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Chinese (Mandarin)/Print versionFrom Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection< Chinese (Mandarin)

Note: current version of this book can be found at http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chinese (Mandarin)

Table of contentsText / 课文

Introduction / 介绍

About Chinese中文是什么? How to use this textbook如何使用这本教科书 How to study Chinese如何学习中文

Pronunciation

Pinyin Pronunciation Basics Pronunciation of InitialsPronunciation of FinalsPossible Initial-Final CombinationsUsing Tones

Lessons / 课程

Lesson 1: Hello!第一课:你好! Lesson 2: Are you busy today?第二课:今天你忙不忙? Lesson 3: An introduction to particles第三课:助词 Lesson 4: Word order and Verbs第四课:词序和动词 Lesson 5: Measure words第五课:量词 Lesson 6: More on interrogatives第六课:疑问助词 Lesson 7: What's this?第七课:这是什么?

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中华人民共和国 (中国) 中華民國 (臺灣) 新加坡共和国 (新加坡)People's Republic of China(China)

Republic of China(R.O.C)

Republic of Singapore(Singapore)

Text / 课文

Introduction / 介绍

About ChineseThe Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語 or 中文)is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages.Chinese is a tonal language, meaning that pitch is used todistinguish words. About one-fifth of the world speakssome form of Chinese as its native language, making it themost common language in the world. The Chineselanguage (spoken in its Standard Mandarin form) is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Taiwan, one of four official languages of Singapore, and one of six official languages of the United Nations. It is also the form of Chinese that will be taught in this wikibook.

Chinese grammar is in many ways simpler than European languages (for example, you will see no tenses, plurals, or subject-verb agreement), but it is still considered very difficult to learn due to complexity of the writing system. Chinese isone of the few languages in the world that does not use an alphabet or a syllabary; instead, thousands of characters are used, each representing a word or a part of a word. The government of China has developed a system of writing Chinese inthe Roman alphabet, known as Hanyu Pinyin (汉语拼音/漢語拼音, "spelling according to sounds"). Hanyu Pinyin is usedto write out Chinese names phonetically, so helps learners of Chinese with their pronunciation. This wikibook will teach yoHanyu Pinyin first, before any actual sentences. All examples and new vocabulary will always be given together withHanyu Pinyin.

There are two character sets: Simplified Chinese characters (简体字) and Traditional Chinese (正體字 or 繁體字).Traditional characters trace their lineage back through thousands of years of Chinese history, and continue to be used inHong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and among overseas Chinese. Simplified Chinese was the result of reforms carried out inMainland China to increase literacy rates and is now used there and in Singapore. The two systems share many of the samecharacters unchanged or with formulaic stroke reductions, however some changes are not standardized. As a result, mostnative Chinese speakers are able to write in only one of the two systems, though they can usually read both. You arerecommended to do the same. It's considered easier for people who learn Traditional to read both sets than people who learSimplified only, but Simplified characters may be less intimidating for beginners. This wikibook has two identical versionswith Simplified as the default. In the Table of Contents you can click either 'Traditional' or 'Simplified' to toggle between ttwo parallel texts.

Chinese characters have also been used in the past by many other Asian countries, and are still being used by some of themtoday. Ancient Koreans knew how to read and write in Chinese, until the creation of the Korean script, hangul. The Japanese still preserve many Chinese characters (which they call kanji) today.

This textbook will assume that you have no prior knowledge of Chinese, but are willing to take Chinese as a serious subjecof study. Each lesson contains a combination of new vocabulary and new grammar in a gradual fashion, building on previous lessons. Each lesson's material should be appropriate for a week's worth of daily classes.

Each lesson consists of five parts:

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Dialogue. Here you will see a dialogue carried out by two or more people. All texts are given in 4 versions: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Hanyu Pinyin, and an English translation.

1.

Grammar. This section breaks down all of the new sentence structures introduced in the dialogue and shows example sentences to reinforce them.

2.

Vocabulary. New vocabulary for the lesson, with translation and pronunciation. Every newly introduced character will be linked to an image or animation showing its stroke order.

3.

Examples. A page of sentences and phrases giving more examples based on the lesson material.4.Exercises. Questions and activities to test comprehension of the material. May be used as homework or as review material for lesson exams.

5.

Speaking and Pronunciation

Pay attention to the tones. Since there are so few syllables in Chinese, there are many homonyms, making attentionto tones very important. Learning to write the pinyin with correct tones at the same time as the characters will improve your pronunciation and your listening comprehension.Read the text aloud. Speaking (and hearing yourself speaking) will help reinforce the text in your memory. Exaggerating the tones can help you remember them.

Reading and Writing

Practice writing. A lot. When you learn, write each character at least ten times every week until you can remember it. Quiz yourself periodically to test your memory and to find which characters you need more practice on. As you write, think of the sound and meaning of the character, or say it out loud. Check out the East Asian Orthographywikibook for more help with Chinese writing. Learn the right stroke order initially and write carefully, looking at theprinted character each time before copying.

Look for radicals. Radicals are components of Chinese characters that you will see repeated over and over again. Learning the meaning of radicals will help you to see the connections between similar categories of words. Many characters are comprised of radical-phonetic pairings, where the radical is the "root" that hints at the meaning of the word, while another part of the character hints at the sound of the word. Learning to spot radicals is also useful as they are used when looking up unfamiliar words in Chinese dictionaries.

Buy a dictionary. Useful for looking up new words or just browsing. Get a beginner's dictionary so that you can have a larger font, usage examples and Pinyin pronunciation, all of which are sometimes missing in comprehensive dictionaries. Get a second dictionary later on if you can't findevery word you need. A good choice that provides many example sentences and phrases would be The Starter Oxford Chinese Dictionary(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198602588/ref=pd_sim_b_2/002-3287198-3112035?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v(sorry, Simplified version only).

