Basic shapes: Discussing the shape of elements in a chart

💬 The thing you're talking about can go first, before 我, to set the topic: 這本書我看完了 "this book, I've finished it". This is very natural in spoken Chinese.

💬 Adding 一下 after a verb makes the action quick and casual: 等一下 "wait a moment", 問一下 "ask quickly". Note 一 is said (yí) here, because 下 has a falling tone.

🇹🇼 Using 一下 makes the favor sound small, which is the polite way to ask a coworker for help in Taiwan.

💬 圖 (tú) "diagram" works as an ending to name types of charts: 圓餅圖 "pie chart", 長條圖 "bar chart".

💬 形 (xíng) means "shape", and many shape names end in it: 三角形 "triangle", 方形 "square". Swap the first part to name a new shape.

💬 和 (hé) joins nouns only, like English "and" between two things. It's not used to join two sentences.

💬 Chinese doesn't mark plurals, so 圓形 covers both "circle" and "circles". Context tells you which.

💬 Literally this is "long square shape": 長 (cháng) "long" + 方形 "square". Here 長 is read (cháng), not (zhǎng).

💬 Put 呢 after a noun to ask "what about...?" without repeating the whole question: 那這個呢？ "what about this one?".

💬 每 (měi) "every" needs a counting word after it, often with 一 in between: 每一個人 "every person", 每天 "every day". Here 一 is said (yí) before 個.

💬 Put any word in front of this to ask about its meaning: 這個字是什麼意思？ "what does this character mean?". It's a handy all-purpose question.

💬 問題 (wèn tí) means both "question" and "problem". Here it's a question to answer, but 有問題 can also mean something is wrong.

💬 或 (huò) "or" is for options in a statement. In a question you'd use 還是 instead: 你要茶還是咖啡？ "tea or coffee?".

💬 The 了 at the end shows a change. You didn't understand before, and now you do. Compare 我懂 "I understand", which is just a plain statement.

💬 This literally means "don't be polite", telling the other person they don't need to thank you.

💬 Chinese often drops the word for "if". Simply putting 有問題 first makes it a condition for what follows.

💬 再 (zài) here means "then" or "later, when the time comes", not just "again": 吃完再走 "eat first, then go".

🇹🇼 Saying this is a friendly way to end a favor. It tells the other person they're welcome to come back without feeling like a bother.

🇹🇼 This is the standard polite exit at work in Taiwan. It literally means "I'll go be busy first", and it ends a chat without sounding abrupt.

🇹🇼 Borrowed from English "bye-bye", 掰掰 (bāi bāi) is used constantly in Taiwan by adults too, even with coworkers. It isn't childish.