一步一个脚印

This basic Chinese textbook will have about 20 lessons or so, and is targetted at beginning students in Mandarin.

Hope you find it useful!

Listen and download Lesson 2 of Basic Spoken Chinese

Basic Spoken Chinese – Lesson 2: 吃 chī, “to eat”

Literally: “to eat”.

Examples:

1) 你吃了吗？——还没有。——你来我家吧，一起吃饭，好吗？——好，走吧。

Nǐ chī le ma?——Hái méi yǒu.——Nǐ lái wǒ jiā ba, yīqǐ chīfàn, hǎo ma?——Hǎo, zǒu ba.

Have you eaten? – Not yet. – Come to my place then, let’s eat together, OK? – OK. Let’s go.

2) 你多吃点。

Nǐ duō chī diǎn.

Have some more to eat.

3. 慢慢吃。

Màn màn chī.

Eat slowly. (Enjoy your meal.)

New words:

吃 chī (v.): to eat e.g. 吃东西 chī dōngxi (“to eat something”), 吃饭 chīfàn (1. “to eat rice” 2. “to have a meal”), 吃苦 chīkǔ (lit. “to eat bitterness”, i.e., “to endure hardship”), etc.

了 le (part.): (used here to indicate the verb has been completed) e.g. 我吃了一个苹果 wǒ chī le yī ge píngguǒ (“I ate an apple; I have eaten an apple”)

吗 ma (part.): (put at end of sentence to indicate a question is being asked) e.g. 你是老师吗 nǐ shì lǎoshī ma (“are you a teacher”), 你找他吗 nǐ zhǎo tā ma (“are you looking for him”), 他不高兴吗 tā bù gāoxìng ma (“is he not pleased”), etc.

还 hái (adv.): still; yet (indicates that the action is still ongoing) 他还没来 tā hái méi lái (“he hasn’t come yet”), 我们还没有开始 wǒmen hái méiyǒu kāishǐ (“we haven’t started yet”), etc.

没有 méiyǒu: 1. (v.) to not have; to not be e.g. 我没有零钱 wǒ méiyǒu língqián (“I don’t have any change.”) 2. (adv.) have not (indicating non-completion of a verb) e.g. 我没有跟他讲 wǒ méiyǒu gēn tā jiǎng (“I didn’t speak with him”).

来 lái (v.): to come e.g. 客人来了 kèrén láile (“the guests are here”), 我一会儿就来 wǒ yīhuìr jiù lái (“I’ll come in a moment”), 他已经来了 tā yǐjīng lái le (“he has already come”), etc.

我 wǒ (pron.): I; me e.g. 我叫小明 wǒ jiào xiǎomíng (“my name is Xiaoming”), 我不知道 wǒ bù zhīdào (“I don’t know), 我喜欢你 wǒ xǐhuān nǐ (“I like you”), etc.

家 jiā (n.): 1. house; sb’s place e.g. 我的家就在这里 wǒ de jiā jiù zài zhèlǐ (“my home is here”),他不在家 tā bù zài jiā (“he is not at home”) 2. family (usually in compounds) e.g. 家庭 jiātíng family; household

吧 ba (part.): (put at the end of a sentence to suggest an action, similar to English “let’s”) e.g.你看吧 nǐ kàn ba (“you look [at it]”), 你吃吧 nǐ chī ba (“you eat [it]”), etc.

一起 yīqǐ (adv.): together; with sb e.g. 你跟我一起去吧 nǐ gēn wǒ yīqǐ qù ba (“you go with me”), 我们住在一起 wǒmen zhù zài yīqǐ (“we live together”), etc.

饭 fàn (n.): 1. rice e.g. 我不想吃饭，我想吃面 wǒ bù xiǎng chī fàn, wǒ xiǎng chī miàn (“I don’t want to eat rice – I want to eat noodles”) 2. meal 饭前要洗手 fàn qián yào xǐshǒu (lit. “meal before need to wash hands”, i.e. “you should wash your hands before eating”)

走 zǒu (v.): 1. to walk 他走得快 tā zǒu de kuài (“he walks quickly”) 2. to leave 我要走了 wǒ yào zǒu le (“I’m leaving”)

多 duō (adj.): many; much (opposite: 少 shǎo, “few; little”) e.g. 这里有很多人 zhèlǐ yǒu hěn duō rén (“there are many people here”)

点 diǎn (n): a little; a bit 我要吃点蛋糕 wǒ yào chī diǎn dàngāo (“I want some cake”)

慢 màn (adj.): slow (opposite: 快 kuài, “quick; fast”) e.g. 他说得很慢 tā shuō de hěn màn (“he speaks very slowly”)

Did you know?

“Have you eaten?” is one of the most common greetings in Chinese-speaking communities. You can respond by saying 我吃过 wǒ chī guò (“I’ve eaten”) or 还没有hái méiyǒu (“not yet”). It is the classic example of 寒暄 hánxuān (“exchanging pleasantries”) in Chinese. “Have some more to eat” expresses one’s hospitality towards a guest. “Eat slowly” expresses politeness to someone when eating. Its near-equivalent phrase in English is “bon appétit” or “enjoy your meal” (American English).