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Stuff Every Traveler Should Say in Chinese

Useful Mandarin Chinese phrases for travel, one card at a time.

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Free to start, no sign-up. 55 cards so far. One Knowledge Score and day streak across all your courses.

⏱ Timed practice exam

SESK practice exam: 50 questions, 50 minutes, pass with 40 right (80%).

Take it like the real thing: a countdown, no hints until you finish, then your score by topic, every miss explained, and a readiness score from your last 3 exams.

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Try 3 cards

  1. How do you say 'Hello' in Mandarin Chinese?
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    nǐ hǎo (你好). Nǐ hǎo literally means 'you good' and works almost anywhere. Zàijiàn means goodbye and xièxie means thank you. In Taiwan it is written the same way, 你好.

  2. Which Mandarin greeting is the polite 'Hello' to use with an older person or a hotel manager?
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    nín hǎo (您好). Nín (您) is the courteous form of nǐ (你), so nín hǎo shows respect. Nǐmen hǎo greets a group, and zǎo means good morning.

  3. How do you say 'Thank you' in Mandarin Chinese?
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    xièxie (谢谢). Xièxie is the word you will use most on a trip, for every shop, meal and taxi. Duìbuqǐ means I'm sorry and qǐngwèn means excuse me, may I ask. Taiwan writes it 謝謝.

All 55 practice questions

The first 50 are free, with the answer, why it's right and the official sources. The other 5 (🔒) are for SESK members. Or play them as a game and track what you've learned.

Show all 55 questions
  1. How do you say 'Hello' in Mandarin Chinese?
  2. Which Mandarin greeting is the polite 'Hello' to use with an older person or a hotel manager?
  3. How do you say 'Thank you' in Mandarin Chinese?
  4. Someone thanks you in Mandarin. Which phrase means 'You're welcome'?
  5. You bump into someone on a crowded subway. How do you say 'I'm sorry' in Mandarin?
  6. Someone says duìbuqǐ (I'm sorry) to you. Which reply means 'It doesn't matter' or 'That's all right'?
  7. Which Mandarin word means 'please' at the start of a request, like 'Please speak slowly'?
  8. You want to ask a stranger a question. What polite phrase do you start with in Mandarin?
  9. How do you say 'My name is Tom' in Mandarin Chinese?
  10. How do you ask 'What is your name?' in Mandarin Chinese?
  11. In a Chinese name like Zhang Wei, which part comes first?
  12. How do you say 'My family name is Wang' in Mandarin Chinese?
  13. Someone asks 'Zhè shì bēizi ma?' (Is this a cup?). Which word answers 'Yes'?
  14. Your guide asks if you are going to the airport, and you want to say 'Right, correct!' Which word fits?
  15. Asked 'Is that rice?', how do you answer 'No, it isn't' in Mandarin?
  16. Bù (不, not) is normally fourth tone. What happens to it right before another fourth tone, as in bù + shì?
  17. When two third tones come together, like nǐ + hǎo, how is the first one said?
  18. How many main tones does Mandarin Chinese have, not counting the light neutral tone?
  19. Mā, má, mǎ, mà are four different words. Which one means 'horse'?
  20. You want 'two bottles of water'. Which word for two goes in front of the measure word?
  21. How do you say the number 20 in Mandarin Chinese?
  22. A vendor says something costs 'shí kuài'. What does kuài (块) mean here?
  23. How do you ask 'What time is it?' in Mandarin Chinese?
  24. How do you say 'Monday' in Mandarin Chinese?
  25. Monday to Saturday are xīngqī plus 1 to 6. What is Sunday?
  26. Which Mandarin word means 'tomorrow'?
  27. In China, which one-hand sign means the number 6?
  28. In China, what does a hand with the thumb pointing up and the index finger pointing sideways (like an L) mean?
  29. Which of these is a common Chinese hand sign for 10?
  30. What does zài nǎr (在哪儿) mean in Mandarin Chinese?
  31. How do you say 'go straight' in Mandarin Chinese?
  32. How do you say 'turn left' in Mandarin Chinese?
  33. Which Mandarin word for bathroom is the more polite public form?
  34. What does diǎncài (点菜) mean in a Chinese restaurant?
  35. How do you ask for the bill or check in a Chinese restaurant?
  36. How do you say 'I do not want spicy food' in Mandarin Chinese?
  37. Which Mandarin word usually means hotel for a traveler?
  38. What does yùdìng (预订) mean when booking a hotel?
  39. What does qǐng dǎbiǎo (请打表) mean in a taxi?
  40. How do you say 'subway station' in mainland Mandarin?
  41. How do you say 'train station' in Mandarin Chinese?
  42. How do you ask 'how much is this?' in Mandarin Chinese?
  43. What does tài guì le (太贵了) mean in Chinese?
  44. How do you ask a vendor to make something cheaper in Mandarin?
  45. How do you say 'mobile payment' in Mandarin Chinese?
  46. What does jiùmìng (救命) mean in an emergency?
  47. In mainland China, which phone number do you dial for police emergencies?
  48. In mainland China, which emergency number should you call for an ambulance?
  49. What does wǒ tīng bù dǒng (我听不懂) mean in Mandarin?
  50. Which Chinese sign pair marks men's and women's restrooms?
  51. Which Chinese pair marks entrance and exit signs? 🔒
  52. How do you say 'Goodbye' in Mandarin Chinese? 🔒
  53. How do you say 'turn right' in Mandarin Chinese? 🔒
  54. What does cèsuǒ (厕所) mean in Mandarin Chinese? 🔒
  55. How do you say 'taxi' in Mandarin Chinese? 🔒