Here are 150 most commonly used Chinese Verbs List to kickstart your Chinese language learning.

The Chinese Verbs List is categorised according to the English verbs in alphabetical order. The definition of a verb is to describe an action, state or occurrence of an event in a sentence such as eat, go, come etc.

While we express an English sentence with its verb used, some Chinese words may not necessarily have equivalent Chinese verbs similar to that of English. Sometimes in Mandarin, we use an auxiliary verb + noun to denote a specific English verb.

An English word may be a verb or a noun. One example is “work“. “I work in a company” vs “I have work to do“. On this page, we concentrate only on the English verbs so that the English speakers have a better understanding of the Chinese Verbs meaning.

If there are close associations with 2 or more Chinese Verbs such as “speak, say, tell” and “hear, listen“, I would also place them together in the same post because they would likely share the same Chinese words.

I would be giving sentence examples of all the Chinese Verbs slowly. If there is any word that interest you, click on the right side of the column to “Learn More“.

If the Chinese Verbs also act like a noun in English, you would be able to read both the application. An English verb would likely contain several meanings of the Chinese Verbs. I would focus on the more common Chinese Verbs frequently used in our daily life.

Basic Chinese Verbs List

Beat in Chinese has several meanings just like English. We will focus on five ways of saying Beat in Chinese.

① Offensive: Beat in Chinese – 打 Dǎ

There are two words to say Beat in Chinese. The first word is 打 Dǎ. It means beating someone up, hitting or assaulting someone as an offensive gesture.

② Offensive: Beat in Chinese – 揍 Zòu

The other aggressive way to say Beat in Chinese is 揍 Zòu which also means trash. A Chinese who uses the word 揍 Zòu is usually feeling angry or relieving their anger by wanting to beat a person up. Sometimes, we also use this word in a joking manner to our friend when they say something unpleasant to us, just like the second sentence below.

③ Yummy: Beat an Egg – 打 Dǎ

Yummy! Coincidentally, beating an egg in English is a direct translation in Mandarin using the word 打鸡蛋 Dǎ jīdàn.

④ Triumph: Beat in Chinese 击败 Jíbài or 打败 Dǎbài

During a competition, if you beat someone in a game, it means you defeat a person. You can use either 击败 Jíbài or 打败 Dǎbài in a sentence.

⑤ Hitting on Surface: Beat in Chinese – 敲打 Qiāodǎ

A little irritation here when someone is tapping on the table making unwanted noises. 敲打 Qiāodǎ means hitting something on the surface.

• 是谁在敲打我窗？Shì shéi zài qiāodǎ wǒ chuāng?

“Who is hitting on my window?” It is the first-line lyric from a famous old Chinese song – 被遗忘的时光 Bèi Yíwàng de Shíguāng (Forgotten Times) sang by a renowned Taiwanese singer 蔡琴 Càiqín released in 1979, well-known for her low sexy voice.

This song is very soothing to hear especially at night which makes it one of the best Chinese oldies around. Listen to it!

• 为什么不能用筷子敲打碗盆？Wèishéme bùnéng yòng kuàizi qiāodǎ wǎn pén?

Why can’t one hit the chopsticks on the bowl and plate?  While waiting for the food to come, children especially have a habit of doing that when they are bored.

There is a Chinese taboo that hitting the bowl with chopstick associates one with a beggar. Only a beggar will do that. The parents will stop their children from developing this habit for fear of them becoming poor in future, if not a beggar.

You have learned five ways to say the word Beat in Mandarin. Refer to the Chinese Verbs list for other words.

Chinese Verbs – Ask | 问 Wen and Using Indirect Questions / Reported Speech in Mandarin

Ask in Chinese – 问 Wen Mandarin

Ask in Chinese is 问 Wèn Mandarin. For asking someone that you do not know well or a stranger, we frequently add 请问 Qǐngwèn, 请问你 Qǐngwèn nǐ or 请问您 Qǐngwèn nín (formal) at the start of our question which translates to “May I ask (you)…” especially when we ask for directions in Chinese. You can refer to the post for such examples.

How to Say “May I Ask You a Question” in Chinese?

