Most frequent Chinese short story words, #1 - 20

Friday, August 20, 2010

A few days ago I mentioned that you can make your own frequency list from the data here, and the two most useful to a student of Chinese are those at the bottom - the news frequency list, and short story frequency. Since my Chinese is only halfway proficient and it should be of interest to others, I think I'll go through the list twenty at a time, giving the pronunciation plus one example sentence for each. The list is pretty extensive so I'm not sure how far I intend to go, but since it's helpful to my own study there really isn't any reason to stop halfway.

And now, here are the first twenty. Let me know if there are any typos.

1. 一个
yīgè - one, a
一个女人的个人空间
Yīgè nǚrén de gèrén kōngjiān
A woman's personal space

2. 什么
shénme - what
美国人在看什么网站?
Měiguó rén zài kàn shénme wǎngzhàn?
What sites do Americans see?

3. 没有
méiyǒu - no, nothing, not
没有钱,我们能爱多久?
Méiyǒu qián, wǒmen néng ài duōjiǔ?
No money, how long can we love?

4. 自己
zìjǐ - self
学会让自己快乐
Xuéhuì ràng zìjǐ kuàilè
Learn how to make yourself happy

5. 我们
wǒmen - we
如何联系我们
Rúhé liánxì wǒmen
How to contact us

6. 他们
tāmen - they
他们代表谁?
Tāmen dàibiǎo shuí?
Whom do they represent?

7. 知道
zhīdào - know
如何知道自己怀孕了
Rúhé zhīdào zìjǐ huáiyùn le
How to know you're pregnant

8. 起来
qǐlái - arise, put at the end of verbs to show completion
早上起来腰疼怎么办好
Zǎoshang qǐlái yāoténg zěnme bàn hǎo
Wake up in the morning with hip/back pain, what to do

9. 这个
zhège - this, these
这个有阳光的冬日
Zhège yǒu yángguāng de dōngrì
This sunny winter day

10. 时候
shíhou - time, when
什么时候最容易怀孕?
Shénme shíhou zuì róngyì huáiyùn?
When is it easiest to get pregnant?

11. 这样
zhèyàng - this way, like this
这样说,孩子才会听
Zhèyàng shuō, háizi cái huì tīng
Talk like this so kids will listen

12. 怎么
zěnme - how, why
没有我你怎么办?
Méiyǒu wǒ nǐ zěnme bàn?
What will you do without me?

13. 已经
yǐjīng - already
危险信号已经出现!
Wéixiǎn xìnhào yǐjīng chūxiàn!
Danger signals have (already) emerged!

14. 现在
xiànzài - now
现在天气. 城市天气查询
Xiànzài tiānqì. Chéngshì tiānqì cháxún
Weather now. Check city weather

15. 出来
chūlái - emerge, come out
小便尿不出来怎么办?
Xiǎobiàn niào bù chūlái zěnme bàn?
I can't pee, what to do?

16. 不能
bùnéng - can't, unable
不能结婚的男人
Bùnéng jiéhūn de nánrén
The man who can't get married

17. 还是
háishì - or, still
Android,开源还是封闭?
Android, kāiyuán háishì fēngbì?
Android, open source or closed?

18. 不知
bùzhī - ignorance. Here though it is the first two of 不知道 - (I) don't know
我不知道我是谁
Wǒ bù zhīdào wǒ shì shuí
I don't know who I am

19. 可以
kĕyĭ - okay, is possible/permitted
我可以去你们家玩吗?
Wǒ kěyǐ qù nǐmen jiā wán ma?
Can I go to your house to play / hang out?

20. 女人
nǚrén - woman
爱美是女人的天性,女人最珍爱的就是自己的头发了
Àiměi shì nǚrén de tiānxìng, nǚrén zuì zhēnài de jiùshì zìjǐ de tóufǎ le
Beauty is a woman's nature, a woman's most precious thing is her hair

  © Blogger templates Newspaper by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP