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Chinese Basic Chinese Vocabulary Flashcards
50 question-and-answer cards covering Basic Chinese Vocabulary as it is examined in Chinese. 24 of them are printed below, taken from across the deck — no signup, no paywall on the preview.
24 sample cards from the Basic Chinese Vocabulary deck
Sampled from the end of the deck, so these are different cards from the ones shown on the syllabus page.
What is the character and pinyin for "three"?
三 (sān).
What are the characters and pinyin for "four" and "five"?
四 (sì) = four; 五 (wǔ) = five.
What are the characters and pinyin for "six" and "seven"?
六 (liù) = six; 七 (qī) = seven.
What are the characters and pinyin for "eight" and "nine"?
八 (bā) = eight; 九 (jiǔ) = nine.
What is the character and pinyin for "ten"?
十 (shí).
How are the numbers 11 through 19 formed in Chinese? Give 11, 15, and 19 as examples.
As $10 + n$: place 十 (10) then the digit. $11 = $ 十一 (shíyī), $15 = $ 十五 (shíwǔ), $19 = $ 十九 (shíjiǔ).
How are the tens (20, 30, ... 90) formed in Chinese? Give 20 and 50.
As $n \times 10$: digit then 十. $20 = $ 二十 (èrshí), $50 = $ 五十 (wǔshí).
How do you form two-digit numbers like 21, 45, and 99 in Chinese?
As $(\text{tens digit}) \times 10 + (\text{ones digit})$: $21 = $ 二十一 (èrshíyī), $45 = $ 四十五 (sìshíwǔ), $99 = $ 九十九 (jiǔshíjiǔ).
What is the character and pinyin for "hundred," and how do you say 100 and 200?
百 (bǎi) = hundred. $100 = $ 一百 (yìbǎi); $200 = $ 二百 (èrbǎi) or 两百 (liǎngbǎi).
What are the characters for "thousand" and "ten-thousand" in Chinese?
千 (qiān) = thousand ($1{,}000$); 万 (wàn) = ten-thousand ($10{,}000$).
What is the character and pinyin for "zero" in Chinese?
零 (líng), sometimes written 〇.
When does Chinese use 两 (liǎng) instead of 二 (èr) for "two"?
两 (liǎng) is used before a measure word or for quantities (e.g., 两个 liǎng gè, "two [items]"), while 二 (èr) is used for counting, ordinals, and in larger numbers.
How do you say a phone number or read digits individually, e.g., the number 105?
Digits are read one by one: $105 = $ 一零五 (yī líng wǔ) when read as digits, but as a quantity it is 一百零五 (yìbǎi líng wǔ).
Why is the number 四 (sì, "four") considered unlucky in Chinese culture?
Because 四 (sì) sounds similar to 死 (sǐ, "death"). This is called homophonic superstition; buildings may skip floor 4.
Why is the number 八 (bā, "eight") considered lucky in Chinese culture?
Because 八 (bā) sounds similar to 发 (fā) in 发财 (fācái, "to get rich"), so it is associated with prosperity.
What character turns a cardinal number into an ordinal number in Chinese, and where is it placed?
第 (dì) is placed before the number: ordinal $= $ 第 $+ $ number. E.g., 第一 (dì-yī, "first").
How do you say "first," "second," and "third" in Chinese?
第一 (dì-yī) = first; 第二 (dì-èr) = second; 第三 (dì-sān) = third.
How do you say "fourth," "fifth," and "tenth" as ordinals in Chinese?
第四 (dì-sì) = fourth; 第五 (dì-wǔ) = fifth; 第十 (dì-shí) = tenth.
When an ordinal is followed by a noun, what is usually inserted, and what is the pattern? Give "the first person."
A measure word is inserted: 第 $+ $ number $+ $ measure word $+ $ noun. E.g., 第一个人 (dì-yī gè rén, "the first person").
How do you say ordinals for days of the week (Monday through Saturday) in Chinese?
星期 (xīngqī) $+ $ number: 星期一 (Monday, "week-one") through 星期六 (Saturday). Note Sunday is the exception: 星期天/星期日 (xīngqītiān/rì).
How does Chinese express "the last one" (as opposed to an ordinal position)?
最后 (zuìhòu), e.g., 最后一个 (zuìhòu yí gè, "the last one"). It does not use 第.
How do you ask "Which (ordinal position)?" in Chinese, e.g., "Which floor?"
第几 (dì-jǐ), using 几 (jǐ, "how many/which number"). E.g., 第几层？(dì-jǐ céng?, "Which floor?").
Compare the cardinal and ordinal for "two": how do you say "two" vs. "the second"?
Cardinal (with measure word) uses 两个 (liǎng gè) for "two [items]," but the ordinal "second" is 第二 (dì-èr) — always 二, never 两, in ordinals.
How do you say "Number 1" / "the champion" idiomatically, and how does it differ from the plain ordinal 第一?
第一名 (dì-yī míng) means "first place / rank one" (名 = rank), while 第一 (dì-yī) alone is simply the ordinal "first." 冠军 (guànjūn) specifically means "champion."
What this deck covers
The Basic Chinese Vocabulary deck follows the Chinese Basic Chinese Vocabulary syllabus — 2 chapters and 4 topics — so questions land on material that is genuinely examinable rather than trivia around it. That works out to roughly 25.0 cards per chapter.
Answers are written to be recallable, not just readable — averaging about 84 characters, which is long enough to carry the reasoning and short enough to say out loud.
A deck like this earns its keep on the second and third pass. Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then use the cards to find the specific facts that have not stuck.
Basic Chinese Vocabulary flashcards FAQ
How many Basic Chinese Vocabulary flashcards are in this Chinese deck?
50 cards. This page previews 24 of them, sampled evenly across the deck so you can judge the difficulty before installing anything.
Are these Chinese flashcards free?
Yes. The preview here is free to read with no signup, and the full 50-card deck is free inside the Examius app.
What do the Basic Chinese Vocabulary cards cover?
They follow the Chinese Basic Chinese Vocabulary syllabus — 2 chapters and 4 topics — so the questions track what is actually examinable.
How should I use these flashcards?
Read the syllabus first so you know the shape of the subject, then drill the deck. Examius schedules each card with spaced repetition, so cards you keep missing come back sooner and ones you know drift further apart.