Suggested Reading Materials

Children's story books (the characters are easier, many include pinyin or zhuyin for difficult or even all characters)Take a look at various condensed dictionaries to get a feel for the characters

A radical highlighted in 3 characters

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Pronunciation

Pinyin PronunciationThis lesson shows the pronunciation of pinyin, the standard Romanization system used for Mandarin Chinese and the one that will be used throughout the textbook. While most of the letters are the same or very close to the English usage, there asome important differences.

Pronunciation Basics

Mandarin Chinese may sound strange, but is actually relatively easy for English-speakers to pick up—much easier than it ifor Mandarin-speakers to learn English. A large part of the reason is that Chinese has a very limited syllabary, meaningthere are not many sounds in the language, and hardly any new ones if you already know English. On the other hand, thatmeans Chinese-speakers trying to grasp English must learn to create dozens of entirely new sounds—remember that as youproceed through these first lessons on pronunciation!

One very different aspect of Chinese is its use of tones. Because of its limited syllabary, pitches of voice are used to help differentiate words. While some dialects of Chinese have up to nine tones, Mandarin is comparatively easy with only four.It's often difficult for beginners to distinguish the tone of a word, especially when not sure of the context. Even if you haveperfect pitch, it may be hard to follow or reproduce what can seem like a rollercoaster ride of tonal transitions. Don't worrythough, as you'll improve with practice. These lessons will describe how to understand and reproduce all the syllables and tones of Chinese.

If you know another Romanization system or the IPA

If you are familiar with Zhuyin (bopomofo), Tongyong Pinyin, or the Wade-Giles system of Romanization, Wikipedia hasan equivalency chart comparing the different systems. Learn to use Hanyu Pinyin—the most common Romanization systemfor Chinese, which will be used for the rest of the text.

The IPA, or International Phonetic Alphabet, is a standard set of symbols that can be used to write any sound from anyhuman language. If you know the IPA, it will be listed below to show the sounds of pinyin.

The Mandarin syllable

There are three parts to all syllables in Mandarin; the initial, the final, and the tone. In pinyin, the tone, initial, and final arerepresented as follows:

Tone

The tone is represented by a tone mark placed on top of the syllable. There are exactly four tone marks: ¯, ́ , ˇ, and ˋ.The two dots on ü (like a German umlaut) do not have to do with the tone, so if you see ǖ, ǘ, ǚ, or ǜ, the symbol above the dots represents the tone.

Initial

The initial is:

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at the front of the syllablea consonant (not including y, or w)usually one letter, except for:zh, ch, sh

Final

The final is made up of the letter(s) after a syllable's initial, not including the tone mark. A final:

begins with a vowelcan be made of 1-4 charactersend with a vowel, n, ng, or r

Exceptions to initial-final combinations in syllables

Some syllables have no initial or no final. In Pinyin, this is shown as follows:

For syllables with no final:an unpronounced i is added to the the end of the syllableOccurs only with the following initials:zh, ch, sh, r, z, c, s

For syllables with no initial:if the final begins with an i, it is replaced with a yif the final begins with an u, it is replaced with a wif the final begins with an ü, it is replaced with yuExceptions to the above:

i alone is replaced by yiiu is replaced by youin is replaced by yining is replaced by yingu alone is replaced by wuui is replaced by weiun is replaced by wenueng is replaced by weng

One other exception:

when combined with initials j, q, any ü in a final is changed to u

Please note that the pronunciation of these syllables are not according to the English pronunciation of the letters. The next few pages give examples of how initials and finals are pronounced, put together, and how to use tones.

Pronunciation of initials

'Pinyin IPA Explanation Examples

b [p] unaspirated p, as in spit 宝贝,baobei, baby; treasure

p [pʰ] as in English 炮弹, Pàodàn, Bomb

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m [m] as in English 马车, Ma che, cart

f [f] as in English 发财,Facai, make fortune

d [t] unaspirated t, as in stand 伟大, Weida, great

t [tʰ] as in English 太平, Taiping, Peace

n [n] as in English 男人 Nanren, Man

l [l] as in English 老人Laoren, old man

g [k] unaspirated k, as in skill 格式 Geshi, format

k [kʰ] as in English 客人,keren, guest

h [x] like the English h if followed by "a"; otherwise it is pronounced more roughly (not unlike the Scots ch)

喝水,boire de l'eau, drinkingwater

j [tɕ]

like q, but unaspirated. (To get this sound, first take the sound halfway between joke and check, and then slowly pass it backwards along the tongue until it is entirely clear of the tongue tip.) While this exact sound is not used in English, the closest match is the j in ajar, not the s in Asia; this means that "Beijing" is pronounced like "bay-jing", not like "beige-ing".

教堂, Jiaotang, Eglise, church;家,jia, home or family

q [tɕʰ] like church; pass it backwards along the tongue until it is free of the tongue tip 生气,shengqi, angry

x [ɕ]like sh, but take the sound and pass it backwards along the tongue until it is clear of the tongue tip; very similar to the final sound in German ich, Portuguese enxada, luxo, xícara, puxa, and to huge or Hugh in some English dialects

小孩,xiaohai, child

zh [tʂ] ch with no aspiration (take the sound halfway between joke and church and curl it upwards); very similar to merger in American English, but not voiced 着火,zhaohuo, on fire

ch [tʂʰ] as in chin, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to nurture in American English, but strongly aspirated

吃饭,chifan, dinner; 吵架,chaojia, dispute

sh [ʂ] as in shinbone, but with the tongue curled upwards; very similar to undershirt in American English 沙漠,shamo, desert

r [ɻ] similar to the English r in rank, but with the lips spread and with the tongue curled upwards

日, r(i),sun; 热情,reqing,passion

z [ts] unaspirated c (halfway between beds and bets), (more common example is suds)

妻子,qizi, wife; 章子怡,Zhangziyi, Name of a Chineseactress.

c [tsʰ] like ts, aspirated (more common example is cats) 小草,xiaocao, grass; 次, ci, onetime

s [s] as in sun

拉萨,lasa, Lasa, capital ofTibet Autonomous Region; 苏州,suwhou, capital of theprovince of Jiansu, nearShanghai

Pronunciation of finals

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Pinyin IPA Final-only form Explanation

a [ɑ] a if ending a syllable, then as in "father"

o [uɔ] o as in "so" (but shorter than ou)

e [ɤ], [ə] e

when occurring at the end of a syllable and not in the combinations of ie, üe, ue, then a backward,unrounded vowel, which can be formed by first pronouncing a plain continental "o" (AuE and NZE law) and then spreading the lips without changing the position of the tongue. That same sound is also similar to English "duh", but not as open. Many unstressed syllables in Chinese use the schwa (idea), and this is also written as e.

