Learn Sino-Mini in 15 minutes

Sino-Mini, or 小语 (xiǎo yǔ), begins with an ambitious constraint: a language gets 1,000 words, and has to make do. Someone will eventually want to discuss philosophy, computers, or why they don't want tea. How far can those words take them?

Its answer borrows vocabulary from Mandarin and a grammatical foundation from Mini. Each word has one Simplified Chinese character. The grammar relies on a few small markers and predictable word order. Words keep their forms while their positions tell you what they are doing.

You can grasp the basic arrangement in about fifteen minutes, without knowing Chinese or remembering what a participle is. Vocabulary takes longer. Follow the pronunciation beneath each example and try the exercise at the end. Expect plenty of tea and books; a small vocabulary has to start somewhere.

Start with one sentence

我 兮 喝 乃 水。

wǒ xī hē nǎi shuǐ。

I drink water.

Read it in five pieces: I · action begins · drink · object begins · water. An “object” is the person or thing an action is directed at: in this case, the water. You can already recognize the English order underneath the extra words.

Why add 兮 and 乃 when “I drink water” seems clear enough? Later, words will serve several grammatical roles. These markers identify the action and its object without making us infer everything from meaning. Keep them even in easy sentences; the arrangement needs to work in harder ones too.

The letters beneath the characters are pinyin: pronunciation you can follow before recognizing the characters. The three markers are 兮 (xī), 乃 (nǎi), and 呈 (chéng). Each is one syllable. Their roles are fixed in Sino-Mini; their Chinese source meanings are not additional grammatical rules.

The marks above vowels describe your voice's pitch: ā stays high, á rises, ǎ dips low, and à falls. An unmarked syllable is light and unstressed. These are the Mandarin dictionary readings; this guide does not transcribe the sound changes that can occur in flowing Mandarin speech. Tones help keep similar-sounding words apart. They take practice, but they need not hold up your first encounter with the grammar.

A handful of useful words

Here is enough vocabulary to get a few sentences moving. Treat the table as something to glance back at, rather than an entrance exam. Every example also has an English translation.

书 covers “a book,” “the book,” and “books.” There are no required articles and no plural ending on the noun. In conversation, you often know which book someone means and whether there is more than one. When you don't, you can specify. A number will do the latter job nicely.

Three ways to make a statement

Consider the difference between reading a book, calling a book good, and saying that something is a book. English handles these with a verb, an adjective after “is,” and a noun after “is.” Sino-Mini gives each pattern a marker:

我 兮 读 乃 书。

wǒ xī dú nǎi shū。

I read a book.

书 呈 好。

shū chéng hǎo。

The book is good.

他 乃 我 友。

tā nǎi wǒ yǒu。

They are my friend.

The last two sentences need no extra “is.” 呈 introduces a description; 乃 says what something is. 乃 also introduces an action's object: in both positions, it announces a noun expression. Choose the appropriate marker; adding 兮 to an ordinary “is” statement does not make it more complete.

Objects are optional: 我 兮 读。 (wǒ xī dú。) means “I read,” with the object understood or unspecified. Add 乃 书 when you want to name the book. If you have already discussed it, you can also make the reference explicit with 它, “it.”

Semantic words express concepts rather than belonging to fixed parts of speech. A word can name something, describe it, or express an action according to its position and context. The particles show how the concepts relate; the words supply their meanings.

Build a phrase before making a sentence

Ordinary descriptions go before the thing they describe. Put “good” before “book” and you get a good book. Put a pronoun there and you get possession: “I book” means “my book,” without needing to change “I” into “my.”

Compare 我 书, “my book,” with 我 乃 书, “I am a book.” The first names something; the second makes a rather surprising claim about the speaker. This is the distinction those small markers are preserving.

To make a personal pronoun explicitly plural, add 们 (men): 我 们 (wǒ men), “we”; 你 们 (nǐ men), “you all”; 他 们 (tā men), “they.” This belongs to pronouns; ordinary nouns still take no plural ending. 他 leaves gender unspecified. For an inanimate thing or idea, use 它.

Suppose the book belongs to my friend. We need “my” to describe “friend,” then the whole my friend to describe book. 我 友 的 书 (wǒ yǒu de shū) does exactly that. 的 (de) groups the first two words into a unit. Simple 我 书 has no such grouping problem, so it needs no 的.

For things without their own word, try a description. 算 机 (suàn jī) means “calculating machine,” which may identify a computer; explain more if necessary. This remains an ordinary phrase. We cannot promise a thousand-word vocabulary, then quietly introduce ten thousand extra definitions through the back door.

Say “not,” “want,” and “can”

不 (bù) means “not,” and goes immediately before whatever you want to deny. The useful part is how little else happens:

我 兮 不 喝 乃 茶。

wǒ xī bù hē nǎi chá。

I do not drink tea.

书 呈 不 好。

shū chéng bù hǎo。

The book is not good.

