Hover a line for its pinyin and translation; hover a word for its meaning. Tap 🔊 to hear it.
Alex has just arrived in Beijing. At a welcome event he meets Su Xiaoyu.
Two habits to pick up on day one. The first is that a compliment is deflected, not accepted: 你的中文很好 is answered with 哪里哪里 or 没有没有, never with 谢谢. Agreeing sounds boastful. The second is 贵姓 — literally "honoured surname" — which asks only for the family name and only of an adult you are meeting properly. Ask a child 你叫什么名字？ instead. Note too that Chinese verbs never change: 是 is 是 whoever is speaking, whatever the time. There is no am/is/are to choose between and nothing to conjugate — all the work English does with verb endings, Chinese does with word order and a handful of particles.
How do I read these pronunciations? See the pronunciation guide.
1. 你好 and 您好 — two ways to say hello
你 is you; 您 is the same word with 心 (heart) underneath, and it is the one to use with someone older, a customer, or anyone you are meeting formally. 您好 is never wrong, so when in doubt use it. Unlike French vous or Spanish usted, it changes nothing else in the sentence — there is no matching verb form to remember.
2. 是 — A is B
是 links two nouns: 我是学生, 我是加拿大人. The trap is that it does NOT work before an adjective. "Your Chinese is good" is 你的中文很好 — no 是 at all, with 很 doing the linking. 你的中文是好 is one of the most recognisable beginner mistakes in the language. Think of an adjective in Chinese as already containing its own "is".
3. 姓 and 叫 — surname and name
Both are verbs, and neither needs 是. 姓 takes the family name alone: 我姓苏. 叫 takes the full name or the given name: 我叫苏小雨, 叫我小雨就行. Note the order — family name first, as in 苏小雨, where 苏 is the surname and 小雨 the given name.
4. 吗 — asking a yes/no question
Say the statement, then add 吗. Nothing else moves: 你是美国人 becomes 你是美国人吗？ There is no inversion and no do-support, which makes this the easiest question form you will meet in any language. Answer by repeating the verb — 是 for yes, 不是 for no — since Chinese has no all-purpose "yes".
A. Fill in the Blank · 填空
Fill in the blank with a word from this lesson's vocabulary.
- 1.我学生。am / is / are
- 2.你是美国人？(question particle)
- 3.请问您？your surname (polite)
- 4.我苏，叫苏小雨。am surnamed
B. Multiple Choice · 选择
Choose the best answer.
- 1.How do you say "I am a student"?
- 2.Which is correct?
- 3.When do you use 贵姓?
- 4.What is Alex doing with 哪里哪里?
C. Rearrange the Sentence · 排序
Rearrange the words into a correct sentence, adding the punctuation shown in parentheses.
- 1.Tap tiles below…
- 2.Tap tiles below…
- 3.Tap tiles below…
- 4.Tap tiles below…
D. True or False · 判断
Based on the dialogue, mark each sentence T (true) or F (false).
- 1.Alex asks Su Xiaoyu for her surname.
- 2.Alex is American.
- 3.Su Xiaoyu says Alex's Chinese is good.
- 4.Alex accepts the compliment.
E. Matching · 连线
Match each line on the left with the best response on the right.
F. Translation · 翻译
Translate items 1–2 into Chinese, and items 3–4 into English.
- 1.I am a student.
- 2.Are you American?
- 3.请问您贵姓？
- 4.认识你很高兴。
Generate a brand-new dialog on any topic, using this lesson's 20 vocab words — plus any words you add below.
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Family name first
Chinese names run the other way round: 苏小雨 is Su — the family name — followed by Xiaoyu. A colleague introduced as 杨帆 is Mr or Ms Yang, not Mr Fan. The formula in this lesson, 请问您贵姓, literally asks for your honourable surname, and the expected answer supplies only that: 我姓苏. Giving your full name in reply is not wrong, just more than was asked. 您 is the respectful form of 你 — standard in Beijing, in shops and restaurants, and whenever the other person is older or more senior than you.