ê [ɛ] (n/a) as in "bet". Only used in certain interjections.

ai [aɪ] ai like English "eye", but a bit lighter

ei [ei] ei as in "hey"

ao [ɑʊ] ao approximately as in "cow"; the a is much more audible than the o

ou [ou ̯] ou as in "so"

an [an] an starts with plain continental "a" (AuE and NZE bud) and ends with "n"

en [ən] en as in "taken"

ang [ɑŋ] ang as in German Angst, including the English loan word angst (starts with the vowel sound in father and ends in the velar nasal; like song in American English)

eng [ɤŋ] eng like e above but with ng added to it at the back

er [aɻ]] er like ar (exists only on own, or as last part of final in combination with others- see bottom of list)

i [i] yilike English "ee", except when preceded by "c", "ch", "r", "s", "sh", "z" or "zh"; in these cases it should be pronounced as a natural extension of those sounds in the same position, but slightly more open to allow for a clear-sounding vowel to pass through

ia [iɑ] ya as i + a; like English "yard"

io [iou ̯] yo as i + o; like English slang "yo"; (you will only see this as in final-only form "yo"

ie [iɛ] ye as i + ê; but is very short; e (pronounced like ê) is pronounced longer and carries the main stress (similar to the initial sound ye in yet)

iai [iɑ] yai as i + ai; like "yi" in "yikes"; (you will only see this as in final-only form "yai"

iao [iɑʊ] yao as i + ao

iu [iou ̯] yuo as i + ou

ian [iɛn] yian as i + an; like English yen

in [ ̯iən] yin as i + en

iang [iɑŋ] yang as i + ang

ing [iɤŋ] ying as i + eng

u [u] wu like English "oo"

ua [ua] wa as u + a

uo [uɔ] wo as u + o; the o is pronounced shorter and lighter than in the o final

uai [uaɪ] wai as u + ai

ui [ueɪ] wei as u + ei; here, the i is pronounced like ei

uan [uan] wan as u + an

un [uən] wen as u + en; like the on in the English won

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Finals that are a combination of finals above + er final

Pinyin IPA Explanation

er [ɤɻ] as e + er; not to be confused with er final on its own- this form only exists with an initial character before it

or [uɔɻ] as o + er

air [aɪɻ] as ai + er

aor [ɑʊɻ] as ao + er

our [ou ̯ɻ] as ou + er

anr [ɑnɻ] as an + er

angr [ɑŋɻ] as ang + er

ir [iɻ] as i + er

iar [iɑɻ] as ia + er

ianr [iɛnɻ] as ian + er

inr [iənɻ] as in + er

ingr [iɤŋɻ] as ing + er

ur [uɻ] as u + er

uor [uɔɻ] as uo + er

uir [ueɪɻ] as ui + er

ongr [uɤŋɻ] as ong + er

ür [yɻ] as ü + er

Using Tones

Every syllable in Chinese has a clearly defined pitch of voice associated with it to distinguish words with the same sound from each other. Unfortunately, there is no indication of the tone given when reading a character, so the tones for words must be individually memorized. To help with this, pinyin uses four easily-remembered diacritical marks to tell you what the tonesof words are. The diagram to the right shows the pitch changes of the four tones on a five-barscale going from lowest (1), to highest (5), while the four tone marks are:

First tone ( ¯ ), high level.1.Second tone (̄ ), middle rising.2.Third tone ( ˇ ), low dipping.3.Fourth tone (̀ ), high falling.4.

There is also a neutral, so-called "fifth tone", which is unstressed and usually goes unmarked.

Tones marks are always placed over vowels, never consonants. If there is more than one vowel in the syllable, the mark first goes over the a, e, i, o and u respectively (alphabetical order). The only exception to this rule is when a syllable with "iu" needs a tone mark, in which case the mark is placed over the "u", not the "i".

Relative pitch changes of the four tones

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The classic example used to show the difference tones make is:

妈mā

麻má

马mǎ

骂mà

吗·ma

(Being "mother", "hemp", "horse", "insult" and a question particle, respectively.)

Tone changes

The third tone, with its dip-and-rebound, is hard to fit into a continuous sentence. This is whythe third-tone changes depending on its environment. There are two rules:

If a third tone comes before another third tone, then it is pronounced as a second tone.1.If a third tone comes before any other tone, then it only dips, and doesn't rebound and is called a half-third tone (see image).

2.

Because of these broad rules, the majority of third tones you encounter will be second tones or half-third tones. Be mindful of this because the tone marks remain unchanged despite differences in actual pronunciation from the written tone marks.

Syllables with no tone

Some syllables don't have a tone. Those syllables are not stressed, and they take their tone from the syllable before them:

If it follows a first- or second-tone syllable, then the toneless syllable is mid-range. (Say ah... in a relaxed tone, as if you've been sedated.)

1.

If it follows a third-tone syllable, then the toneless syllable is high, as if the dip-and-rebound of the third-tone continues right into it. (Say w-e-ll with a break in the middle: weh—ell. That's a third-tone syllable plus a toneless syllable.)

2.

If it follows a fourth-tone syllable, then the toneless syllable is low, as if the fall of the fourth-tone continues right into it. (Say Stop!!! with a break in the middle: Sto-op!. That's a fourth-tone syllable plus a toneless syllable.)

3.

Lessons / 课程

Lesson 1: 你好!