Here are some ways to ask a question. The first two are to people with whom you are familiar, and the last two are usually not. If you have a couple of questions to ask, you can change 一个 Yīgè (singular) to 一些 Yīxiē (a few).

Why Reiterate “May I Ask” in Chinese When One Can Ask a Question Directly?

You can pose your questions directly to anyone without starting with “请问 Qǐngwèn” or “我想问 Wǒ xiǎng wèn”.

The purpose of starting a question with “May I ask” or “I would like to ask” in Chinese before your actual question is to prep the other party into a condition before their replies.

Sometimes the question posed can be rather solemn or sensitive. Hence, the reiteration of “Can I ask you (something)?” before revealing the real subject in mind.

Moreover, the person asking might have an emotional state and requires more time to organise his thoughts or questions before popping it.

8 Possible Ways to Ask in Chinese

Below are 8 Possible ways to Ask in Chinese. The dotted lines are the actual questions that you really want to ask and can be anything else.

Forming Non-Questions Sentences with Ask in Mandarin – 问 Wen Chinese

A few examples not relating to asking questions including the negation – 不问 Bù wèn and 没问 Méi wèn. In my opinion, the most common and generic phrases used out of the above eight to ask in Chinese would be “我想问(你)…” for all circumstances. At least, that is what I would typically use. Some others would sound a bit authoritative and perhaps abrupt if you do not know a person well.

Indirect Questions / Reported Speech to Ask in Chinese

Indirect Question is also known as Reported Question or Reported Speech in English when you ask in Chinese.

• Direct Question: “Do you smoke?” 
• Indirect Question: “He asked me if I smoked.”

Learning similar Reported Speech phrasal construction in Mandarin is practical for everyday conversation.

Note that in the Mandarin Indirect Questions, the Chinese language does not take the Subordinate Conjunction words like ‘if’ and ‘whether’ into consideration during transliteration. In another word, ‘if’ and ‘whether’ are redundant words in the translated Chinese sentences here.

Chinese Reported Questions are not that difficult to form due to the lack of tenses, unlike English. Fundamentally, the Chinese Reported Speech follows accordingly to the direct questions with minimal changes. One good example is a change from ‘here‘ to ‘there‘.

I have placed a symbol | to indicate the duplicate phrase asked in the subordinate clause of the Reported Speech.

The last sentence is a rephrasing of the original question asked in Chinese. Certainly of what is happening in real life where you might not parrot out every word that has been said but only to summarise the gist of the question.

To learn more Chinese Verbs, refer to the list of more than 150 Mandarin verbs.

How to Say Master in Chinese?

How do you say Master in Chinese? Many non-Chinese men that I have met knew the Chinese name for Master – SHIFU even when they barely understand Mandarin. Moreover, they are always enthusiastic about the title – Shifu or Sifu if they have been watching too many Martial Arts 功夫 Gōngfū films. That is how many they understand the term Master in Mandarin.

Shifu or Sifu?

Master in Chinese is 师傅 Shīfù or 师父 Shīfu? The Pinyin for 师 is Shi and not Si. Sifu is a Cantonese pronunciation, pronounced as “See-foo” (‘C-fool’ without the ‘L’ sound). If you are unsure of the Shi and the Si sound, check out the post on Difference between Z, C, S and ZH, CH, SH Sound to hear the intonation between Shi and Si.

The Pinyin for both “Fu” has different accent marks (父 fu is a neutral sound here) which indicate that they should have different pronunciation. However, the difference in pronunciation is not apparent and does not apply in this case. 父 has also a Pinyin sound of fù.

Difference Between Shifu Chinese:
师傅 and 师父

Master in Chinese – 师傅 Shīfù

In some Chinese skilled professions, we call these artisans and craftsmen “Master 师傅 Shīfù” when they teach or work in some industries requiring craft and technical skills.

师傅 Shīfù can also be a mentor during an apprenticeship like a teacher. The apprentice is thus called 徒弟 Túdì.

The other known professions which we call 师傅 Shīfù are the chefs working in the restaurants. On the subject of occults and metaphysics, we call the mediums and fortune-tellers as 师傅 Shīfù too.

