Chinese Greetings & Basics Vocabulary
The 40 beginner words (A1–A2) for greetings & basics, with their English translations and part of speech, across 2 themed lists. These are the ones worth knowing first.
The 40 beginner words (A1–A2) for greetings & basics, with their English translations and part of speech, across 2 themed lists. These are the ones worth knowing first.
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| family | 家庭jia ting | noun | A1 |
| friend | 朋友peng you | noun | A1 |
| goodbye | 再见zai jian | interj | A1 |
| hello | 你好ni hao | interj | A1 |
| here | 这里zhe li | adv | A1 |
| house | 房子fang zi | noun | A1 |
| no | 不bu | interj | A1 |
| please | 请qing | interj | A1 |
| sorry | 对不起dui bu qi | interj | A1 |
| thank you | 谢谢xie xie | interj | A1 |
| there | 那里na li | adv | A1 |
| yes | 是shi | interj | A1 |
| excuse me | 打扰一下da rao yi xia | interj | A2 |
| English | Chinese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| age | 年龄nian ling | noun | A1 |
| all | 全部quan bu | det | A1 |
| always | 总是zong shi | adv | A1 |
| and | 和he | conj | A1 |
| answer | 答案da an | noun | A1 |
| because | 因为yin wei | conj | A1 |
| birthday | 生日sheng ri | noun | A1 |
| but | 但dan | conj | A1 |
| every | 每一个mei yi ge | det | A1 |
| inside | 里面li mian | adv | A1 |
| many | 许多xu duo | adj | A1 |
| name | 名字ming zi | noun | A1 |
| never | 从不cong bu | adv | A1 |
| often | 经常jing chang | adv | A1 |
| or | 或者huo zhe | conj | A1 |
| outside | 外面wai mian | adv | A1 |
| phone | 电话dian hua | noun | A1 |
| some | 一些yi xie | det | A1 |
| together | 一起yi qi | adv | A1 |
| usually | 通常tong chang | adv | A1 |
| address | 地址di zhi | noun | A2 |
| 电子邮件dian zi you jian | noun | A2 | |
| enough | 足够的zu gou de | adv | A2 |
| few | 少数shao shu | adj | A2 |
| help | 帮助bang zhu | verb | A2 |
| so | 所以suo yi | conj | A2 |
| understand | 理解li jie | verb | A2 |
Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch
These lists stop at A1–A2, the words a beginner needs first. The greetings & basics packs keep going through B1, B2 and C1 inside Watch Your Language, 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.
