Most useful Chinese characters in daily life

Learning Chinese characters can be daunting. Therefore, many foreigners living in China don't plan on mastering the reading and writing of the Chinese language.

有些外国朋友一提到学习汉字就有些望而生畏。所以，有很多外国人住在中国，但并不打算掌握汉语的读写。

Still, there are a handful of characters that are very useful and quite common in daily life. If you only want to learn a few Chinese characters, learn the ones listed below.

针对这些只想学一点点简单中文的外国朋友，我们整理出了一些日常生活中非常常见、非常实用的汉字。

Push / Pull on doors 门上的"推/拉"标识

Push 推 tuī

Pull 拉 lā

Push the door and come in.

请推开门进来。

qǐng tuī kāi mén jìn lái.

Please pull the door when you leave.

出去时，请把门拉上。

chū qù shí,  qǐng bǎ mén lā shàng.

Ladies / Gents on bathroom doors 洗手间门上的性别标识

Male 男 nán

Female 女 nǚ

More intuitive pictographs are common but some Chinese restaurants only mark the doors with the Chinese character – so if you don't want to take your chances or wait until someone comes out …

虽然普遍会有直观的图像标识，不过有些中国饭店的洗手间门上只写着汉字。如果你不想碰运气或是等到下一个人出来，还是记一下吧！

This is a men's room, and the women's is upstairs. 

这个是男厕所，楼上的才是女厕所。

zhè ge shì nán cè suǒ, lóu shàng de cái shì nǚ cè suǒ.

Open / Close, same as On / Off on electric appliances 电器上的"开/关"标识

Open 开 kāi

Close 关 guān

So you know how to start the washing machine or which button to push on the remote control.

这样你就知道怎么开洗衣机或是摁遥控器开关啦！

Please close the door and open the window.

请关上门并打开窗户。

qǐng guān shàng mén bìng dǎ kāi chuāng hu.

Turn on the lights and turn off the TV.

把灯打开，把电视关掉。

bǎ dēng dǎ kāi, bǎ diàn shì guān diào.

Up / Down

Up 上 shàng

Down 下 xià

For example:

Queue up for bus.

排队上车。

pái duì shàng chē.

He goes down to the lobby.

他往下走到大堂。

tā wǎng xià zǒu dào dà táng.

In / Out for buildings, parks, parking lots, etc 大楼、公园、停车场的"出/入"标识

In / Entrance 入口 rùkou

Out / Exit 出口 chūkou

They went in from the entrance. 

他们从入口进去了。

tā men cóng rù kou jìn qù le.

Directions (helpful for subway exits) 方向

North 北 běi

East 东 dōng

South 南 nán

West 西 xī

Note that northeast in Mandarin is the other way around, "Eastnorth" 东北 dōngběi.

注意，普通话里的"Northeast"是反过来说的，即"Eastnorth" 东北 dōngběi.

I couldn't tell north from south.

我分不清东南西北。

wǒ fèn bù qīng dōng nán xī běi.

Location 地点

Gate 门 mén

Street 街 jiē

Road 路 lù

Bridge 桥 qiáo

These are common components of many location names including subway stops.

这些字在表达地点方位（比如地铁站）时，常常会用到。

I work at Room 201, Building 8, Jianguo Men Street, Guangming Road, Beijing City.

我在北京市光明路建国门大街8号楼201室上班。

wǒ zài běi jīng shì guāng míng lù jiàn guó mén dà jiē bā hào lóu èr líng yī shì shàng bān.

The article is translated and editted by Chinlingo. Please indicate the source (info.chinlingo.com) for any use, reproduction or transfer. 

本文由Chinlingo编译后发布，如需转载，请标明来源：info.chinlingo.com.