So, don’t be surprised if you hear the name called on somebody in a profession. Be it whether they are indeed a teacher or a professional master in their field of specialisation or not.

师傅 Chinese Shifu Profession

Master in Mandarin – 师父 Shīfu

The other Chinese term is 师父 Shīfu which also denotes Master in Chinese. The modern Chinese dictionary defines the two terms as the same as nowadays, people rarely write 师父 Shīfu anymore as compared to 师傅 Shīfù due to modernised evolution that makes 师父 Shīfu seem antiquated.

师父 Shifu Meaning

What is 师父 Shīfu meaning here? We address the Buddhist monks, nuns and Taoist priests 师父 Shīfu as a form of respect for them.

In the olden days when someone has a disciple 徒弟 Túdì or a Buddhist disciple 弟子 Dìzǐ, he would call his teacher 师父 Shīfu. The Chinese word 父 Fù means father.

The teacher or the master would take care of the disciple like his own son. Therefore, there was a special bonding between the two of them which the teacher was regarded as a father to the disciple.

Such a close relationship between the teacher and disciple can go on until the end of their life. Hence, the word 师父 Shīfu which illustrates a connection more than that of a teacher and his student.

Nowadays, it is no surprise that such a close-knitted relationship is hardly in existence due to social evolution. Even the Chinese dictionary has to modernise and mould its meaning to accommodate the redundancy.

Conclusion: 师傅 VS 师父

In summary, Master in Chinese is 师父 = 师傅 and the modern word used today is 师傅 Shīfù. Hence, there should be no discrepancy between the two.

*Profile Image: Confucius 

How to Say Teacher in Chinese?

There are a few ways to call Teacher in Chinese. The most well-known name is 老师 Lǎoshī because it is a generic name for any field of studies. However, it is always good to be aware of a few terms of Teacher in Mandarin other than 老师 Lǎoshī.

Recommended Reading: How to Say “Teach” and “Teaching” in Chinese, forming sentences with the Mandarin verbs and nouns.

Here is a little more information on the respect level in Chinese culture for teachers. A teacher is a very respected figure, especially in the older generation, where the literacy level back then was lesser compared to modern education. People were less educated and respected the teaching profession very much.

That said, you will never hear someone called a teacher by his name. He will always be respectfully addressed as “老师 Lǎoshī“. If you compare this to Western culture, you are allowed to call your teacher by his name. If you have a Chinese teacher, bear in mind never to call them by their names as this is regarded as disrespect in our culture unless they ask you to do so.

The eight traditional Chinese characters on the profile image “一日为师，终身为父 yī rì wéi shī, zhōng shēn wéi fù“, literally translated as “one day as a teacher, forever as a father“. That is to say, even if someone is your teacher for a day, you have to respect him like how you respect your father. Judging by this sentence, you would have guessed how the Chinese hold teachers in high esteem.

① School Teacher: 教师 Jiàoshī

Usually, 教师 Jiàoshī refers to a teacher in a mainstream education system. The below Chinese term 教师 Jiàoshī can be replaced by 老师 Lǎoshī too.

② Teacher: 老师 Lǎoshī

老师 Lǎoshī is a generic name in any field of discipline. You can almost call any teacher in Chinese as your 老师 Lǎoshī. The main difference between 教师 Jiàoshī and 老师 Lǎoshī is that you cannot call your teacher as 教师 Jiàoshī when addressing them as seen from the example below:-

How to Address a Chinese Teacher Correctly?

You can add the Chinese Teacher’s surname (or name) in front of 老师 Lǎoshī if you wish. 老师 Lǎoshī is gender-neutral. The proper way to address a teacher is to use the formal You – 您 Nín instead of the standard You – 你 Nǐ.

Type of Teacher in Chinese

Here is a list of Teacher in Chinese = Subject + 老师 Lǎoshī. You also learn the Chinese terms of the subjects. Alternatively, many terms below can be replaced by 教师 Jiàoshī if the teacher comes from a mainstream school.

③  Mentor in Chinese – 导师 Dǎoshī

When someone plays a role in providing guidance or mentoring, the person is a mentor 导师 Dǎoshī. It can be in any field of subjects.

