“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” －Albert Einstein

Now every mistake in Chinese you’ve made is justified. They’re little trophies from taking on a challenge and trying something new: a new language (and a difficult one, at that)! 

In this article, we’ll cover all the trophies (a.k.a. mistakes), that you and other Chinese learners have made or may end up making. From the most common pronunciation mistakes to grammar mistakes that new learners need to watch out for, ChineseClass101.com will cover it all! We’ll also show you how to make good use of your mistakes.

Table of Contents

1. Common Chinese Pronunciation Mistakes
2. Common Chinese Grammar Mistakes
3. A Learner’s Regret
4. Turn Mistakes into Tools
5. Conclusion

1. Common Chinese Pronunciation Mistakes

If you’re new to the Chinese language, you’re bound to feel dismayed from time to time. The tiniest mistake in pronunciation will make Chinese native speakers go “I don’t know what you’re saying.” It’s not that Chinese people aren’t forgiving; it’s the whole pronunciation system that’s unforgiving. 

A- Don’t ignore the tones.

The common pronunciation mistakes that almost every Chinese learner makes have to do with tones, which are the “ups and downs” that come with the syllables.  

In Mandarin Chinese, there are four stressed tones and one unstressed tone. They all come in different pitches and durations, and every Chinese word has its own designated tone. In rare cases, one word can have two or three tones. 

Using the wrong tone means that you may be saying something you didn’t mean to say, most likely without even noticing. This could lead to embarrassing situations for yourself, and for the people around you.

In the following examples, each pair of words has the same pronunciation when the tones are out of the equation. However, tones are something you never want to ignore when speaking Chinese. In the examples below, you’ll see why you should avoid Chinese tone mistakes at all costs!

Ignoring the tones in Chinese? Big no-no!

To give you a more visual explanation, we’ll use different colors for the five tones in our examples:

First tone (high and flat)

Second tone (rising)

Third tone (dipping low then going up)

Fourth tone (falling)

Neutral tone (unstressed) 

ul> ★ 杯子 (bēizi) vs. 被子 (bèizi)

杯子 (bēizi): “cup” / “glass” / “mug”

被子 (bèizi): “blanket” / “quilt”

Imagine you’re wandering around a store looking for a cup, or 杯子 (bēizi), so you ask the sales associate where the cups are located. Somehow, you end up staring at a wall of fluffy blankets 被子 (bèizi). 

Buy one cup, get one blanket for free?

★ 熊猫 (xióngmāo) vs. 胸毛 (xiōngmáo)

熊猫 (xióngmāo): “panda”

胸毛 (xiōngmáo): “chest hair”

During a coffee break, you’re telling your Chinese coworkers, in your cutest voice, that you love pandas: 我爱熊猫. (Wǒ ài xióngmāo.) But what your Chinese coworkers heard was: 我爱胸毛 (Wǒ ài xiōngmáo), or “I love chest hair.” 

Panda will be like: “Do you like me or my chest hair?”

★ 问 (wèn) vs. 吻 (wěn)

问 (wèn): “to ask”

吻 (wěn): “to kiss”

I know, I know. What you meant to say was: 老师，我想问你…… (Lǎoshī , Wǒ xiǎng wèn nǐ …), or “Teacher, I’d like to ask you…”

What you really said was: 老师，我想吻你…… (Lǎoshī , Wǒ xiǎng wěn nǐ …), or “Teacher, I’d like to kiss you…”

Talk about embarrassing mistakes…

B- Don’t take Pinyin for granted.

Chinese is not an alphabetic language. However, a romanization system using the alphabet was invented to make learning Chinese easier. What a wonderful invention. 

Even though most sounds in Pinyin are close to those in English, be careful not to take it for granted that you can sound out Pinyin the way you sound out English words. Below are some easily mistaken sounds in Pinyin.

DIFFICULT VOWELS (FINALS)				DIFFICULT CONSONANTS (INITIALS)
Single Finals		Compound Finals
e	as in the “e” in “her” without the “r”	ie	as in the “ye” in “yes”	c	as in the “ts” in “pants”
ü	say the “ee” sound with very rounded lips	iu	as in the “ew” in “few”	j	a flatter “j” as in “jeep”
		üe	say “ü” (see left column) first, then quickly slide to the “ie” sound	q	a flatter “ch” as in “cheese”
		ün	say “ü” (see left column) first, then add an “n” sound	x	a flatter “sh” as in “sheep”

2. Common Chinese Grammar Mistakes

Compared to the pronunciation system, Chinese grammar can be considered an easier aspect of Chinese learning. But there are still some “traps” you need to watch out for.  

A- Don’t stay in the back, adverbial phrases! 

The basic Chinese word order is the same as that in English: Subject + Verb + Object. 

→ Want to learn more basic sentence patterns in Chinese? We have you covered.

However, a lot of English-speakers tend to make mistakes when there are adverbial phrases involved, such as time, place, manner, and instrument phrases. Instead of putting these adverbial phrases before verbs, learners mistakenly put them at the end of the sentence, like in English. 

Here are some examples.

SENTENCE STEM	我学中文。(Wǒ xué Zhōngwén.) “I learn Chinese.”Subject: 我Verb: 学Object: 中文
w/ TIME	我在学中文现在。x	我现在在学中文。✓ Wǒ xiànzài zài xué Zhōngwén.lit. “I’m now learning Chinese.”
w/ PLACE	我学中文在家。x	我在家学中文。✓ Wǒ zài jiā xué Zhōngwén.lit. “I’m at home learning Chinese.”
w/ MANNER	我学中文开心地。x	我开心地学中文。✓ Wǒ kāixīn de xué Zhōngwén.lit. “I happily learn Chinese.”
w/ INSTRUMENT	我学中文用手机。x	我用手机学中文。✓ Wǒ yòng shǒujī xué Zhōngwén.lit. “I use my phone to learn Chinese.”

