Lessons 1-10

Lesson 5: 陈先生在宾馆。Mr. Chen is at the hotel.

家 jiā Home / 在 zài Is / 教室 jiāoshì Classroom / 地铁 dìtiě Subway /
站 zhàn Station
In Mandarin Chinese there are two different words for the English verb "to be".

The first, 是 shì, is for talking about characteristics or the identity of the noun. For instance, 他是英国人 Tā shì Yīngguórén "He is English".

The second, 在 zài, is for talking about where something is located, and has the meaning "to be at (in)".  他在英国 Tā zài Yīngguó "He is in England"

公 gōng "public" is a character that recurs frequently in many words having to do with public or civic institutions. Examples include 公园 gōngyuán "park", 公共汽车 gōnggòng qìchē "bus", and 公安 gōng'ān "the police".

Example sentences:

我 在 学校。 I am at school.
Wǒ zài xuéxiào.
I being study-school.

她 在 家 吗? Is she at home?
Tā zài jiā ma?
She being home question?

王 小姐 在 地铁 站。 Ms. Wang is at the subway station.
Wáng xiǎojiě zài dìtiě zhàn.
Wang little-big-sister being ground-iron station

我们 在 茶馆。 We are at the teahouse.
Wǒmen zài cháguǎn.
I-plural being tea-house.

陈 先生 在 宾馆。 Mr. Chen is at the hotel.
Chén xiānsheng zài bīnguǎn.
Chen first-born being guest-house.

经理 在 办公室。 The manager is at the office.
Jīnglǐ zài bàngōngshì.
Classic-logic being manage-public-room.

学生们 在 教室。 The students are in the classroom.
Xuéshengmen zài jiàoshì.
Study-born-plural being study-room.

>> Download this as a PDF (right click to save)

Sound files for the example sentences:

>> Download RL teacher reading these sentences (right click to save)

>> Download TT teacher reading these sentences (right click to save)


Dialogue:

A 王小姐在教室吗?
   Wáng xiăojiĕ zài jiàoshì ma?
   Is Ms. Wang in the classroom?

B 不在。王小姐不在学校。
   Bú zài. Wáng xiăojiĕ bú zài xuéxiào.
   No, she isn’t. Ms. Wang is not at school.

A 王小姐在家吗?
   Wáng xiăojiĕ zài jiā ma?
   Is Ms. Wang at home?

B 不在。在医院。
   Bú zài. Zài yīyuàn.
   No, she isn’t. (She) is at the hospital.

>> Download this as a PDF (right click to save)

Sound files for the dialogue:

>> Download RL teacher and SS teacher performing this dialogue (right click to save)

>> Download MQ teacher and VG teacher performing this dialogue (right click to save)

Lessons 11-20
Lessons 21-30
Lessons 31-40
Lessons 41-50
Lessons 51-60
Lessons 61-70
Lessons 71-80
Lessons 81-90
Lessons 91-100
Lessons 101-110
Lessons 111-120
> Send us an email
The Mandarin language is not as difficult as you might think. There’s a reason why it’s the world’s most spoken language! A lingua franca for much of Northern China since the Yuan dynasty, Mandarin has a simple, no-nonsense grammatical system and a vocabulary that builds upon itself. So don’t be daunted! You too can speak this beautiful language.