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This first lesson begins with some simple greetings that you can use at any time of day.

Conversation: 你好吗？

nǐ hǎo ma? 你 好 吗？	How are you?
wǒ hēn hǎo, xiè xiè nǐ. 我 很 好，谢 谢 你。	I am fine, thank you.
nǐ ne? 你 呢？	And you?
wǒ yě hēn hǎo. 我 也 很 好。	I am fine too.

New Words
nǐ	你 pron	(singular) you
wǒ	我 pron	I, me, self
hǎo	好 adj	good, fine
hēn	很 adv	very, quite, very much
yě	也 adv	also; too
xiè	谢 vb	thanks, thank you
ma	吗 pt	(question form used at the end of sentence)
ne	呢 pt	(for questions on a subject under consideration)

Remembering South of the River
Bai Juyi

South river good Landscape old once know well Sunrise river flower red bear fire Spring come river water green like lily Can not remember river south

South of the river is good, Long ago, I knew the landscape well. At sunrise, the river's flowers are red like fire, In spring, the river's water's green as lilies. How could I not remember south of the river?

In Chinese the variation of a syllable's pitch may distinguish meaning. There are four tones, indicated respectively by the tone marks , , and .

Tone	Tone mark	Description	Example
First Tone		high, level pitch	踢 tī = kick
Second Tone		starting high and rising	提 tí = lift
Third Tone		falling first, then rising	体 tǐ = body
Fourth Tone		starting high and falling	替 tì = replace

The first tone is high in pitch and even.

The second tone is the rising tone, starting from a high pitch and rising briefly.

The third tone is a falling rising tone.

The fourth tone is a falling tone, starting high and descending briefly.

There is also a neutral tone. It is short and unaccented. Its pitch relies on a natural extension of the preceding tone. It is conveyed by the absence of a sign.

When one low tone follows another, the first one becomes a rising tone.

Having a good pronunciation depends greatly on getting the tones right.