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Mythic Mandarin

What's your name?

HSK 1 Unit 1: Meeting new people · Lesson 1 of 5 · About 18 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can ask someone's name, say yours, use the polite 您 and say nice to meet you.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

  1. Meaning

    Quick recall: what does 我叫大卫 mean?

    1. My name is David.
    2. I am a student.
    3. Are you David?
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, My name is David..

    叫 (jiào) is to be called: 我叫大卫, my name is David.

  2. Grammar

    Which one is a question?

    1. 你是老师。
    2. 你是老师吗？
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 你是老师吗？.

    你是老师吗？ ends with 吗: a yes-no question.

New words

  • 什么shénmewhat
  • 名字míngziname
  • 您nínyou (polite)
  • 认识rènshito know (a person), to meet
  • 很hěnvery
  • 高兴gāoxìngglad, happy

Asking with 什么

To ask someone's name, keep the order of the answer and put 什么 (shénme, what) where the answer goes:

  • 我叫李明。

    Wǒ jiào Lǐ Míng.

    My name is Li Ming.

  • 你叫什么名字？

    Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

    What is your name?

    Literally: you are called what name? 什么名字 stands where 李明 stood.

No 吗 here: a question word already makes the sentence a question.

  • Not: 你叫名字什么？

    But: 你叫什么名字？ Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

    什么 comes before the noun it asks about: 什么名字, what name.

  • Not: 你叫什么名字吗？

    But: 你叫什么名字？ Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

    With a question word like 什么, do not add 吗.

Polite 您 and nice to meet you

您 (nín) is a polite you for teachers, older people and customers. Students greet a teacher with 您好 or 老师好.

认识你很高兴 means nice to meet you, literally knowing you, (I am) very glad. 很 (hěn) comes straight before 高兴: with adjectives Chinese uses 很, not 是.

  • 认识你很高兴。

    Rènshi nǐ hěn gāoxìng.

    Nice to meet you.

  • 我很高兴。

    Wǒ hěn gāoxìng.

    I am glad.

    This 很 is often light: closer to I'm glad than I'm very glad.

  • Not: 我是高兴。

    But: 我很高兴。 Wǒ hěn gāoxìng.

    高兴 is an adjective: link it with 很, not 是.

Characters

  • 名 = 夕 + 口
  • 字 = 宀 + 子

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

First day at the language school

David arrives at a language school in Beijing and meets his teacher, Teacher Wang.

Listen first

Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What is the student's name?

    1. 李明
    2. 大卫
    3. 安娜
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 大卫.

    He says 我叫大卫: his name is 大卫, David.

  2. Listening

    Why does David say 您好 and not 你好?

    1. He is talking to his teacher.
    2. He is talking to a child.
    3. He is asking a question.
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, He is talking to his teacher..

    您 is the polite you: David uses it with his teacher, 王老师.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 王老师

    你好Nǐ hǎo！你Nǐ叫jiào什么shénme名字míngzi？

    Hello! What is your name?

  2. 大卫

    您好Nín hǎo！我Wǒ叫jiào大卫Dàwèi。

    Hello! My name is David.

  3. 王老师

    大卫Dàwèi，认识rènshi你nǐ很hěn高兴gāoxìng。

    David, nice to meet you.

  4. 大卫

    谢谢Xièxie老师lǎoshī！认识Rènshi您nín很hěn高兴gāoxìng。

    Thank you, teacher! Nice to meet you.

Speak: listen, record, compare

Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.

  • 你叫什么名字？

    Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

    What is your name?

  • 我叫大卫。

    Wǒ jiào Dàwèi.

    My name is David.

  • 认识你很高兴。

    Rènshi nǐ hěn gāoxìng.

    Nice to meet you.

Practice

  1. Fill the gap

    Complete: What is your name?

    你叫＿＿名字？

    1. 吗
    2. 什么
    3. 是
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 什么.

    你叫什么名字？ 什么 (what) stands where the name will go.

  2. Word order

    Put the words in order: What is your name?

    • 名字
    • 你
    • 什么
    • 叫
    Show the answer

    你叫什么名字 Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

    What is your name?

    The same order as the answer 我叫李明, with 什么名字 in the name's place.

  3. Meaning

    What does 名字 mean?

    1. name
    2. glad
    3. to know
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, name.

    名字 (míngzi) is a name: 你叫什么名字？

  4. Grammar

    Which sentence means I am glad?

    1. 我是高兴。
    2. 我高兴很。
    3. 我很高兴。
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 我很高兴。.

    我很高兴。 高兴 is an adjective: 很 goes right before it, with no 是.

  5. Your turn

    Type the polite you in pinyin.

    Show the answer

    Answer: nín

    The polite you is nín (您), second tone.

  6. Listening

    Listen. What does the speaker mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    认识你很高兴。 Rènshi nǐ hěn gāoxìng.

    1. What is your name?
    2. Nice to meet you.
    3. Goodbye.
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, Nice to meet you..

    You heard 认识你很高兴: nice to meet you.

Your mission: meet someone

Introduce yourself to one real person in Chinese this week: a classmate, a tutor or a Chinese-speaking friend. A voice message counts too.

  1. Greet them with 你好, or 您好 for a teacher.
  2. Say your name: 我叫 + your name.
  3. Ask theirs: 你叫什么名字？
  4. Close with 认识你很高兴。

Sentence frames

  • 你好！我叫＿＿。

    Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ jiào ＿＿.

    Hello! My name is ...

  • 你叫什么名字？

    Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

    What is your name?

  • 认识你很高兴。

    Rènshi nǐ hěn gāoxìng.

    Nice to meet you.

Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:

Review and finish

Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.

  • I can ask 你叫什么名字？ and answer 我叫…
  • I know when to use 您.
  • I can say 认识你很高兴.
  • I use 很, not 是, with adjectives like 高兴.

Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.

Next lesson: Where are you from?