Chinese Singing Contest

If you have watched the Chinese or Taiwanese singing competitions where a competitor is assigned a mentor, you will hear this term often. The TV programme is popular among Asian cultures, particularly the Chinese-speaking countries. Other than that, the term is not frequently used.

Here is a Youtube link to the most popular singing contest in China 四大战队导师歌曲串烧开场秀《中国新歌声2》 where you hear the compère repeat the word 导师 + Names of the Mentor two times within the first 2 seconds of the variety show.

④ Master: 师傅 / 师父 Shifu

师傅 Shīfù means Master in Chinese. He or She can be a teacher or perhaps not. The section on How to Say Master in Chinese will tell you more on:

• Who are the people qualified to be called 师傅 Shīfù and 师父 Shīfu?
• Difference between 师傅 Shīfù and 师父 Shīfu.

Check out the post!

Chinese Verbs – Teach | 教 Jiao and Chinese Nouns – Teaching | 教导 Jiaodao, 教学 Jiaoxue

Teach in Mandarin is 教 Jiào. It can also refer to the noun Teaching in Chinese when translating the sentence into English. However, 教 Jiào is not a precise word for ‘Teaching‘ as there are other more appropriate words for it – 教学 Jiàoxué.

教导 Jiàodǎo is also another word for Teaching or Teach in Mandarin. The difference between 教 and 教导 is that 教导 Jiàodǎo has a connotation to giving guidance to someone.

① Teach in Mandarin – 教 Jiao

To show respect when talking to the teachers, you may want to use the word 您 Nín as a more formal address to someone instead of 你 Nǐ.

* 名 Míng is a classifier for people and does not refer to the meaning of “name” in the first sentence below.

② Teaching and Teach in Mandarin – 教导 Jiàodǎo

We can use 教导 Jiàodǎo as a Chinese verb for Teach in Mandarin or a noun as Teaching in Chinese. Since the keyword reference of 教导 Jiàodǎo is Guidance, it can also refer to other types of teaching not related to mainstream education.

③ Teaching in Chinese – 教学 Jiaoxue

教学 Jiàoxué can only be used as a noun and never a verb as opposed to 教导 Jiàodǎo which can be both. 教学 Jiàoxué stresses on solely the teaching method in the aspect of education or understanding the subjects of study, but it does not denote guidance.

In the next supplementary post, I will explain some differences between teachers – 老师 Lǎoshī vs 教师 Jiàoshī. Moreover, I will also provide a list of subjects, so you know the right term to describe these teachers. Besides, there is a section why some people in some professions are called “Master” – 师傅 Shīfù.

Chinese Verbs – Write | 写 Xie in Mandarin

Write in Chinese is 写 Xiě. With the previous post about the Chinese verb – Read in Chinese, it came as no surprise that Write has to be the next in line, especially for Chinese beginner.

写 Xiě is a generic word and you can add character before or after it to form another meaning related to writing.

How to Write My Name in Chinese?

I can see that many foreigners wanting to learn Mandarin would ask to have their name translated into Chinese characters so they could learn to write and have a Chinese name. How cool is that! Here a few sentences to ask someone to teach and tell you how to write your name in Chinese.

If you want to learn to say “How to read your name in Mandarin“, check out the post on How to Read in Chinese?

① How to Write in Chinese – 写 Xie

Let’s move on to a few more examples, so you learn how to use the word Write in Chinese –写 Xiě.

• 学写 Xué xiě means to learn and write
• 字 Zì refers to the character or word
• 写字 Xiězì also means Write in Chinese
• 华文 Huáwén is another way to say Chinese which is equivalent to 中文 Zhōngwén

② Write Down in Chinese – 写下 Xie Xia

③ Fill In/Write in Chinese – 填写 Tianxie

填 Tián means fill. Therefore, 填写 Tiánxiě means to fill in and to write. This verb usually occurs when you are asked to fill in your particulars, details or information on a form. The form is called 表格 Biǎogé.

④ Copy/Write in Chinese – 抄写 Chaoxie

Here, although 抄写 Chāoxiě means copy in English, it does not imply plagiarising. Rewriting out or copying out a Chinese essay is conventional among some Chinese teaching methods to memorise the Chinese characters.