English recruits “do” to help negate “drink,” but not “good.” Sino-Mini leaves the sentence's existing marker in place and adds 不. The same negative word will work when we get to the past.

Now take an action and put 欲 (yù, want) or 能 (néng, be able) before it. Wanting applies to the action that follows; ability does the same. So there is nothing stopping you from putting one before the other:

我 兮 欲 能 读 乃 书。

wǒ xī yù néng dú nǎi shū。

I want to be able to read the book.

Read this from the inside out: reading, being able to read, wanting to be able to read. This is verb stacking, and the whole stack needs only one 兮. 不 joins in by the same rule: 不 能 读 (bù néng dú) means “cannot read”; 能 不 读 (néng bù dú) means “can refrain from reading.” Those are quite different abilities. Word order keeps them apart.

There is one distinction we should make before stacking gets out of hand. “Read slowly” describes how you read. Separate that description from the action with 的:

我 兮 读 的 慢 乃 书。

wǒ xī dú de màn nǎi shū。

I read the book slowly.

慢 (màn) means slow. 的 marks the boundary between the reading and its manner. Without a boundary, the grammar would keep looking for another action in the stack. It does not guess that you probably meant an adverb.

Add a place or a companion

Most actions happen somewhere, and a few involve other people. Words such as “at,” “with,” and “for” let us add these details. The relation comes first: 在 家 (zài jiā), “at home”; 跟 你 (gēn nǐ), “with you”; 给 你 (gěi nǐ), “for you.”

Where the phrase goes determines what it describes. To describe the action, put it after the action and before 乃 introduces the object:

我 兮 读 在 家 乃 书。

wǒ xī dú zài jiā nǎi shū。

I read a book at home.

我 兮 买 给 你 乃 书。

wǒ xī mǎi gěi nǐ nǎi shū。

I buy a book for you.

After a noun, the relation describes that noun: 书 在 家 (shū zài jiā) means “the book at home.” The grammar keeps a thing's location separate from an action's location. To make a statement, use 书 呈 在 家。 (shū chéng zài jiā。): “The book is at home.”

If a location sets the scene for the whole sentence, you can move it to the beginning and give it a comma:

在 家，我 兮 读 乃 书。

zài jiā，wǒ xī dú nǎi shū。

At home, I read a book.

After the comma, the ordinary sentence starts. In speech, use a small pause. We will use exactly the same arrangement for time: establish the setting, then say what happens within it.

Talk about time without changing the verb

If you have already said “yesterday,” your listener has a reasonable chance of working out that you mean the past. Sino-Mini lets that information do its job, without also changing the verb:

昨，我 兮 买 乃 书。

zuó，wǒ xī mǎi nǎi shū。

Yesterday, I bought a book.

买 stays 买. There are no past or future verb endings to learn, and a time established in one sentence can carry through the next few. Add a new time when you need one.

You can say more about an action when it matters. 在 (zài) before the action marks it as ongoing; 完 (wán, finish) makes completion explicit through ordinary verb stacking:

这 (zhè) means “this.” The second sentence reports reading without saying whether you reached the last page; the third adds that information. Neither needs an extra marker for past time or a particular occurrence. A habit can likewise use an ordinary action predicate in the appropriate context.

在 marks progressive aspect, presenting the action as ongoing at the reference time. Words such as 完, “finish,” and 已 (yǐ), “already,” contribute their ordinary meanings: finishing something and having already done something are different claims.

Ask a question, then answer it

Take a statement, add 吗 (ma) at the end, and you have a yes-or-no question. No words need to trade places:

你 兮 欲 喝 乃 茶 吗？

nǐ xī yù hē nǎi chá ma？

Do you want to drink tea?

Answer 嗯。 (ǹg, yes) or 不。 (bù, no). 嗯 is a falling “ng” sound, without an added vowel. You can also answer with a sentence: 我 兮 欲 喝 乃 茶。 (wǒ xī yù hē nǎi chá。) — “I want to drink tea.”

For an open question, imagine writing the answer first, then replacing the unknown part with 什 (shén, what). If the answer is “tea,” the unknown part belongs in tea's position:

你 兮 欲 喝 乃 什？

nǐ xī yù hē nǎi shén？

What do you want to drink?

“Who” and “where” follow without needing separate question words: 什 人 (shén rén) is “which person”; 什 处 (shén chù) is “which place.” Keep the relation that the answer would need:

你 呈 在 什 处？

nǐ chéng zài shén chù？

Where are you?

The answer would follow 在, “at,” so the question does too. Do not add 吗 when 什 already asks for information. For a negative question like “Aren't you coming?”, use a full answer. Even regular grammar benefits from avoiding arguments about what “yes” means there.

Have something, or say that it exists

Having a book and there being a book are different claims. The first needs someone who has it. 有 (yǒu, have) uses the ordinary action pattern:

我 兮 有 乃 书。

wǒ xī yǒu nǎi shū。

I have a book.