B- Are you using these words and grammar points correctly?

In addition to word order mistakes, we’ve also collected some other common Chinese grammar mistakes made by English-speaking Chinese learners. 

        ❏ Subject + 是 (shì) + Adjective x 

       Subject + Adverb + Adjective ✓

To describe something or someone with adjectives, no “be” verb (i.e. “am,” “is,” “are,” “were,” etc.) is needed. Instead, an adverb is often used in place of a “be” verb. 

For example, to say “She is pretty” in Chinese, we don’t say: 

• 她是漂亮。(Tā shì piàoliang.)
  lit. “She is pretty.”

Instead, we often say:

• 她很漂亮. (Tā hěn piàoliang.)
  lit. “She very pretty.”

Don’t worry about changing the meaning of your sentence with adverbs. There’s a wide variety of adverbs of degree that you can choose to use before your adjectives. 

→ To learn more adverbs of degree, check out section 7 in this blog article.

       ❏ 没 (méi) + V + 了 (le) x 

      没 (méi) + V ✓

To negate a past action—in other words, to say that something didn’t happen or hasn’t happened—there’s no need to use the past event marker 了 (le), as you would for affirmative past actions. 

For example, to say “I didn’t go” in Chinese, we don’t say:

• 我没去了。(Wǒ méi qù le.)

Instead, we say:

• 我没去。(Wǒ méi qù.)

❏        或者 (huòzhě) vs. 还是 (háishì)

Both words mean “or.” But 还是 (háishì) is used in questions, or in question-like clauses with “whether/if.” 或者 (huòzhě) is used in sentences or statements.

For example:

• 你买的苹果是红色的还是绿色的？
  Nǐ mǎi de píngguǒ shì hóngsè de háishì lǜsè de?
  “Are the apples you bought red or green?”

• 红色的或者绿色的苹果都好吃。
  Hóngsè de píngguǒ huòzhě lǜsè de píngguǒ dōu hǎo chī.
  “Both red or green apples are tasty.”

❏        又 (yòu) vs. 再 (zài)

Both words mean “again.” But 又 (yòu) implies a stronger sense of being impatient, and it’s used when something has happened and is happening again. 再 (zài) is used mostly in imperatives, such as having someone do something one more time. 

For example:

• 你怎么又给她打电话？
  Nǐ zěnme yòu gěi tā dǎ diànhuà?
  “How come you called her again?”

• 不要再给她打电话了。
  Búyào zài gěi tā dǎ diànhuà le.
  “Don’t call her again.”

→ Check out our Chinese Grammar Made Easy video lessons for beginners on ChineseClass101.com. 

3. A Learner’s Regret

One of our users shared with us on Instagram that his biggest regret when starting to learn Chinese is that he only studied Pinyin, the romanization of Chinese, without the Chinese characters, or 汉字 (Hànzì). 

As we mentioned earlier, Pinyin is a tool to help students acquire proper pronunciation. The Chinese you actually see on newspapers, road signs, menus, and online chat rooms is only represented by Chinese characters.

Do you know the Chinese characters for Erguotou?

That is to say, knowing Pinyin will only help with oral communication. You may be able to carry out conversations with accurate pronunciation, but you won’t be able to read or write. 

Knowing Chinese characters, on the other hand, will help you communicate in every possible way. When you study a Chinese character, you’re learning its pronunciation, meaning, stroke order, and more. 

Admittedly, learning the Chinese writing system is twice as much work, or even more, as learning Pinyin alone. But if your goal is to live in Chinese-speaking countries, not learning 汉字 (Hànzì) will be a huge mistake. 

A secret bonus, for those who are still reading, is that knowing Chinese characters will also come in handy when you visit other countries which have used, or are still using, Chinese characters (like Japan). 

4. Turn Mistakes into Tools

Don’t let your mistakes in Chinese shame you, but rather let them empower you. 

We learn, we make mistakes, then we learn from our mistakes. So why not turn your mistakes into learning tools?

Here’s how:

1. Get a designated notebook. Name it “My Mistakes Book” or “My Hidden Treasures” or whatever you like.

2. Every time you realize you’ve made a mistake, record it in your designated notebook right away.

3. After you’ve collected enough mistakes, put them into categories, such as wrong tones, incorrect choice of character, misused grammar, etc. 

4. Periodically—once a month is recommended—go through your notebook of mistakes. This will warn your mind not to make these Chinese mistakes again. 

5. Many years later, dig out your notebook of mistakes, have a good laugh, and see how far you’ve come. (optional)

Mistakes are the witnesses of progress.

5. Conclusion

“All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.“ －Winston Churchill 

We hope this article has at least helped you get into the right state of mind: to not be afraid of making mistakes. 

If you’re learning Chinese on your own, we understand how hard it is, especially when it comes to having someone there to correct your mistakes. Here’s the good news: with a “Premium PLUS” subscription on ChineseClass101.com, you’ll get professional tutoring from our certified Chinese teachers. They’ll answer your questions, assess your assignments, correct your mistakes, and make personal study plans just for you! Sign up here and say goodbye to your mistakes today! 

Before you go, let us know in the comments how many of these Chinese mistakes you’ve made before, and which ones are most difficult for you. We look forward to hearing from you!