Textbook Chinese vs. Real-World Chinese
Textbook Chinese is the language taught by schools and universities. It is a formalized version of the language and focuses on correct grammar, pronunciation, and sentence structure.
On the other hand...
Real life Chinese is the language spoken by native speakers in daily conversations. It is often informal and includes slang and regional accents.
In today's lesson we take a look at some common textbook phrases and give examples of what they might actually sound like in real conversations!
Summary Of the Vocabulary Differences between Real Life Chinese & Textbook Chinese
Textbook Chinese:
nǐ jiào shén me míng zi？
你叫什么名字？
What's your name?
Real Life Chinese:
1) nǐ jiào shén me？
你叫什么？
What's your name?
2) shén me míng zi？
什么名字？
What's your name?
3) nǐ jiào shá？
你叫啥？
What's your name?
Textbook Chinese:
nǐ de diàn huà hào mǎ shì duō shao？
你的电话号码是多少？
What's your phone number?
Real Life Chinese:
1) wēi xìn duō shao？
微信多少？
What's your WeChat?
2) jiā gè wēi xìn ba!
加个微信吧!
Add you on WeChat!
Textbook Chinese:
nǐ lái zì nǎ lǐ？
你来自哪里？
Where are you from?
Real Life Chinese:
1) nǐ nǎ rén？
你哪人？
Where are you from?
2) nǐ nǎ de？
你哪的？
Where are you from?
Textbook Chinese:
nǐ duō shǎo suì？
你多少岁？
How old are you?
Real Life Chinese:
duō dà？
多大？
How old are you?
Textbook Chinese:
wǒ cí zhí.
我辞职。
I quit.
Real Life Chinese:
wǒ bù gàn le.
我不干了。
I quit.
Textbook Chinese:
zhè shì shén me？
这是什么？
What's this?
Real Life Chinese:
shá ya？
啥呀？
What's this?
Textbook Chinese:
qǐng jié zhàng！
请结账！
Bill, please!
Real Life Chinese:
sǎo yī xià wēi xìn！
扫一下微信！
Scan WeChat!
Textbook Chinese:
nǐ yào nǎ gè？
你要哪个？
Which one do you want?
Real Life Chinese:
nǐ yào něi gè？
你要哪个？
Which one do you want?
Textbook Chinese:
wǒ xiān shēng bù xǐ huan xǐ yī fu.
我先生不喜欢洗衣服。
My husband doesn't like to do laundry.
Real Life Chinese:
wǒ lǎo gōng bù xǐ huan xǐ yī fu.
我老公不喜欢洗衣服。
My husband doesn't like to do laundry.
Textbook Chinese:
nǐ zài zuò shén me？
你在做什么？
What are you doing?
Real Life Chinese:
1) nǐ zài gàn shá？
你在干啥？
What are you doing?
2) nǐ zài gàn ma？
你在干嘛？
What are you doing?
Textbook Chinese:
nǐ zuì jìn zěn me yàng？
你最近怎么样？
How have you been?
Real Life Chinese:
zuì jìn ma ne？
最近嘛呢？
How have you been?
Textbook Chinese:
fā shēng shén me le？
发生什么了？
What happened?
Real Life Chinese:
zǎ le？
咋了？
What happened?
Textbook Chinese:
wǒ yào zhè gè.
我要这个。
I want this one.
Real Life Chinese:
wǒ yào zhèi gè.
我要这个。
I want this one.
Textbook Chinese:
wǒ yào nà gè.
我要那个。
I want that one.
Real Life Chinese:
wǒ yào nèi gè.
我要那个。
I want that one.
Textbook Chinese:
zhè shǒu gē hěn liú xíng.
这首歌很流行。
This song is popular.
Real Life Chinese:
zhè shǒu gē hěn huǒ.
这首歌很火。
This song is popular.
Textbook Chinese:
zhè wèi yǎn yuán zài yà zhōu hěn yǒu míng.
这位演员在亚洲很有名。
This actor is famous in Asia.
Real Life Chinese:
zhè wèi yǎn yuán zài yà zhōu hěn hóng.
这位演员在亚洲很红。
This actor is famous in Asia.
Textbook Chinese:
tā nǚ péng you jí dù le.
他女朋友嫉妒了。
His girlfriend is jealous.
Real Life Chinese:
tā nǚ péng you chī cù le.
他女朋友吃醋了。
His girlfriend is jealous.
Textbook Chinese:
nǐ hǎo！
你好！
Hello!
Real Life Chinese:
1) hā lóu！
哈喽！
Hello!
2) hèi
嘿！
Hey!
3) wéi！
喂！
Hello! ("wéi 喂！" is the most frequently used Chinese phrase to greet people on the phone.)
Textbook Chinese:
nǐ hǎo ma？
你好吗？
How are you?
Real Life Chinese:
1) qù nǎ a？
去哪啊？
Where are you going?
2) chī le ma？
吃了吗？
Have you eaten?
We normally make small talk by asking each other questions like these.
Textbook Chinese:
zǎo shàng hǎo！
早上好！
Good morning!
Real Life Chinese:
zǎo ！
早！
Morning!
Textbook Chinese:
zhōng wǔ hǎo！
中午好！
Good noon!
xià wǔ hǎo！
下午好！
Good afternoon!
wǎn shàng hǎo！
晚上好！
Good evening!
Real Life Chinese:
Actually, we don't normally use these phrases to greet each other in daily life.
However, they do sound appropriate in really formal situations, like a graduation ceremony or business meeting.
Textbook Chinese:
wǎn ān！
晚安！
Good night!
Real Life Chinese:
wǒ qù shuì le a！
我去睡了啊！
I'm going to sleep!
Textbook Chinese:
zài jiàn！
再见！
Goodbye!
Real Life Chinese:
bái bái！
拜拜！
Bye-bye!
hǎo hǎo! guà le a！
好好! 挂了啊！
Okay! I hang up! (On the phone)
Textbook Chinese:
nǎ lǐ nǎ lǐ.
哪里哪里。
Not at all.
Real Life Chinese:
méi yǒu la.
没有啦。
Not at all.