It is appropriate to start off the introduction to Chinese with the common greeting: 你好。 Below is a dialogue between twopeople meeting each other for the first time.

Dialogues

Dialogue 1

Simplified Characters Traditional Characters

The shape of the 3rd tone when before 1st, 2nd and

4th tones

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金妮: 你好。 金妮: 你好。

欧文: 你好。 歐文: 妳好。

金妮: 我叫金妮。你叫什么名字?

金妮: 我叫金妮。你叫什麽名字?

欧文: 我叫欧文。 歐文: 我叫歐文。

Pīnyīn EnglishJīnní: Nǐ hǎo. Ginny: Hello.

Ōuwén: Nǐ hǎo. Owen: Hello.Jīnní: Wǒ jiào Jīnní. Nǐ jiào

shénme míngzi?Ginny: I'm Ginny. What's your

name?Ōuwén: Wǒ jiào Ōuwén. Owen: I'm Owen.

Dialogue 2

Simplified Characters Traditional Characters金妮: 他们是谁? 金妮: 他們是誰?

欧文: 她是艾美,她是中国人。他是东尼,是美国人。

歐文: 她是艾美,她是中國人。他是東尼,是美國人。

金妮: 你也是美国人吗? 金妮: 你也是美國人嗎?

欧文: 不是,我是英国人。你呢?你是哪国人?

歐文: 不是,我是英國人。妳呢?妳是哪國人?

金妮: 我是法国人。 金妮: 我是法國人。

Pīnyīn EnglishJīnní: Tāmen shì shéi? Ginny: Who are they?

Ōuwén: Tā shì Àiměi, tā shìZhōngguórén. Tā shìDōngní, shì Měiguórén.

Owen: She is Amy. She's Chinese. He's Tony, an American.

Jīnní: Nĭ yě shì Měiguórén ma? Ginny: Are you also American?Ōuwén: Bú shì. Wǒ shì Yīngguórén.

Nǐ ne? Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén?Owen: No, I'm British. How about

you? Which nationality are you?

Jīnní: Wǒ shì Fǎguórén. Ginny: I'm French.

Vocabulary

Simplified (traditional in parentheses)

Pīnyīn Part of speech English [ m. ]

1. 你 (m.=你, f.=妳)

nǐ (pro) you (singular)

2. 好 hǎo (adj) good

3. 们 (們) men (n suffix) (pluralizing suffix for pronouns)

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4. 你们 (f.=妳们)

nǐmen (pro) you (plural)

5. 我 wǒ (pro) I, me

6. 我们 wǒmen (pro) we, us

7. 他 tā (pro) he, him

8. 她 tā (pro) she, her

9. 他们 (f.=她们)

tāmen (pro) they, them

10. 叫 jiào (v) to be named

11. 什么 (什麽) shénme (pro) what

12. 名字 míngzi (n) name

13. 是 shì (v) to be (am/is/are)

14. 谁 (誰) shéi OR shuí (pro) who, whom

15. 国 (國) guó (n) country

16. 人 rén (n) person [个 (個) gè]

17. 也 yě (adv) also

18. 吗 (嗎) ma (part) (question particle)

19. 呢 ne (part) (question particle for known context)

20. 哪 nǎ OR něi (pro) what, which

21. 不 bù (adv) (negates verbs)]

Proper Nouns

Simplified (traditional in parentheses)

Pīnyīn English

1. 金妮 Jīnní Ginny

2. 欧文 (歐文) Ōuwén Owen

3. 艾美 Àiměi Amy

4. 东尼 (東尼) Dōngní Tony

5. 中国 (中國) Zhōngguó China

6. 美国 (美國) Měiguó America

7. 英国 (英國) Yīngguó Britain

8. 法国 (法國) Făguó; Fàguó(in Taiwan) France

Grammar

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S + V + O

S + 是 + O

Basic Sentences

The sentence structure of Chinese is very similar to that of English in that they both follow the pattern of Subject-Verb-Object (SVO). Unlike many languages, verbs in Chinese aren't conjugated and noun and adjective endings don't change. They are never affected by things such as time or person.

1. 我叫艾美。

Wǒ jiào Àiměi.I'm called Amy.

Note that in Chinese you do not need the auxiliary verb to be to use other verbs as in English. While the sentence is translated as "I am called Amy", saying "我是叫艾美"would be considered awkward.

Sentences using shì [是]

Shì, the equational verb to be, can be used as the English is or equals. Shì can only be used to equate combinations ofnouns, noun phrases, and pronouns. In Chinese, shì, the "to be" verb, is not used with adjectives, as it is in English, as in,"He is cold."

1. 我是中国人。

Wǒ shì Zhōngguórén.I am a Chinese person.

2. 她是金妮。

Tā shì Jīnní.She is Ginny.

3. 她们是英国人。

Tāmen shì Yīngguórén.They are English.

Shì is negated when preceded by bù [不]. Bù is normally 4th tone, but changes to a 2nd tone when it precedes another 4th tone.

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S + 不 + 是 + O

1. 他不是东尼。

Tā bú shì Dōngní.He is not Tony.

2. 我不是美国人。

Wǒ bú shì Měiguórén.I am not American.

The question particle ma [吗]

Adding the modal particle ma [吗] to the end of a sentence makes a statement into a question. There is no change in wordorder as in English.

The declarative example sentence in #1 is transformed into an interrogative in #2.

1. 她是金妮。

Tā shì Jīnní.She is Ginny.

2. 她是金妮吗?

Tā shì Jīnní ma?Is she Ginny?

The question particle ne [呢]

Using the ending modal particle ne [呢] makes a question when the context is already known, similar to saying "Howabout...?" in English. A common circumstance is when you wish to repeat a question that was just asked for anothersubject. Simply add ne to the end of the noun or pronoun to ask "How about this".

1. 我叫东尼, 你呢?

Wǒ jiào Dōngní, nǐ ne?I'm called Tony. How about you?

2. 艾美是中国人, 他呢?

