Top 50 phrases to get by China (Advanced): Essential communication

🇨🇳 好的 is the standard reply when a waiter, driver or shop assistant confirms something. A shorter 好 or 行 "fine" sounds more casual.

🇨🇳 With older people or in formal service situations, many people use the respectful 您 (nín) instead of 你.

💬 Put 要 before a thing to order or ask for it: 我要这个 "I want this one". Put 不 in front to refuse, as in 不要 "don't want".

💬 不要 is a very common way to say "don't want" or "don't need." You can use it broadly in real situations: 我不要这个 "I don't want this," 不要辣 "not spicy."

💬 To say you don't have something, use 没有 (méi yǒu), never 不有.

💬 Putting the yes form and the no form side by side makes a question: 有没有 means "have or not have?". The same trick works with other verbs, e.g. 要不要 "want it or not?".

🇨🇳 In shops you can point at something or name it first, e.g. 水有没有？.

💬 听不懂 means you heard the words but can't follow them. 看不懂 "can't understand what I'm reading" works the same way for signs and menus.

💬 一点 goes after the adjective and means "a bit more": 慢一点 "a bit slower". Swap in another adjective, e.g. 大声一点 "a bit louder".

💬 一 is read (yí) before a fourth-tone syllable, so 一遍 starts (yí), not (yī). You'll hear the same shift in very common chunks like 一个.

💬 Adding 吗 to the end of a statement turns it into a yes/no question. The word order stays exactly the same.

💬 会 means "can" in the sense of a learned skill, like speaking a language or driving. For being allowed to do something, Chinese uses 可以 instead.

💬 In front of a noun, 一点 means "a little": 一点水 "a little water". In speech it often shrinks to 一点儿 (yì diǎnr) in the north.

💬 Here 一 is said (yì), not (yī), because it comes before the third-tone 点.

🇨🇳 Saying this usually earns a delighted reaction, and often a 你的中文很好！ "your Chinese is great!". The modest reply is 哪里哪里 "oh, not at all".

💬 The question word sits where the answer goes: 你叫什么名字？ is answered with 我叫…. There's no need to move it to the front as in English.

🇨🇳 With elders or in formal settings, people politely ask 您贵姓？ "what is your surname?" instead.

💬 哪里 is said (nǎ li), and the second syllable is light. Don't confuse it with 那里 (nà li) "there", where only the tone is different.

💬 Put any place before 在哪里 to ask where it is: 医院在哪里？ "Where is the hospital?".

🇨🇳 厕所 is the plain everyday word. The more delicate 洗手间 "washroom" is common in restaurants and malls.

🇨🇳 Public toilets are often squat style and may not have paper, so locals carry tissues.

💬 怎么 means "how," so 怎么去？ is literally "how go?" You can reuse 怎么 + verb in lots of questions, like 怎么买？ "how do I buy it?"

💬 带我去 means "take me to". Swap 这里 "here" for any place, e.g. 请带我去医院.

🇨🇳 Taxi drivers often don't read English, so the normal move is to say this while pointing at an address written in Chinese on your phone.

💬 In Chinese, the place comes before the action: 在这里停 is literally "at here stop". The same order works elsewhere, e.g. 在这里等 "wait here".

🇨🇳 Taxi drivers commonly hear the shorter 这里停就行 "stopping here is fine".

🇨🇳 To ask a price, people say 多少钱？ "how much?".

💬 多少 is the common "how much / how many," so 多少钱？ is literally "how much money?" The same pattern works in 多少人？ "how many people?"

💬 太……了 is a common way to say "too…" or "so…!" with an adjective: 太贵了 "too expensive," 太好了 "great!" Swap in other adjectives to reuse it easily.

🇨🇳 Haggling is normal at markets and small stalls, but not in malls, chain stores or supermarkets.

💬 可以 can be both the question and the answer: say 可以吗？ to ask "is it OK?", and 可以 to reply "yes, fine".

💬 用 "use" + a tool + an action is how to say "do something with something". For example, 用支付宝付 "pay with Alipay".

🇨🇳 Mobile payment by QR code is the default almost everywhere, and some small vendors barely handle cash. Visitors can link a foreign card to WeChat Pay or Alipay.

🇨🇳 Many restaurants have no paper menu at all; you scan a QR code on the table and order on your phone.

💬 给 + person + thing means "give someone something": 请给我水 "please give me water".

🇨🇳 Restaurants usually serve hot water or tea by default. Ask for 冰水 "ice water" if you want it cold.

🇨🇳 In Sichuan or Hunan restaurants, even "not spicy" may still have some heat. 微辣 "mildly spicy" is the usual compromise.

💬 好 + a verb often makes an adjective for how pleasant something is: 好吃 "tasty", 好看 "good-looking", 好喝 "tasty (drinks)".

🇨🇳 Call it out to staff with 服务员，买单！ "waiter, the bill!". Calling out to staff like this is perfectly normal, and there's no tipping.

💬 救命 literally means "save life", so it's only for real emergencies.

🇨🇳 In China, the emergency number is 110 for police and 120 for an ambulance.

💬 了 at the end marks a change that has happened, here that you have become lost. Compare 我饿了 "I'm hungry now".

💬 需要 can be used with people too, not just things: 我需要医生, 我需要翻译. English sometimes prefers different wording, but Chinese keeps the same verb.

🇨🇳 In China, the police emergency number is 110.

💬 能 asks whether someone is able to do something in the situation. It is the usual word for requests like this, e.g. 你能说慢一点吗？.