Mandarin - EOY Online Assessment 2021 - Portions To Learn

Mandarin Year 1 – 5
End of Year Online Assessment 2021

Portions To Learn

1. 8 Basic Strokes

No. Strokes Name of Stroke

i. 点 diǎn

ii. (dot / point stroke)

iii. 横 héng

iv. (horizontal stroke)

v. 竖 shù

vi. (vertical stroke)

vii. 提 tí

viii. (rising stroke)

撇 piě

(left falling stroke)

捺 nà

(right falling stroke)

钩 gōu

(hook stroke)

折 zhé

(fold stroke)

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2. Tones
Basically, there are four tones in Pinyin, but some consider that there are five tones as
there is also a neutral tone. Chinese Tones Practice Guide:

First Tone: Flat Tone
The first tone is high and flat, like in the English
expression “Ah”. It is represented by a straight
horizontal line above a letter in Pinyin.

Second Tone: Rising Tone
The second tone rises moderately. In English,
we sometimes associate this rise in pitch with a
question, like “What?” It is represented by a
rising diagonal line above a letter in Pinyin.

Third Tone: Falling-Rising Tone
The third tone falls and then rises again, like
an interjection “Well” in English. It is
represented by a curved “dipping” line above
a letter in Pinyin.

Fourth Tone: Falling Tone
The fourth tone starts out high but drops
sharply to the bottom of the tonal range.
English speakers often associate this tone with
an angry command, like “No!” It is represented
by a dropping diagonal line above a letter in
Pinyin.

Neutral Tone: The Neutral Tone
It is a toneless tone. It is pronounced quickly
and lightly without regarding to pitch. As you
can see, the neutral tone has no mark above
the vowel.

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No. Tones Chinese Pinyin Meanings
1 Flat Tone characters
mother
妈 mā sky
fish
天空 tiān kōng head
I / me
2 Rising Tone 鱼 yú hand(s)
头 tóu sun
tree
3 Falling-rising Tone 我 wǒ father
手 shǒu table

4 Falling Tone 日 rì
树木 shù mù

5 Neutral Tone 爸爸 (bà) ba

桌子 (zhuō) zi

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3. Counting numbers
1 – 10

Number Chinese character Pinyin
0
1 零 líng
2 一 yī
3 二 èr
4 三 sān
5 四 sì
6 五 wǔ
7 六 liù
8 七 qī
9 八 bā
10 九 jiǔ
十 shí

11 – 20 Chinese characters Pinyin

Number 十一 shí yī
11 十二 shí èr
12 十三 shí sān
13 十四 shí sì
14 十五 shí wǔ
15 十六 shí liù
16 十七 shí qī
17 十八 shí bā
18 十九 shí jiǔ
19 二十 èr shí
20

Numbers 11 – 19 are just a combination of the number 10 + the following number.
So the pattern to say these numbers is: 10+1 for 11, 10+2 for 12, and so on.

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Numerals 20, 30, and following, are the same way, but just the other way around: 20 is two
tens (2+10), 30 is three tens (3+10), 40 is four tens (4+10) and so on.

21 – 100

Number Chinese characters Pinyin
21
22 二十一 èr shí yī
23 二十二 èr shí èr
24 二十三 èr shí sān
25 二十四 èr shí sì
26 二十五 èr shí wǔ
27 二十六 èr shí liù
28 二十七 èr shí qī
29 二十八 èr shí bā
30 二十九 èr shí jiǔ
40 三十
50 四十 sān shí
60 五十 sì shí
70 六十 wǔ shí
80 七十 liù shí
90 八十 qī shí
九十 bā shí
jiǔ shí

For numbers in between, like 21, 22, 45, and others, the pattern of “two tens” continues.
You’ll just add the last number at the end. It goes like this:

• 三十三 (sān shí sān) – “thirty-three (33)”
• 五十五 (wǔ shí wǔ) – “fifty-five (55)”
• 九十六 (jiǔ shí liù) – “ninety-six (96)”

As long as you learn Mandarin numbers 1 – 10, you can master all the numbers.

One hundred (100) – 一百 (yī bǎi)

百(bǎi) means “a hundred” and 一百 (yī bǎi)is “one hundred”. When counting, it’s
more common to use 一百 (yī bǎi)– “one hundred”.