Àiměi shì Zhōngguórén, tā ne?Amy is Chinese. How about him?

Question words

Like particles, question words make statements into questions without changing the order of the sentence. To make one,

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simply substitute the QW in for the place the subject would be in the answer.

1. 他们是哪国人?

Tāmen shì nǎ guó rén?What country are they from?

2. 谁是美国人?

Shéi shì Měiguórén?Who is American?

3. 她是谁?

Tā shì shéi?Who is she?

Lesson 2: 今天你忙不忙?

Lesson 2 contains a dialogue of two students discussing their classes for the day.

Dialogues 1 & 2: Characters

Dialogue 1

Simplified Characters Traditional Characters东尼: 艾美,早安。 東尼: 艾美,早安。

艾美: 早。你好吗? 艾美: 早。你好嗎?

东尼: 我很好,谢谢。你呢? 東尼: 我很好,謝謝。妳呢?

艾美: 我也很好。今天你忙不忙?

艾美: 我也很好。今天你忙不忙?

东尼: 今天我很忙。我有五节课。

東尼: 今天我很忙。我有五節課。

艾美: 五节?!太多了!今天我只有一节。

艾美: 五節?!太多了!今天我只有一節。

东尼: 一节?!太少了! 東尼: 一節?! 太少了!

Dialogue 2

Simplified Characters Traditional Characters

Dialogues 1 & 2: Pīnyīn/English

Dialogue 1

Pīnyīn EnglishDōngní: Àiměi, zăoān. Tony: Good morning, Amy.

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Àiměi: Zăo. Nǐ hǎo ma? Amy: Good morning. How are you?

Dōngní: Wǒ hěn hǎo, xièxie. Nǐ ne? Tony: I'm fine, thanks. How about you?

Àiměi: Wǒ yě hěn hǎo. Jīntiān nǐmáng bù máng? Amy: I'm also fine. Are you busy

today?

Dōngní: Jīntiān wǒ hěn máng. Wǒyǒu wǔ jié kè. Tony: I'm very busy today. I have

five classes.

Àiměi: Wǔ jié?! Tài duō le! Jīntiānwǒ zhĭ yǒu yì jié. Amy: Five?! That's too many!

Today I only have one.Dōngní: Yì jié?! Tài shăo le! Tony: One?! That's too few!

Dialogue 2

Pīnyīn English

Vocabulary

Simplified (traditional in parentheses)

Pīnyīn Part of speech English [ m. ]

1. 一 yī (num) one

2. 二 èr (num) two

3. 三 sān (num) three

4. 四 sì (num) four

5. 五 wǔ (num) five

6. 六 liù (num) six

7. 七 qī (num) seven

8. 八 bā (num) eight

9. 九 jiǔ (num) nine

10. 十 shí (num) ten

11. 早 zăo (n) morning; good morning

12. 安 ān (adj) peaceful

13. 早安 zăoān (phrase) good morning

14. 很 hěn (adv) very

15. 谢谢 (謝謝) xièxie (v) thanks

16. 天 tiān (n) day/sky

17. 今天 jīntiān (n) today

18. 忙 máng (adj) busy

19. 有 yǒu (v) to have, possess

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S + V 不 V + O?

Because the bù in affirmative-negative questions is often said quickly, marking the tone on bù is not strictly necessary in their case.

S + adj. 不 adj.?

20. 没 méi (adv) negates yǒu

21. 节 (節) jié (m) (measure word for sections of things)

22. 课 (課) kè (n) class [节]

23. 太 tài (adv) too, extremely

24. 了 le (part) (combines with 太 - seegrammar)

25. 多 duō (adj) many

26. 少 shăo (adj) few

27. 只 zhĭ (adv) only, merely

Grammar

Le [了] as emphasizer

The particle le [了] as used here serves to add emphasis to the verb or adjective of the sentence. It is often seen pairedwith tài [太] to express excessiveness.

Affirmative-negative questions

A sentence can be made into a question by having both affirmative and negative options together. To answer in the affirmative, the verb or adjective is repeated. (An affirmative adjective in this case is usually preceded by hěn [很] toavoid a comparitive tone.) Responding in the negative is simply saying "not verb" or "not adjective".

Example:

Q: 他是不是东尼?

Tā shì bu shì Dōngní?Is he Tony?

A: 是。or 不是。

Shì. or Bú shì.Yes (he is). or No (he isn't).

Example:

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S + 有 + O

S + 没 + 有 + O

Q:今天艾美忙不忙?

Jīntiān Àiměi máng bù máng?Is Amy busy today?

A: 她很忙。or 她不忙。

Tā hěn máng. or Tā bù máng.Yes, she's busy. or No, she's not busy.

Sentences using yǒu [有]

Yǒu [有] means to have and indicates possession.

Example:我有三节课。

Wǒ yǒu sān jié kè.I have three classes.

Yǒu is negated when preceded by méi [没].

Example:今天她们没有一节课。

Jīntiān tāmen méi yǒu yì jié kè.They don't have any class today.

Lesson 3: An introduction to particlesThe Chinese language employs heavy usage of particles to modify the meaning of characters and sentences. Since Chinesehas neither inflections nor tense, the mastery of particles is an absolute must if one is to fully comprehend both written andspoken Chinese. Below, you will find some of the most common particles in everyday Chinese.

The De [的] particle as possessive

The particle de [的] can be used to indicate possession. It is roughly equivalent to the contraction "X's" in English, whereX is the subject.

1. 她的名字是金妮。

Tā de míngzi shì Jīnní.

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A 比 B + Adj.

Her name is Ginny.

The Le/Liăo particle

Perfect Particle, Completive Particle The 了 particle is used mainly to indicate a completed action (in English, this is the perfect aspect).

Example: 他 走 了。 Tā zŏu le. He has gone.The "le" here is used to modify 走 (zŏu, to go) into an action which has already been completed.

了 can also be used as an imperative, that is, a command which is issued by the subjectExample: 别 再 打扰 我 了! Bié zài dărăo wŏ le! Do not bother me again!In this instance, le is used in conjunction with bié ("do not") to form an imperative. Note: most imperatives are not formed using this construction.

