Chinese for English speakers School · Lesson 1

Kind of people

Chinese 人 for nationality — 你也是机器人吗? (Are you also a robot?) — 人 makes country names into nationalities.

Conversation

  1. Lindo Lindo

    你也是机器人吗？

    nǐ yě shì jī qì rén ma?

    Are you also a robot?

  2. Pishi Pishi

    我不是机器人！

    wǒ bú shì jī qì rén!

    No, I am not a robot.

  3. Lindo Lindo

    那你是什么东西？

    nà nǐ shì shén me dōng xi?

    What are you then?

    Tip: 那 <nà> = then, so 什么 <shénme> = what, which 东西 <dōngxi> = thing, object Literally: then you are what thing?

  4. Pishi Pishi

    我不是东西。我是猫。

    wǒ bú shì dōng xi. wǒ shì māo.

    I'm not a thing. I'm a cat.

    Tip: 猫 <māo>= cat

Common questions

Quick answers about this lesson's grammar and vocabulary.

How do you form nationality words in Chinese?

Country + 人: 中国人 (Chinese), 美国人 (American), 日本人 (Japanese), 英国人 (British).

What is 机器人?

'Robot'. 机器 (machine) + 人 (person). Literally 'machine person'. Chinese creates new words by combining characters.

More 人 compounds?

工人 (worker), 商人 (businessman), 客人 (guest), 主人 (host/owner).

Test yourself

Pick the English translation for each line from this lesson. Wrong answers are pulled from other Chinese lessons.

4 quick questions on what you just heard.

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