See how Chinese writing, pronunciation and grammar shape what you need to notice.
Writing and sound
中文 is broader than Mandarin; this overview focuses on Standard Chinese, or Standard Mandarin. Mandarin uses characters in simplified or traditional forms, Hanyu Pinyin to show pronunciation, and four lexical tones plus a neutral tone.
Grammar and usage
Mandarin verbs do not conjugate for person or tense; time, aspect and context are expressed through word order and particles. Number phrases usually place a classifier between the number and the noun.
What to notice as a learner
Treat the tone as part of every word, and learn characters in two- or three-character words rather than as isolated symbols. A short example keeps pronunciation, meaning, classifier and context connected.