Finally, 了, as in Liăo (a homographic variant) can be used to indicate the subject's capability in doing such and such.

Example: 我 实在 吃 不 了 了。 Wŏ shízài chī bù liăo le. I cannot possibly eat any more.At first glance, this sentence may seem a bit daunting as it includes two instances of the le particle, paired side-by-side.However, the first le is understood to be liăo given its placement (bù + le is a nonsensical pairing). Therefore, liăo serves toindicate the capability of eating any further and le emphasizes this assertion.

The Zhe/Zháo particle

The Zhe/Zháo particle is another particle that you'll frequently encounter in the course of your Chinese studies. Zhe, whenadded beside a character and thus forming a preposition, is used primarily to indicate an action which is continuous.

Example: 他 睡着觉 时 有人 敲门。 Tā shuìzhe jiào shí yŏurén qiāomén. While he was sleeping, someone knocked on the door.

In addition, Zháo is used to indicate accomplishment.

Example: 我 终於 把 东西 买 着 了! Wŏ zhōngyú bă dōngxī măi zháo le. I've finally been able to buy this item!The bă (noun) (verb) zháo (le) construction is a particularly useful one and should be studied.

This Page Contains Content for Later Placement in Lessons

Comparisons Using bǐ [比]

Comparisons can be made using bǐ [比]. Adverbs (like 不,也,只,都)and any auxilary verbs are placed before bǐ in the sentence. The amount of the disparity between the two is placed after the adjective.

1. 她比我忙。

Tā bǐ wǒ máng.

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She is busier than I am.

2. 东尼也比我忙很多。

Dōngní yě bǐ wǒ máng hěn duō.Tony is also a lot busier than I am.

Measure Words/量词(liang4ci2)

In Chinese, most specified or numbered nouns must be preceded by measure words according to the type of object. It islike the English use of “pair” in the phrase “two pairs of pants”. Like the word “pair,” Chinese measure words are placedbetween the noun and the preceding number or demonstrative pronoun.

1. 这本书里没有一个汉字。

Zhè bĕn shū lǐ méi yŏu yí gè Hànzì.This book doesn’t contain one Chinese character.

2. 那间宿舍有六十个学生。

Nà jiān sùshè yŏu liùshí ge xuésheng.That dorm has sixty students.

Some Common Measure Words

For most items, "个" gè is used as a general measure word. 一个书包 yí gè shū bāo. Use "个" when you are unsure of thecorrect measure word to use.

For bigger animals like cows, we use "头". 一头牛 yì tóu niú. In this example, "一" is our number, "牛" was the item wewere counting, and "头" was our measure word. Literally translated into English, "头" means head. So literally we aresaying one head of cow. However, for horses, we use "匹". 一匹马 yì pǐ mă. One horse.

For medium-sized domestic animals like dogs or chickens, the measure word is "只" zhī. 一只狗 yì zhī gŏu. One dog. Forfish and snakes, however, we use "条" tiáo. 一条鱼 yì tiáo yú. One fish.

For vehicles, the measure word is "辆" liàng. 一辆车 yí liàng chē. One car. For boats, however, "艘" sōu is used. 一艘船 yìsōu chuán. One boat.

For clothes and furniture, the measure word is "件" jiàn. 一件衣服 yí jiàn yī fù. One piece of clothing.

For flat things like paper or tables, we use "张" zhāng. 一张纸 yì zhāng zhĭ. One piece of paper.

For flowers and clouds, we use "朵" duŏ. 一朵花 yì duŏ huā. One flower.

For things with handles like knives, scissors and umbrellas we use "把" bă. 一把刀 yì bă dāo. One knife. The officialmeasure word for scissors is "把", however, many Chinese use "个" when speaking. In written Chinese however, peopleusually revert to "把".

A more complete reference list of Chinese measure words can be found in the Wikipedia.

Where are you going? 你去哪儿?

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王明:你好,李红。

李红:嗨!王明。你去哪儿?王明:图书馆。你呢?李红:回家。王明:再见。李红:再见。

Wang Ming: Nǐ hǎo, Lǐ Hóng.

Li Hong: Hài! Wáng Míng. nǐ qùnǎr?Wang Ming: Túshūguǎn, nǐ ne?Li Hong: Huí jiā.Wang Ming: Zài jiàn.Li Hong: Zài jiàn.

Wang Ming: Hello, Li Hong.

Li Hong: Hi, Wang Ming. Where are you going?Wang Ming: Library. What about you?Li Hong: Going home.Wang Ming: See you again.Li Hong: See you again.

NOTE: It's also appropriate with close friends (ones who you would use "你" (nǐ) instead of "您" (nín) with) to greet with "哎" (ai4), the closest equivalent in English being "Hey". This can preceed or even take place of the traditional "你好" greet.Although if the pronounciation is stretched, it will sound as if you are complaining about something, which uses the samecharacter.

Vocabulary

嗨 / hài = hi去 / qù = go哪儿 / nǎr = where图书馆 / túshūguǎn = library再见 / zàijiàn = bye, goodbye (literally: see you again)

这是什么? What's this?Text 1

You can check out the translation here

王明:这是什么?

李红:这是书。王明:那是什么?李红:那是钢笔。王明:那是杂志吗?李红:不,那不是杂志。那是字典。

Wáng Míng: Zhè shì shěnme?Lǐ Hóng: Zhè shì shū.Wáng Míng: Nà shì shěnme?Lǐ Hóng: Nà shì gāngbǐ.Wáng Míng: Nà shì zázhì ma?Lǐ Hóng: Bù, nà bùshì zázhì. Nà shìzìdiǎn.

Text 2

王明是中国人。

王明是学生。史密斯是美国人。史密斯是王明的朋友。史密斯是律师。

Wáng Míng shì Zhōngguórén.

