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Mandarin phrase guide

How to say please in Chinese

请 makes a request polite and normally appears before the action you are asking someone to perform.

Chinese

请

請

Pinyin

qǐng

Sounds like

ching

Read it piece by piece

请

qǐng

ching

English IPA /tʃɪŋ/

Pronunciation notes
  • q sounds close to "ch", with the tongue forward.
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When to use 请

Polite
  • Place 请 before a verb phrase, as in 请坐 for 'please sit.'
  • In everyday requests, a polite tone, a question form, and 谢谢 can be as important as adding 请.

Other ways to say it

麻烦你

麻煩你

má fan nǐ

May I trouble you to...

Polite and conversational

请问

請問

qǐng wèn

May I ask...

Polite question opener

Example conversations

Please sit down.

请坐。

請坐。

qǐng zuò

Please speak a little more slowly.

请说慢一点。

請說慢一點。

qǐng shuō màn yì diǎn

Common mistakes

  • 请 is not usually added at the end of a sentence the way English speakers may add 'please.'

Related Chinese phrases

How to say thank you 谢谢 · xiè xie How to say excuse me 不好意思 · bù hǎo yì si How to say water please 请给我一杯水 · qǐng gěi wǒ yì bēi shuǐ