Lessons 1-10 Mandarin Chinese Lesson 33: Things/Something

陈 先生 想 喝 东西。 Mr. Chen would like to drink something.
Chén xiānsheng xiăng hē dōngxī.
Chen first-born want-like drink east-west.

我 想 吃 一点 东西。I would like to eat a little something.
Wŏ xiăng chī yī diăn dōngxī.
I want-like eat one dot east-west.

王 小姐 不 想 吃 东西。Ms. Wang would not like to eat anything.
Wáng xiăojiĕ bù xiăng chī dōngxī.
Wang little-big-sister not want-like eat east-west.

这个 商店 有 很 多 东西 可以 买。This store has a lot of things you can buy.
Zhè gè shāngdiàn yŏu hĕn duō dōngxī kĕyĭ măi.
This one store has very much east-west can buy.

长春的 东西 不 很贵。Things in Changchun are not very expensive.
Chángchūnde dōngxī bù hĕn guì.
Changchun-of east-west not very expensive.

我的 学生 学 东西 快。My students learn things quickly.
Wŏde xuésheng xué dōngxī kuài.
I-of study-born study east-west fast.

郑 先生 学 东西 快。Mr. Zheng learns things quickly.
Zhèng xiānsheng xué dōngxī kuài.
Zhen first-born study east-west fast.

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
Mandarin is a tone language--that is, different pitch patterns actually distinguish one word from another. Mandarin has no irregular verbs or noun plurals to learn, because words have only a single form. Because Mandarin is completely unrelated to any European language, you may think it might be difficult to develop your vocabulary. However, it really is not that difficult. Why? The reason is that the meanings of many words consisting of two or more characters can be inferred from the meanings of the characters or even the roots of individual characters. So, your vocabulary can rapidly expand when you have grasped the basic characters and character roots.