Wáng Míng shì xuéshēng.Shīmìsī shì Měiguórén.Shīmìsī shì Wángmíng de péngyǒu.Shīmìsī shì lǜshī.

Vocabulary

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Note on Chinese Names: Chinese Names are always presented in the FAMILY-NAME/FIRST-NAME format. The Familyname is passed down paternally from the father (In most cases, except in exceptionally cases such as divorce/unknownparentage..etc). Most family names have only one characters. However, there are some dual-character (or moreuncommonly mulitple charactered) family names such as 欧阳(ou1yang2); 司徒(si1tu2); 司马(si1ma3); 诸葛(zhu1ge2)..etc. These family names evolved from originally non-Han family names which have been eventually assimilateinto the general Han culture. Hence a man called 王明 (Wáng Míng) is addressed as Mr. WANG, not Mr. MING. A ladycalled 李红 (Lǐ Hóng) is addressed as Miss/Madam LI. However, if the person has a Christian First name, it is presented inthe FIRST-NAME/FAMILY-NAME format, following the Western convention. Hence if 李红 (Lǐ Hóng) has a Christianfirst name of Mary, she is usually introduced as "Mary LI" and not "Li Mary"

王明 (Wáng Míng) n. Wang Ming [personal name] [Wang= Family Name, Ming=First name/Personal name]

李红 (Lǐ Hóng) n. Li Hong [personal name] [Li= Family Name, Hong= First/Personal name]

这 (zhè) pron. this

是 (shì) v. to be (is/are)

什么 (Mainlandshěnmeand Taiwan shěme)

pron. what

那 (nà) pron. that

笔 (bǐ) n. pen; a generic term for all pens

钢笔 (gāngbǐ) n. fountain pen

铅笔 (qian1bǐ) n. pencil

原子笔 (yuan2zi2bǐ) n. ballpoint pen

毛笔 (mao2bǐ) n. brush (calligraphy pen)

杂志 (zázhì) n. magazine

报纸 (bao4zhi1) n. newspaper

书本 (shu1ben3) n. book

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传单 (chuan2dan1) n. pamplet

吗 (ma) final interrogative particle usedto form a question sentence

不 (bù) adv. no

字典 (zìdiǎn) n. dictionary

人 (rén) n. person/people

中国人 (Zhōngguórén) n. PRC Chinese (中国:China 人:people)

外国人 (Wai4Guo2rén) n. Foreigners (外:Outside 国:Country 人:People)

日本人 (Ri4ben3rén) n. Japanese (日本:Japan 人:People)

英国人 (ying1guórén) n. British (英国:Britian 人:People)

新加坡人(xin1jia1po1rén) n. Singaporean (新加坡:Singapore)

美国人 (mei3guórén) n. American

学生 (xuéshēng) n. student

老师 (lao3shi1) n. teacher

校长 (xiao4zhang3) n. principal

史密斯 (Shǐmìsī) n. Smith

美国人 (Měiguórén) n. American

朋友 (péngyǒu) n. friend

律师 (lǜshī) n. lawyer

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笔记本/筆記本 (bǐjìběn)铅笔/鉛筆 (qiānbǐ)英国人/英國人 (Yīngguórén)法国人/法國人 (Fǎguórén)报纸/報紙 (bàozhǐ)老师/老師 (lǎoshī)作家 (zuòjiā)

n. notepadsn. penciln. British peoplen. French peoplen. newspapern. teachern. writer

Stroke orders

More will be added if it's helpful.

Grammar

In this lesson, we learn how to say "something is something" in Chinese. The first thing you need to know is that the sentence structure of Chinese is very similar to that of English in that they both follow the pattern of Subject-Verb-Object (SVO). But unlike many western languages, verbs in Chinese aren't conjugated and noun and adjective endings don't change. They are never affected by things such as time or person.

这(/那)是什么?

This sentence means "What's this/that?":

这是什么?(What's this?)1.那是什么?(What's that?)2.

The sentences, if broken down literally, shows that the ordering of words differs in English and Chinese:

这/那 是 什么 ?

this/that is what ?

The order of the sentences may seem a little bit tricky, but don't worry about that, we will discuss this later.

A 是 B

This sentence means "A is B."

"是" (shì), the equational verb to be, can be used as the English is or equals. When used in a simple Subject-Verb-Object sentence, the subject defines the object. Since Chinese verbs never change, no other forms for shì exist such as was or am inEnglish. Also, articles like a and the are absent in Chinese. They are not translated.

For example:

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这是书 (zhe4 shi4 shu1): this is (a) book.1.那是杂志 (na4 shi4 za2 zhi4): that is (a) magazine.2.

A 不是 B

This sentence means "A is not B." in which shì is negated when preceded by "不" (bu). "不" literally means "no", "not".

For example:

这不是书 (zhe4 bu2 shi4 shu1): this is not (a) book.

Now, we come back to the "what's this/that?" questions. We already see that the order is a bit tricky comparing to theEnglish question order. But comparing to the latter pattern "A 是 B", we find the similarity: their orders are identically thsame. In fact, like particles, question words make statements into questions without changing the order of the sentence. Tomake one, simply substitute the QW in for place the subject would be in the answer.

Comparison:

这是书。(This is (a) book.)1.这是什么?(This is what?)2.

那是杂志。(That is (a) magazine.)1.那是什么?(That is what?)2.

"吗" is a final interrogative particle used to form a question sentence. Adding this character at the end of a statementtransforms the sentence into a question.

Example 1:

这是书 (zhe4 shi4 shu1)。(This is (a) book.)↓

这是书吗 (zhe4 shi4 shu1 ma)?(Is this (a) book?)

Example 2:

这不是杂志 (zhe4 bu2 shi4 za2 zhi4)。(This is not (a) magazine.)↓

这不是杂志吗(zhe4 bu2 shi4 za2 zhi4 ma)?(Isn't this (a) magazine?)

是/不

"是" (shi4) can be used to answer a simple yes/no question. In this case, "是" means yes, whilst "不" (bu2) or "不是" (bu2shi4) means no (literally, not is).