Take a look at the Chinese Verbs list and learn more Chinese verbs!

Chinese Verbs – Read | 读 Du, 看 Kan, 发音 Fayin and Chinese Nouns – Reading | 阅读 Yuedu in Mandarin

Read in Chinese primary meaning is 读 Dú and 阅读 Yuèdú. There are also a few other secondary words which also imply Read in Mandarin. They are 看 Kàn, 发音 Fāyīn and 念 Niàn which will be explained more in detail as you read on.

Understanding Read in Chinese is especially useful when you start learning Mandarin. I’ m sure you have a lot of Chinese words that you do not know how to read and want to ask someone to teach you how to read.

How to Say My Name in Chinese?

Many people would be interested to know how to say and read their name in Chinese. So here it goes.

If you want to learn to say “How to write your name in Mandarin“, check out the next post on “How to Write in Chinese“.

Difference Between 遍 and 篇 | Bian and Pian

It is worth noting that the measure word or frequency associating Read in Chinese is 遍 Biàn, which means “times” or “number of times“. You can replace the second character with other Chinese Ordinal Numbers to indicate the frequency.

Do not confuse遍 Biàn with 篇 Piān although both words look similar in writing and also related to Reading and Read in Chinese.

篇 Piān can denote a sheet (Measure Word), a page, a chapter, Chinese Measure Word for articles/essay.

If you pronounce the two words wrongly, ‘read once 读一遍‘ can be heard and understood as ‘read a page 读一篇‘. Nevertheless, you will read some examples below how we use the two words 遍 Biàn with 篇 Piān.

You can get some Pinyin Pronunciation Practice on Hearing the Difference between B and P Sound and how to pronounce them correctly.

① Read in Chinese – 读 Du

Although 读 Dú represents Read in Chinese, it can also mean “Study“. 读书 Dúshū is literally “Read Book” and equivalent to the meaning “study” and “going to school“.读书 Dúshū has a strong association with the word Studying rather than reading a book.

② Read in Chinese – 看 Kan

If you want to imply that you are reading a book, 看书 Kànshū would be a better word to use rather than 读书 Dúshū as it does not have an ambiguous meaning.

看 Kàn signifies Look and See in Chinese. However, we use 看 + ‘Reading Material‘ to express it as Read in Chinese.

For instance, we can use two Chinese Verbs – 读 Dú and 看 Kàn to:-

• Read the newspaper 读报纸 Dú bàozhǐ or 看报纸 Kàn bàozhǐ
• Read the news 读新闻 Dú xīnwén
• Watch the news 看新闻 Kàn xīnwén

Below are five examples which stress on the usage of 看 Kàn as Read in Chinese. Other than that, the use of 看 Kàn is quite limited if you want to use this word as Read in Mandarin.

③ Read and Reading in Chinese – 阅读 Yuedu

阅读 Yuèdú is a noun which means Reading in Chinese. It can also be a verb – Read in Chinese. 读 Dú is a general verb whereas 阅读 Yuèdú, used as a verb, has a meaning of reading and understanding the content of a subject thoroughly. 阅读 Yuèdú is used more as a Mandarin noun than as a verb.

④ Read Aloud in Chinese – 念 Nian

念 Niàn is a less common way to say Read in Mandarin. You are most likely to hear this word from a teacher in the class asking the students to read. The meaning of念 Niàn is to read aloud.

The Chinese word念 Niàn itself implies missing someone. Therefore, you are not likely to infer 念 Niàn as Read in Chinese in a typical conversation other than from the mouth of a teacher.

⑤ Pronounce in Mandarin – 发音 Fayin

If you want to ask someone how to read Hanyu Pinyin, as in the pronunciation or intonation of the word, you can use 发音 Fāyīn. You can also replace the word发音 Fāyīn in the sentences below with 读 Dú. 发音 Fāyīn can act as a noun – Pronunciation, or a verb – Pronounce in Mandarin.

If you are inspired to learn more about the Series of Chinese Pinyin, you can check out the category to learn how to pronounce them correctly. Yes, it is imperative to a decent Chinese pronunciation.

Check out more Chinese Verbs to Make you Verbal or learn the next Chinese Verb – How to Say “Write” in Chinese?

