LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S1 #1 Meeting - What's Your Name in Chinese?

CONTENTS
2 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 Simplified Chinese Traditional Chinese Pinyin English Vocabulary Sample Sentences Vocabulary Phrase Usage Grammar Cultural Insight

#
COPYRIGHT 2012 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

SIMPLIFIED CHINESE
1.

A: B: A: B:

2.

3.

4.

TRADITIONAL CHINESE
1.

A: B: A: B:

2.

3.

4.

PINYIN
1.

A: B: A: B:

Nho. Nho, n jio shnme mngzi? W jio Zhng Ln. W jio Wng Xiofng.

2.

3.

4.

ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
CHINESECLASS101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #1 - MEETING - WHAT'S YOUR NAME IN CHINESE?

1.

A: B: A: B:

Hello. Hello, what's your name? I'm Zhang Lin. I'm Wang Xiaofang.

2.

3.

4.

VOCABULARY
S impli e d Tr aditional Pinyin nho n jio shnme mingz w English hello you to call what name I, me

SAMPLE SENTENCES

Nh o, w jio Wng Guy.

Sh n ma?

Hello, I'm Wang Guoyi.

Is it you?

CHINESECLASS101.COM

ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #1 - MEETING - WHAT'S YOUR NAME IN CHINESE?


Jnnin, w mimi yu ch le yzh ng zhu nj, jio Yugu ng.

N shu shnme?

What did you say?

My sister put out another album this year called "Moonlight."

W wngj t de mngzi.

W de pngyu h n shui.

I forget his name.

My friend is really handsome.

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

(nho) / (nnho) - "Hello" in Chinese is made up of two words: (n), meaning "you" and ' (ho), meaning "good." On very formal meetings, you can replace the (n) with the formal term for "you," which is (nn). (jio) is literally the verb for "to call."
So, as in the case of our dialogue, when you are saying, "My name is ____," in Chinese, actually you are saying "I'm called ______."

GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson is Pronouns in Chinese

"I'm Zhang Lin."

Here is a listing of pronouns in Chinese: Chinese "English"

(w) "I, me"

(wmen) "we, us"

CHINESECLASS101.COM

ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #1 - MEETING - WHAT'S YOUR NAME IN CHINESE?


(n)

"you" informal "you" plural "you" formal

(nmen)

(nn)

(t) "he, him"

(tmen) "they, them"

(t) "she, her"

(tmen) "they, them"

(t) "it"

What Is Your Name?

In Chinese, as we heard in this lesson's dialogue, one way of asking a person their name is:

N jio shnme mingz? "What is your name" (literally: "You called what name?") The question word "what" in Chinese is (shnme).

CULTURAL INSIGHT

CHINESECLASS101.COM

ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #1 - MEETING - WHAT'S YOUR NAME IN CHINESE?

Chinese Names

Chinese names are given surname first, and then given name. Generally, Chinese names are made up of two or three characters total (including the surname, which is generally just a single character). We see a couple examples of names in this lesson's dialogue. For Example:
1.

Zhng Ln (surname here is , given name is )

2.

Wng Xiofng (surname here is , given name is )

Chinese names are full of meaning and not all characters are suitable for a name. It is best to not attempt to choose one's own name in Chinese. Enlist the help of a Chinese friend so you don't end up with a name that will cause some raised eyebrows and snickers.

CHINESECLASS101.COM

ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #1 - MEETING - WHAT'S YOUR NAME IN CHINESE?