Initial sounds
Pinyin* letters g, k, h, and s are pronounced similarly to sounds in English.
| 国 | guó | country (as in “skin”) |
| 客 | kè | guest (as in “kangaroo”) |
| 好 | hǎo | good (as in “hall”) |
| 三 | sān | three (as in “sand”) |
也 (yě, also)
You already know that 也, (yě) which means also or too, always comes before the adjective* for example, 我也很高兴, (Wǒ yě hěn gāoxìng). The same applies then 也 is used with verbs*.
| 我也喝茶 | Wǒ yě hē chá | I also drink tea |
不 (bù, not)
In English, we say I do not eat noodles or He does not eat noodles. To negate* a sentence in Chinese, you only need to add no (不 bù) before the verb*. Easy peasy.
| 我吃面。 | Wǒ chī miàn. | I eat noodles. |
| 我不吃面。 | Wǒ bù chī miàn. | I don’t eat noodles. |
| 你也喝茶。 | Nǐ yě hē chá. | You also drink tea. |
| 你也不喝茶。 | Nǐ yě bù hē chá. | You also don’t drink tea. |
| 我认识你。 | Wǒ rènshí nǐ. | I know you. |
| 我不认识你。 | Wǒ bù rènshí nǐ. | I don’t know you. |