A selection of useful words and their uses

Shì 是 - to be

Unlike English, Shì is used to connect two nouns together rather than with adjectives.
It can also mean different things depending on the context, these are:

• is
• are
• am
• yes
• to be

Wǒ shì Lóngdà.
我 是 龙大。
I am Long Da.

Noun 1 + 是 + Noun 2

More info here.

bù 不 - not

Used in questions or answers to say the negative.

Wŏ bù Shì Zhōngguó rén.
我 不 是 中国 人。
I am not Chinese.

More info here.

ma 吗 - ？

Question particle for "yes-no" questions.

Nǐ bù Shì Zhōngguó rén ma?
你 不 是 中国 人 吗？
Are you Chinese?

Any statement can be converted into a yes/no question with 吗 (ma).
You could think of 吗 (ma) as being like a question mark you say out loud.
The basic structure is:

[Statement] + 吗 ？

More info here

men 们 - plural marker for people

Used to convert singular pronouns to plurals:

Tā men shuō hànyŭ
他 们 说 汉语
They speak Chinese

shuō 说 - to speak

• to speak
• to say
• to explain
• to scold
• to tell off

Zhōngguó rén shuō hànyŭ.
中国 人 说 汉语。
Chinese people speak Chinese.

dōu 都 - both; all

Tā men dōu shuō hànyŭ.
他 们 都 说 汉语。
They all speak Chinese.

yĕ 也 - also; too

The English adverb "too" or "also" is expressed in Chinese as 也 (yě).
In Chinese, it always needs to come before the verb (or adjective).

Wŏ men yĕ shuō hànyŭ.
我 们 也 说 汉语。
We also speak Chinese.

More info here.

xué 学 - to learn; to study

• to learn
• to study
• to imitate

Wŏ men dōu xué hànyŭ.
我 们 也 学 汉语。
We all learn Chinese.

xiě 写 - to write

Wŏ xiě hànzì
我 写 汉字。
I write Chinese characters.

zì 字 - letter

• letter
• symbol
• character
• word

Hànzì 汉字 Chinese Character

hé 和 - and

chī 吃 - to eat

Wŏ chī píngguǒ. 我 吃 苹果。 I eat apples.