Here are Chinese words for common actions and verbs to start with: 坐 (zuò, sit), 睡觉 (shuì jiào, sleep), 站 (zhàn, stand), 醒来 (xǐng lái, wake). Below are 32 words (A1–A2) with their English translations, part of speech and a romanization to help you say them, across 4 themed lists.
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| sit | 坐zuò | verb | A1 |
| sleep | 睡觉shuì jiào | verb | A1 |
| stand | 站zhàn | verb | A1 |
| to lie | 躺tǎng | verb | A1 |
| to start | 开始kāi shǐ | verb | A1 |
| to turn | 转弯zhuǎn wān | verb | A1 |
| wake | 醒来xǐng lái | verb | A1 |
| walk | 走路zǒu lù | verb | A1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| carry | 端duān | verb | A1 |
| catch | 接住jiē zhù | verb | A1 |
| closed | 关着的guān zhe de | adj | A1 |
| join | 加入jiā rù | verb | A1 |
| keep | 存放cún fàng | verb | A1 |
| kick | 踢tī | verb | A1 |
| pray | 祈祷qí dǎo | verb | A1 |
| put | 放fàng | verb | A1 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| forget | 忘wàng | verb | A1 |
| habit | 习惯xí guàn | noun | A1 |
| imagine | 想象xiǎng xiàng | verb | A1 |
| apologize | 道歉dào qiàn | verb | A2 |
| appreciate | 感激gǎn jī | verb | A2 |
| establish | 创办chuàng bàn | verb | A2 |
| expect | 期望qī wàng | verb | A2 |
| image | 图像tú xiàng | noun | A2 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| to allow | 允许yǔn xǔ | verb | A2 |
| to apply | 申请shēn qǐng | verb | A2 |
| to belong | 属于shǔ yú | verb | A2 |
| to cause | 引起yǐn qǐ | verb | A2 |
| to earn | 赚取zhuàn qǔ | verb | A2 |
| to fail | 失败shī bài | verb | A2 |
| to form | 形成xíng chéng | verb | A2 |
| to offer | 提供tí gōng | verb | A2 |
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Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch
These lists show a sample of the A1–A2 words for common actions and verbs. The packs in Watch Your Language hold more and reach the advanced levels, along with every other topic.
The app shows them to you a few at a time, in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting.
You could start with words like 坐 (zuò, sit), 睡觉 (shuì jiào, sleep), 站 (zhàn, stand), 醒来 (xǐng lái, wake). This page lists 32 Chinese words for common actions and verbs (A1–A2), each with its English translation and part of speech.
Reading a list once is rarely enough. Watch Your Language shows Chinese words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and schedules repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.
Yes. The lists on this page are free to read, with no sign-up. The app holds more words for each topic.