Mandarin Phrases

Your free phrasebook

Everyday Mandarin phrases, made to stick

Each guide gives you the characters, the pinyin and native audio you can tap and repeat — so you learn how a phrase truly sounds, not just how it’s spelled. New to pinyin and tones? Listening is the fastest way in.

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Tap to hear

Native audio on every phrase — listen and repeat until it feels natural.

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Search or browse

Find a phrase fast, or explore the Mandarin phrases by category below.

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Flashcard mode

Inside each guide, hide the meanings and test yourself — tap to reveal.

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Hanzi + pinyin

Characters, pronunciation and a note on exactly when to use each one.

01

Greetings & goodbyes

02

Politeness & gratitude

03

Celebrations & toasts

04

Feelings

No phrases match — try another word.

Getting the most from your phrasebook

Three habits that turn phrases you’ve read into phrases you can actually say.

1

Say it out loud

Don’t just read — repeat each phrase aloud right after the audio. Speaking builds the muscle memory that silent reading never will.

2

A little, often

Five minutes a day beats an hour once a week. Pick one topic, learn a handful of phrases, and come back tomorrow.

3

Shadow the audio

Play a phrase and talk over it at the same time, copying the rhythm and tones. It’s the fastest way to start sounding natural.

Mandarin phrases — FAQs

Start with a few dozen high-frequency ones — greetings, please and thank you, numbers, and a handful of restaurant and direction phrases. They cover most everyday encounters, and this phrasebook walks through them one topic at a time.
Simplified characters — the standard across mainland China and most Mandarin courses. The pinyin and audio stay the same whichever script you later choose to read.
Yes — Mandarin’s tones change meaning, so they matter. That’s exactly why every phrase here includes native audio: copy what you hear and the tones come along for free.
Standard Mandarin (Putonghua), spoken by a native voice — the form taught across China and in most courses worldwide. Cantonese is a separate language with its own pronunciation, so the audio here is Mandarin only.
Not at all. Every phrase comes with pinyin and native audio, so you can learn to say it confidently without reading a single character. The hanzi are there for whenever you’re ready to start recognising them.

Keep exploring WillyChina

Phrases are just the start — here’s where to go next.

Want to actually speak it?

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