Lesson 1: Common Mandarin Chinese Verbs with Examples

Updated on May 22, 2024

Welcome to Lesson 1 (Level 1) of free online Mandarin Chinese course.

In this article, let’s learn very BASIC and common Mandarin Chinese verbs with examples.

Common Mandarin Chinese Verbs (1-10)

To eat	chī	吃
I don't eat breakfast	wǒ bù chī zǎofàn	我不吃早饭
To drink	hē	喝
He likes drinking	tā xǐhuān hē jiǔ	他喜欢喝酒
To sit	zuò	坐
Is sitting here ok?	zuò zhèlǐ，kěyǐ ma？	坐这里，可以吗？
To stand	zhàn	站
Please stand up	qǐng zhàn qǐlái	请站起来
Go to	qù	去
Do you want to go?	nǐ xiǎnɡ qù ma？	你想去吗？
To come	lái	来
Please come to my home to eat	qǐng lái wǒ jiā chī fàn	请来我家吃饭
To arrive	dào	到
When will you arrive?	nǐ shénme shíhou dào？	你什么时候到？
To listen	tīnɡ	听
Do you like listening to my audio?	nǐ xǐhuān tīnɡ wǒde yīnpín ma？	你喜欢听我的音频吗？
To speak	shuō	说
Please speak slowly	qǐng shuō màn yī diǎn	请说慢一点
To read, to pronounce	dú	读
Please read it	qǐnɡ nǐ dú yí xià	请你读一下

To write	xiě	写
I can’t write Chinese characters	wǒ bú huì xiě hànzì	我不会写汉字
To play, to have fun	wán	玩
Do we go to have fun on weekend?	wǒmen zhōumò qù wán ma？	我们周末去玩吗？
Go back home	huí jiā	回家
What’s time to go back home?	jǐ diǎn huí jiā？	几点回家？
To study	xué xí	学习
I don't study well	wǒ xuéxí bùhǎo	我学习不好
To sleep	shuì jiào	睡觉
I sleep very late	wǒ hěn wǎn shuìjiào	我很晚睡觉
To work	ɡōnɡ zuò	工作
Too much work	ɡōnɡzuò tài duō le	工作太多了
Take class	shànɡ kè	上课
Today cannot have class	jīntiān bù nénɡ shànɡkè	今天不能上课
To give	ɡěi	给
Give me menu!	ɡěi wǒ càidān	给我菜单
To make a phone call	dǎ diànhuà	打电话
I will call you	wǒ ɡěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà	我给你打电话
Wear clothes	chuān yīfu	穿衣服
It's cold outside. Put on clothes	wàimian lěnɡ, chuān shànɡ yīfu	外面冷，穿上衣服

Take off shoes	tuō xié	脱鞋
Do I need to take off shoes?	wǒ yào tuō xié ma？	我要脱鞋吗？
To walk	zǒu lù	走路
Let's walk there	wǒmen zǒulù qù ba！	我们走路去吧!
To run	pǎo bù	跑步
Run every week	měi ɡè xīnɡqī dōu pǎobù	每个星期都跑步
To cook	zuò fàn	做饭
She cooks delicious	tā zuòfàn hěn hǎochī	她做饭很好吃
To buy	mǎi	买
What did you buy?	nǐ mǎi le shénme？	你买了什么？
To sell	mài	卖
How much price does this sell for?	zhè ɡè，mài duōshǎo qián？	这个，卖多少钱？
To live/reside	zhù	住
Where do you live?	nǐ zhù zài nǎlǐ	你住在哪里？
To open	kāi	开
The door is open	mén kāi le	门开了
To close	ɡuān	关
Switch off the light please	ɡuān dēnɡ ba！	关灯吧！
To smile, to laugh	xiào	笑
Don't laugh at me	bú yào xiào wǒ	不要笑我

Let me know your suggestions and feedbacks in the comments. 🙂