Chinese for English speakers Office · Lesson 0

Say your name

Chinese names — 你叫什么名字? (What's your name?) — using 叫 (be called) and 姓 (surname).

Conversation

  1. Bob Bob

    你叫什么名字？

    nǐ jiào shén me míng zì?

    What's your name?

    Tip: 叫 <jiào> = to call 名字 <míngzi> = name, first nam

  2. Bolin Bolin

    我叫柏灵。

    Wǒ jiào Bólíng

    My name is Bolin.

  3. Bob Bob

    你姓什么呢？

    nǐ xìng shén me ne?

    What's your last name?

    Tip: 姓 <xìng> = surname, last name (it is a verb, so it grammatically works as you could say "I surname Smith, what do you surname?") 呢 <ne> final particle for question tags (like "aren't you?" or "do they?")

  4. Bolin Bolin

    我姓王。

    wǒ xìng Wáng.

    My last name is Wang.

Common questions

Quick answers about this lesson's grammar and vocabulary.

叫 vs 姓 in Chinese?

姓 = surname. 叫 = called (full name). 我姓王, 我叫王明 = 'my surname is Wang, my name is Wang Ming'.

How do you ask 'what's your name?'

你叫什么名字? (casual). 您贵姓? = 'what's your surname?' (formal). Different formality levels.

Chinese name order?

Surname FIRST, then given name. 王明 = surname Wang, given Ming. Different from English.

Test yourself

Pick the English translation for each line from this lesson. Wrong answers are pulled from other Chinese lessons.

4 quick questions on what you just heard.

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