For “there is,” start directly with 乃 and name what exists. The sentence needs no owner, and no equivalent of English's placeholder “there”:

乃 人 在 家。

nǎi rén zài jiā。

There is someone at home.

不 乃 人 在 家。 (bù nǎi rén zài jiā。) means “There is nobody at home.” 不 denies the whole “there is” expression.

Join ideas and make requests

和 (hé) means “and”; 但 (dàn), “but”; 或 (huò), “or.” Join matching pieces: 水 和 茶 (shuǐ hé chá), “water and tea.”

If the same person does two things, you can name them once and join the two actions. Each action retains its own marker; any expressed object belongs to that action:

我 兮 买 乃 书 和 兮 读 乃 它。

wǒ xī mǎi nǎi shū hé xī dú nǎi tā。

I buy a book and read it.

To give a command, omit “you” but keep 兮: 兮 来！ (xī lái！) — “Come!” Add 不 for “Don't come”: 兮 不 来！ (xī bù lái！).

A question can be a gentler request: 你 兮 能 来 吗？ (nǐ xī néng lái ma？) — “Can you come?” And 谢。 (xiè。) means “Thanks.”

Let one sentence describe another idea

So far we have mostly described books. Eventually we will want to describe thoughts, and thoughts have a habit of containing whole sentences. 什 has a second job: introducing a little sentence that explains the word before it.

我 兮 思 什 你 兮 来。

wǒ xī sī shén nǐ xī lái。

I think that you are coming.

“You are coming” supplies the content of the thought. Inside it, the familiar grammar starts again, with its own subject and 兮. The 什 expression describes the thinking word, so there is no extra 乃 before it. You can recognize this use of 什 by the sentence that follows it.

Let that little sentence describe a noun instead, and it can tell us which book we mean:

书 什 我 兮 买。

shū shén wǒ xī mǎi。

The book that I buy.

We have named a book, but haven't yet said anything about it. Within the description, the book supplies the missing object of “buy.” To finish the larger sentence, close that description with a comma, then say something about the book:

书 什 我 兮 买，呈 好。

shū shén wǒ xī mǎi，chéng hǎo。

The book that I buy is good.

The comma returns to the main statement: the book is good. Without it, we would still be describing which book. This keeps track of sentences inside sentences, although short ones are easier to follow while learning.

You can also identify someone through something belonging to them:

人 什 我 兮 读 乃 他 书，兮 笑。

rén shén wǒ xī dú nǎi tā shū，xī xiào。

The person whose book I read smiles.

Here 他 refers back to 人: it is that person's book. The inner sentence keeps both its subject and its object. Use one such possessive reference in the description; name any other possessor explicitly. The reference grammar gives the full rule.

A few patterns you will soon recognize

Numbers go before things. 一 (yī), 二 (èr), 三 (sān) are one, two, three. 十 (shí) is ten; 二 十 三 (èr shí sān) is twenty-three. No extra counting word is required before 书. Arabic digits are also allowed.

Comparisons keep one order. Put 更 (gèng, more), 减 (jiǎn, less), or 同 (tóng, equally) before the description, then 比 (bǐ, compared with) before the comparison target.

这 书 呈 更 大 比 我 书。

zhè shū chéng gèng dà bǐ wǒ shū。

This book is bigger than my book.

最 更 大 (zuì gèng dà) means “biggest”; 最 减 大 (zuì jiǎn dà), “least big,” among the things under discussion.

Whole actions can be named or used as descriptions. “Reading a book” can itself be the thing you want to talk about. These forms give it a place in the sentence:

The grammatical names are infinitive, active participle, and passive participle. You can learn the names after the patterns make sense. Each uses existing words, with no new endings. Pay attention to the order: 在 兮 names or describes an activity; 兮 在 says an action is in progress. A participle or infinitive by itself says nothing about when it happens.

往 兮 读 乃 书，呈 好。

wǎng xī dú nǎi shū，chéng hǎo。

To read books is good.

The thing described as good is now the entire expression “to read books.” The comma closes it, and the main description begins. We have enlarged what fits into the sentence without changing the basic sentence pattern.

Try it yourself

Try these before opening the answers. Looking back at the vocabulary is allowed; the point is to work out where the words go.

1. My book is good.
2. I do not want to drink tea.
3. At home, I read three books.
4. Do you have a book?
5. The book that I buy is big.

Try a sentence the guide hasn't supplied. Pick someone or something to discuss, choose 兮, 呈, or 乃, and add details in their usual places. If you get stuck, break the thought into smaller pieces. The vocabulary supplies words, the reference grammar gives the full rules, and the readings venture beyond our book-and-tea household.

This introduction takes its teaching approach from S. C. Gruget's Learn Mini in 20 minutes. The explanations and examples here teach Sino-Mini, following the reference grammar, rather than Mini or Mandarin.