How to answer yes/no questions correctly in Chinese? Usually, it's the same as in English, but pay attention if the questionare negative, like "Isn't this a book?". In Chinese, you answer to the questions, not the fact. If the question itself is anegative answer, use "不是" or simply "不", vice versa. For example:

A: 这不是书吗?zhe4 bu2 shi4 shu1 ma? (Isn't this (a) book? = This is not a book, right?)B: 是,这不是书。shi4, zhe4 bu2 shi4 shu1. (No, this is not (a) book. = You are right; this is not a book.)B: 不,这是书。bu4, zhe4 shi4 shu1. (Yes, this is (a) book. = You're wrong; this is a book.)

A asks if that's a book in a negative way. If the object is not a book, you should nevertheless approve A's saying first. So wuse "是" to acknowledge that A is correct, and then say "this is not (a) book" to emphasis A is right; In the case of that is a

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book, you should deny A's saying first, using "不" (no) to point out A is wrong, then make a new statement by noting that "这是书" (this is (a) book). One more example:

他今天晚上不来参加宴会了,对吗?(He's not going to the party tonight, is he?)不,他肯定要来。(Yes, he's defintely coming.)是 啊,他很忙呢!(No, he's so busy!)

Character "的" indicates that the previous word has possession of the next one. In English it functions like 's or like the word of but with the position of possessor and possessee switched. For example:

史密斯的书 <-> Smith's book1.王明的钢笔 <-> Wang Ming's pen2.约翰** (Yuēhàn: John)的朋友** (péngyǒu: friend) <-> John's friend or a friend of John's3.

Exercise

Replace the underline words, and practise.史密斯是美国人。

英国人法国人

1.

这不是杂志。书笔记本*铅笔

2.

1.

Replace the underline words, and then answer the questions with both positive answers and negative answers.Example:史密斯是法国人吗?

是,史密斯是法国人。不,史密斯不是法国人。

那是杂志吗?钢笔铅笔报纸*

1.

王明是学生吗?律师老师*作家*

2.

2.

Translate the following English into Chinese.Wang Ming is not a teacher. Wang Ming is a student. Wang Ming is a Chinese. Wang Ming is not an American.

1.

Smith is a lawyer. Smith is not a writer. Smith is an American. Smith is not a French.2.This is Smith's book. That is Wang Ming's pen.3.

3.

Further reading

Read the following article, and then answer the questions in Chinese.

你好(nǐhǎo, hello),我(wǒ, I)是王明。我是学生,我是中国人。这是史密斯。史密斯是我的1 朋友,史密斯是律师。那是史密斯的妻子(qīzi, wife),安娜(Ana)。安娜是我的英语(yīngyǔ, English language)老师。

1."我 的" means "my", we will discuss this in the next lesson.

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Questions:

Who is "I"?1.What does Smith do?2.Who is Ana?3.What does Ana do?4.

Useful phrases

Greetings. How to greet people in Chinese?

你好!(nǐhǎo): Hello!嗨!(hài): Hi!幸會 (xing4 hui4) Great to meet you!你吃过饭了吗?(chī guò fàn le ma?): Have you had your meal? (This is a causal greeting between friends etc. Butit doesn't mean you are asked to a dinner! Another derivation of this phrase commmonly used in Beijing is "你吃了吗?")再见。(zàijiàn): Goodbye拜拜。(bāibāi): Bye-bye回头见。(huítóu jiàn): See you later.

Translation for the text

Chinese characters Sentences breakdown English translation

Text 1

王明:这是什么?(王明:這是什麼?)李红:这是书。(李紅:這是書。)王明:那是什么?(王明:那是什麼?)李红:那是钢笔。(李紅:那是鋼筆。)王明:那是杂志吗?(王明:那是雜誌嗎?)李红:不,那不是杂志。那是字典。(李紅:不,那不是雜誌。那是字典。)

Text 1

Wang Ming: This is what?Li Hong: This is book.Wang Ming: That is what?Li Hong: That is pen.Wang Ming: That is magazine (final interrogative particle)?Li Hong: No, that not is magazine, this is dictionary.

Text 1

Wang Ming: What's this?Li Hong: This is a book.Wang Ming: What's that?Li Hong: That's a pen.Wang Ming: Is this a magazine?Li Hong: No, that's not a magazine. That's a dictionary.

Text 2

王明是中国人。王明是学生。史密斯是美国人。史密斯是王明 的 朋友。史密斯是律师。

Text 2

Wang Ming is Chinese.Wang Ming is student.Smith is American.Smith is Wang Ming's friend.Smith is lawyer.

Text 2

Wang Ming is Chinese.Wang Ming is a student.Smith is American.Smith is Wang Ming's friend.Smith is a lawyer.

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LicenseGNU Free Documentation License

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0. PREAMBLE

The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not being considered responsible for modifications made by others.

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This License applies to any manual or other work, in any medium, that contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the terms of this License. Such a notice grants a world-wide, royalty-free license, unlimited in duration, to use that work under the conditions stated herein. The "Document", below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member of the public is a licensee, and is addressed as "you". You accept the license if you copy, modify or distribute the work in a way requiring permission under copyright law.

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You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License. You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute. However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies. If you distribute a large enough number of copies you must also follow the conditionin section 3.

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If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document numbering more than 100, you must either include a machine-readable Transparent copy along with each Opaque copy, or state in or with each Opaque copy a computer-network location from which the general network-using public has access to download using public-standard network protocols a complete Transparent copy of the Document, free of added material. If you use the latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps, when you begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure that this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at the stated location until at least one year after the last time you distribute aOpaque copy (directly or through your agents or retailers) of that edition to the public.

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Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section 4. Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special permission from their copyright holders, but you may include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a translation of this License, and all the license notices in the Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also include the original English version of this License and the original versions of those notices and disclaimers. In case of a disagreement between the translation and the original version of this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will prevail.

If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", or "History", the requirement (section 4) to Preserve its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the actual title.

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The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.

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