Greetings
| English | Chinese | Transliteration |
| 你好 / 您好 | Hello / Hello (formal) | Nǐ hǎo / Nín hǎo |
| 好久不见。 | Long time no see. | Hǎojiǔ bùjiàn. |
| 我很高兴认识你。 | Nice to meet you. | Wǒ hěn gāoxìng rènshí nǐ. |
| 我叫____。 | My name is ____. | Wǒ jiào ____. |
| 你叫什么名字？ | What is your name? | Nǐ jiào shénme míngzì? |
Basic & Polite Phrases
| English | Chinese | Transliteration |
| 对不起 | I’m sorry | Duìbùqǐ |
| 谢谢 | Thank you | Xièxiè |
| 请 | Please | Qǐng |
| 不客气 | You’re welcome | Bù kèqì |
| 没问题 | No problem / You’re welcome | Méi wèntí |
Get the Conversation Rolling
| English | Chinese | Transliteration |
| 你作什么样的工作? | What kind of work do you do? | Nǐ zùo shén me yàng de gōng zùo? |
| 你有什么爱好? | What are your hobbies? | Nǐ yǒu shén me ài hào? |
| 你认为怎样？ | What do you think? | Nǐ rènwéi zěnyàng? |
| 你平常喜欢做什么？ | What do you do in your free time? | Nǐ píngcháng xǐhuān zuò shénme? |
| 你有什么计划？ | What are your plans? | Nǐ yǒu shé me jìhuà? |
Getting a Bit of Clarification
| English | Chinese | Transliteration |
| 不好意思， 我没听懂。 | I’m sorry, I don’t understand. | Bù hǎo yì si, wǒ méi tīng dǒng. |
| 我不太明白。 | I don’t understand. | Wǒ bú tài míng bai. |
| 请再说一遍。 | Please say that again. | Qǐng zài shuō yī biàn. |
| 第几声？ | Which tone is that? | Dì jǐ shēng? |
| 这个词是什么意思？ | What does this word mean? | Zhège cí shì shénme yìsi? |
Words About Time
| English | Chinese | Transliteration |
| 今天 | Today | Jīntiān |
| 明天 | Tomorrow | Míngtiān |
| 昨天 | Yesterday | Zuótiān |
| 已经 | Already | Yǐjīng |
| 经常 | Often | Jīngcháng |
Exclamations & Transition Words to Take Your Speaking to the Next Level
| English | Chinese | Transliteration |
| 很有意思 | Interesting | Hěn yǒuyìsi |
| 不错 | Not bad | Bùcuò |
| 我明白了。 | I understand. / I see. | Wǒ míngbáile. |
| 哇塞！ | Wow! | Wasāi! |
| 当然。 | Of course. | Dāngrán. |
Conversation Closers
| English | Chinese | Transliteration |
| 慢走 | Take care | Màn zǒu |
| 祝你一天过得愉快 | Have a nice day | Zhù nǐ yītiānguò dé yúkuài |
| 明天见。 | See you tomorrow. | Míngtiān jiàn. |
| 我们再联络吧 | Let’s keep in touch | Wǒ mén zài lián lùo ba |
Are you learning Chinese? What are some phrases that you’ve found useful in your target language? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!