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There are two sets of Chinese characters for Mandarin numbers – standard and financial.

Financial numbers are used on checks and withdrawal and deposit slips. They are more complex than the standard number characters, and therefore less prone to fraudulent alteration.

Both sets of characters are used for writing the names of the numbers. Mathematical functions are done with Arabic numbers, as in Western countries.

The pronunciation of standard and financial characters are the same.

The following table shows both sets of characters along with their pronunciations. Where two characters are shown, the first is the traditional form and the second is the simplified form :

Mandarin prepositions are used to link nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases within a sentence. Mandarin prepositions can refer to movement within time or space, or function as general prepositions such as the English prepositions with, to, or for.

General Prepositions

The most common general Mandarin prepositions are:

• 對 / 对 – duì – to (someone)
• 跟 – gēn – with; from
• 給 / 给 – gěi – to; for
• 替 – tì – for (someone)
• 用 – yòng – with

Using Mandarin Prepositions

The object of a Mandarin preposition comes directly after the preposition, and the OBJECT + PREPOSITION phrase (the Prepositional Phrase or PP) comes before the verb, as in this example:

Zhègè xiǎo nǚhái duì wǒ wēixiào.
這個小女孩對我微笑。
这个小女孩对我微笑。
This little girl smiled at me. (literally: This little girl at me smiled.)

Modifiers such as adverbs are placed either before the PP or after the verb’s object:

Wǒ míngtiān huì gēn tā shuō.
我明天會跟他說。
我明天会跟他说。
I will speak with him tomorrow. (literally: I tomorrow will with him speak.)

Mandarin Preposition Examples

Here are a few sentences with Mandarin prepositions. Please note that there may be more than one translation of English prepositions. Mandarin prepositions have stricter usage than English.

Gēn

Jīntiān wǎnshang wǒ yào gēn tā qù chīfàn.
今天晚上我要跟他去吃飯。
今天晚上我要跟他去吃饭。
This evening I am going to have dinner with him. (literally: Today’s evening I am going with him to go and eat food.)

Gěi

Lǐ xiānsheng xiǎng gěi tā de tàitai mǎi yī tiáo jīn xiàngliàn.
李先生想給他的太太買一條金項鍊。
李先生想给他的太太买一条金项炼。
Mr. Li is thinking of buying a gold necklace for his wife. (literally: Mr. Li is thinking for his wife to buy a gold necklace.)

Tì

Tā yǐjīng tì wǒ xiū hǎo le.
她已經替我修好了。
她已经替我修好了。
She has already fixed it for me. (literally: She already for me fixed it.)

Yòng

Tā yòng mù gùn qiāo wǒ de tóu.
他用木棍敲我的頭。
他用木棍敲我的头。
He hit me on the head with a stick. (literally: He with a stick hit my head.)

The two auxiliary verbs, yào and huì, can be used for talking about the future in the sense of “going to do something” or “intending to do something.”

Consider these two sentences:

Wǒ yào qù Běijīng.
我要去北京｡

Wǒ huì qù Běijīng.
我會去北京｡
我会去北京｡

The first sentence, using yào, indicates an intention to go to Beijing. The second sentence, using huì, indicates a confident prediction of going to Beijing.

Intention or Prediction

The two sentences above can be translated as:

Wǒ yào qù Běijīng.
I am going to Beijing.
or
I want to go to Beijing.

Wǒ huì qù Běijīng.
I will go to Beijing (I expect I will go to Beijing).

Yào is sometimes (but not always) used with a time expression to differentiate between wantand intend. When used without a time reference, the only way to determine the exact meaning of yào is by context or clarification.

Here are some more examples:

Nǐ yào mǎi shénme dōngxī?
你要買甚麼東西?
你要买什么东西?
What are you going to buy?
or
What do you want to buy?

Nǐ huì mǎi shénme dōngxī?
你會買甚麼東西?
你会买什么东西?
What do you expect to buy?

Chén xiǎojie míngtiān yào gēn wǒ shuō.
陳小姐明天要跟我說｡
陈小姐明天要跟我说｡
Miss Chen is going to speak with me tomorrow.

Chén xiǎojie míngtiān huì gēn wǒ shuō.
陳小姐明天會跟我說｡
陈小姐明天会跟我说｡
Miss Chen expects to speak with me tomorrow.