普通话 · Mandarin Chinese
Four tones, no conjugation, no plurals — and characters that hide the sound entirely.
Sino-Tibetan (Sinitic) · compare with Cantonese
Sounds
42 phonemes, 83 spelling rules. Trace any word letter by letter.
Words
284 concepts carry a Mandarin Chinese form. Switch Mandarin Chinese on at the top and browse any field.
Grammar
12 of 12 chapters written.
Sound snapshot
Every Mandarin syllable is (initial) + final + TONE, and pinyin spells it almost perfectly — once you know that the letters don't have their English values. b d g are unaspirated /p t k/ and p t k are aspirated /pʰ tʰ kʰ/; c is /t͡sʰ/, z is /t͡s/, q/j/x are the 'palatal' series (tongue flat behind the lower teeth), zh/ch/sh/r the 'retroflex' series (tongue curled back). The letter i after z/c/s and zh/ch/sh/r is not a vowel at all but a buzz on the consonant (zi, shi). u after j/q/x/y is really ü. The four tones — high level ˥, rising ˧˥, dip-rise ˨˩˦, falling ˥˩ — are not decoration: mā 妈 mother, má 麻 hemp, mǎ 马 horse, mà 骂 scold. A fifth 'neutral' tone is short and unmarked. Tracer: type pinyin with marks (hǎo) or numbers (hao3).
Grammar chapters
Articles
the, a — definite and indefinite, and how they bend to gender and number.
Nouns & gender
Does the language sort nouns into classes, and can you guess which?
Plurals
How to make more than one.
Pronouns
I, you, he/she/it, we, they — subject, object, and the formal 'you'.
Present tense
Regular verbs now, and the handful of irregular ones you can't avoid.
Negation
Saying no: where the 'not' goes.
Questions
Yes/no questions and question words.
Word order
Where the verb goes, where adjectives go, what moves and why.
Past tenses
Finished vs ongoing, spoken vs written past.
Future & conditional
Will, going to, would.
Adjectives
Agreement, position, comparison.
Prepositions
In, on, at, to — the small words that never translate one-to-one.
Words by field
🏠Home
The house, room by room — the words you touch every day.
🌲Nature
Out of the city: landscapes, weather, creatures.
🧩Little words
Adverbs, prepositions, connectors — small words that carry the sentence.
🧱Essentials
The bedrock: numbers, yes and no — the words you need on day one.
🧰Trades & expertise
Jargon of people who do things with their hands — and their heads.
💭Concepts
Abstract words: feelings, ideas, character.
🎭Register
The same idea said in the street, at the office, or in a textbook.