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4. Dates
Saying the Year

A year is read in single numbers followed by 年 (nián):

一九八七年 (yī jiǔ bā qī nián) – 1987

Referring to Years
今年 (jīn nián) – this year
明年 (míng nián) – next year
去年 (qù nián) – last year
后年 (hòu nián) – two years from now
前年 (qián nián) – the year before last

Saying the Months

Referring to Months

月 (yuè) is the character that refers to months in Mandarin Chinese, and is also used when
referring to a specific month’s name. The measure word for a month is 个 (gè).

这个月 (zhè gè yuè) – this month
下个月 (xià gè yuè) – next month
上个月 (shàng gè yuè) – last month

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To talk about a specific day of the month, add 号 (hào) after the number:

三十一号 (sān shí yī hào) – 31st (of the month)
二十二号 (èr shí èr hào) – 22nd (of the month)

Days of the Week

星期一 (xīng qī yī) – Monday
星期二 (xīng qī èr) – Tuesday
星期三 (xīng qī sān) – Wednesday
星期四 (xīng qī sì) – Thursday
星期五 (xīng qī wǔ) – Friday
星期六 (xīng qī liù) – Saturday
星期天 (xīng qī tiān) / 星期日 (xīng qī rì) – Sunday

Referring to Days

今天 (jīn tiān) – today
昨天 (zuó tiān) – yesterday
明天 (míng tiān) – tomorrow
后天 (hòu tiān) – the day after tomorrow
前天 (qián tiān) – the day before yesterday

When speaking or writing the date in Mandarin Chinese, we begin with the largest unit first
down to the smallest unit:

Year + month + date

一九九五年八月十六号 (yī jiǔ wǔ nián bā yuè shí liù hào) – 16th August 2015

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5. Times

Time in Mandarin Chinese is measured in hours 小时 (xiǎo shí), minutes 分 (fēn) and
seconds 秒 (miǎo). Expressing time on the hour uses the character 点 (diǎn) meaning
‘dot’. Often, the word for clock, 钟 (zhōng), can be omitted.

Hour + 点 (diǎn) 钟 (zhōng)

• 六点钟 (liù diǎn zhōng) – six o’clock
• 八点 (bā diǎn) – eight o’clock

It is common to speak the time, as you read it on a digital clock:

九点二十分 (jiǔ diǎn èr shí fēn) – 9:20

If the minutes number is lower than 10, then you may use the word for zero, 零 (líng):

五点零七分 (wǔ diǎn líng qī fēn) – 5:07

The word for minutes 分 (fēn), can be omitted.

AM/PM

Time of day is indicated with various time phrases in the place of AM and PM. They are
always used before the actual time is given.

早上 (zǎo shang) / 早晨 (zǎo chén) – morning (5AM – 9AM)
上午 (shàng wǔ) – before noon (9AM – 12PM)
中午 (zhōng wǔ) – midday (12PM – 1PM)
下午 (xià wǔ) – afternoon (1PM – 6PM)
晚上 (wǎn shang) – evening (6PM – 12AM)
半夜 (bàn yè)/ 凌晨 (líng chén) – midnight/ early hours of the morning (1AM – 5AM)
晚上六点半 (wǎn shang liù diǎn bàn) – six thirty in the evening
早上八点 (zǎo shang bā diǎn) – eight in the morning

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6. Measure words

Measure Pinyin Use Example

Word • 三个人 (sān gè rén)
three people
个 gè people, general objects
• 十个问题 (shí gè wèn tí)

ten questions

位 wèi people (formal - show • 一位老师 (yí wèi lǎo shī)

politeness or respect) a teacher
• 四位客人 (sì wèi kè rén)

four guests

张 zhāng flat objects • 七张票 (qī zhāng piào)

seven tickets
• 十张桌子 (shí zhāng zhuō zi)

ten tables

条 tiáo things with a long, narrow • 两条蛇 (liǎng tiáo shé)

shape – fish, snakes, ropes, two snakes
ties, rivers, roads, pants, etc. • 三条领带 (sān tiáo lǐng dài)

three neck ties

件 jiàn things, matters, clothes (top • 一件事 (yí jiàn shì)

half), gifts, furniture, a thing
luggage, etc, even though • 一件 T 恤 (yí jiàn T xù)

they have nothing in common a T-shirt

只 zhǐ animals and body parts in • 九只猫 (jiǔ zhǐ māo)

pairs nine cats
• 两只眼睛(liǎng zhī yǎn jīng)

two eyes

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