Chinese Noun and Verb: Application and Apply | 申请 Shenqing in Mandarin

Apply in Chinese is 申请 Shēnqǐng. We can use the Chinese word as a verb or as a noun – Application in Chinese. In this post, we only discuss the Chinese term as in ‘applying for something‘ and NOT an ‘application’ for a method.

① Application and Apply in Chinese – 申请 Shenqing

The three illustrations below may give you an idea of the placement of 申请 Shēnqǐng to the same descriptive noun would determine whether 申请 Shēnqǐng is a verb (Apply in Chinese) or a noun (Application in Chinese). They are almost like a literal English translation if it makes sense for you to understand better.

When 申请 Shēnqǐng is at the front of another subject noun, 申请 Shēnqǐng is likely to be Apply in Mandarin. If the placement is after the subject noun, the possibility of 申请 Shēnqǐng would then be Application in Chinese.

Although the above is a guideline, unfortunately, there are quite a few Chinese terms out there that would not follow it.

That is to say that 申请 Shēnqǐng would precede the Subject Noun instead. Some examples are:-

If you find it confusing, what you can do is to translate the English or Chinese phrase literally according to their position.

You may not always be right for all words. At least, that is what you see from the examples shown – a direct translation. Therefore, you may not be wrong either with some understanding of 申请 Shēnqǐng.

② Apply in Chinese as a Verb – 申请 Shenqing

The Chinese verb 申请 Shēnqǐng would be placed after the Subject Pronoun (I, he, she etc) like how you would say in English if you want to express it as Apply in Chinese.

③ Application in Chinese as a Noun – 申请 Shenqing

Application in Chinese is also 申请 Shēnqǐng. We can place 申请 Shēnqǐng before or after a noun as shown in the introduction above. When there is a refusal or rejection, we can use the phrase 被拒绝 Bèi jùjué. 被 Bèi is a passive word which means “being” in Chinese. 拒绝 Jùjué is refused/rejected.

There are more than 150 verbs which you can learn from the Chinese Verbs list to Make You Verbal.

Chinese Verbs – Seem | 似乎 Sihu, 好像 Haoxiang and 显得 Xiande in Mandarin

Seem in Chinese is 似乎 Sìhū, 好像 Hǎoxiàng, 显得 Xiǎndé. The meaning of these three Chinese verbs is so close that you can replace one another in most sentences without worrying much about the correct verb to use. They all refer to uncertainty where one cannot be sure of a situation or a fact.

However, to dissect the meaning of the three Chinese Verbs as Seem in Chinese with varying intensity of truth, they have a connotation of the below:-

似乎 Sìhū: Seem to, Seem like, As if
好像 Hǎoxiàng: Look like, As if
显得 Xiǎndé: Appear to be

① Seem in Chinese – 似乎 Sihu

When you use feeling or a sixth sense to express an opinion without concrete evidence, you use 似乎 Sìhū. The statement would then be a guess or an assumption.

② Seem in Chinese – 好像 Haoxiang

好像 Hǎoxiàng is a direct translation of Look Like in Chinese but it can also mean Seem in Mandarin. Therefore, It has two meanings in itself.

1) The first definition refers to a similarity in terms of physical appearance. An example:-

You look like your twin brother.
你看起来好像你的孪生兄弟。
Nǐ kàn qǐlái hǎoxiàng nǐ de luánshēng xiōngdì.

2) The second meaning is “look like“, which is equivalent to “seem like” and “as if” figuratively.

Comparing to 似乎 Sìhū, 好像 Hǎoxiàng shows more confirmatory signs in a situation which derives as “look like” and Seem in Chinese.

③ Seem in Chinese – 显得 Xiande

显得 Xiǎndé is Appear to be in Chinese. The English term suggests that it has a strong hint of what claims to be the truth yet, it may not be necessarily so. Appear to be is also Seem to be in Chinese.

Do not confuse this with Appear in Chinese which means “physical presence” and the opposite word is “Disappear“.

The last example above shows that you can concurrently use two Chinese Verbs from Seem in Chinese to form one sentence. Check out more Chinese Verbs to Make You Verbal.