bú cuò) good不去 (bú qù) not going to

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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