Day 5: Let’s Do Things! Essential Mandarin Verbs

Day 5 of our 30-Day Thematic Chinese Word Challenge! 🎉

Wow, Day 5 already! You’re making fantastic progress. We’ve learned about numbers, colors, family, and body parts. Today, we’re learning some incredibly important words: Common Verbs (动词 – dòngcí)! Verbs are action words – they tell us what someone or something does. You absolutely need verbs to start building simple sentences!

Let’s learn 10 of the most common and useful verbs in Mandarin Chinese!

Today’s 10 Thematic Words: Common Verbs

These verbs are the building blocks for expressing actions and states of being. Mastering them is key to moving beyond single words. Listen carefully to the pronunciation and tones!

是 (shì) – to be (am, is, are)
有 (yǒu) – to have, there is/are
去 (qù) – to go
来 (lái) – to come
看 (kàn) – to look, to see, to watch
听 (tīng) – to listen, to hear
说 (shuō) – to speak, to say
吃 (chī) – to eat
喝 (hē) – to drink
喜欢 (xǐhuan) – to like

(These are fundamental! You’ll see and use these verbs constantly as you learn more Chinese.)

Watch Today’s Quick Lesson! (Day 5 Short)

Ready to see these action words in action? Watch our quick video for Day 5. Try acting out the verbs as you hear them!

Practice Makes Perfect! Get the Day 5 Activity Pack 🎨

Help your learners understand and use these essential verbs with our Day 5: Common Verbs Activity Pack! It includes:

• Printable Flashcards (Character, Pinyin, English, Simple Illustration)
• Audio Files for pronunciation practice

Click Here to Purchase the Day 5 Common Verbs (€3.99)!

Check out the Week 1 Bundle for savings on the first 7 days!

Following the Challenge?

Keep track of all the themes and mark your progress with the FREE Challenge Starter Kit!
Click Here to Get Your Free Starter Kit! 

Find all daily lessons and resources easily on our main challenge hub:
Visit the 30-Day Challenge Hub Page 

Amazing job finishing Day 5! Learning these verbs opens up so many possibilities for making sentences.

Tomorrow’s Theme (Day 6): Get ready for something really important – Personal Pronouns 人称代词!