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Mythic Mandarin

Before the stories: people and surnames

HSK 1 Unit 8: Weather, health and celebrations · Lesson 6 of 7 · About 16 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can ask someone's surname, talk about the people in a photo, and learn the people words of the HSK 1 stories.

Warm-up: do you remember?

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

  1. Meaning

    What does 字 mean?

    1. to get ill
    2. character, written word
    3. how is it, how about
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, character, written word.

    字 (zì) means character, written word.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “to read (aloud)”?

    1. 字
    2. 读
    3. 药
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 读.

    “to read (aloud)” is 读 (dú).

  3. Listening

    From an earlier unit. Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    菜单 càidān

    1. to listen
    2. menu
    3. to have fun, to play
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, menu.

    You heard 菜单 (càidān): menu.

New words

  • 姓xìngto be surnamed, surname
  • 中国人ZhōngguórénChinese person
  • 女孩nǚháigirl
  • 女人nǚrénwoman
  • 老人lǎorénold person, the elderly
  • 人们rénmenpeople (in general)
  • 汉字HànzìChinese character

Surnames and people

姓 (xìng) is to be surnamed. Ask 你姓什么？ and answer with 我姓 + surname. 叫 gives the full name.

  • 我姓李，叫李明。

    Wǒ xìng Lǐ, jiào Lǐ Míng.

    My surname is Li and my name is Li Ming.

Many people words are built with 人 (person): 中国人 a Chinese person, 老人 an old person, 女人 a woman. 女孩 is a girl.

  • 这个女孩是中国人。

    Zhège nǚhái shì Zhōngguórén.

    This girl is Chinese.

人们 means people in general. It is already plural, so never put a number or 很多 in front of it.

  • Not: 公园里有很多人们。

    But: 公园里有很多人。 Gōngyuán lǐ yǒu hěn duō rén.

    人们 is already plural, so it never takes 很多 or a number.

  • 人们都喜欢在公园里休息。

    Rénmen dōu xǐhuan zài gōngyuán lǐ xiūxi.

    People all like to relax in the park.

Characters

  • 姓 = 女
  • 孩 = 子

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

Who is in the photo?

Anna shows Teacher Wang a photo from her trip to Beijing.

Listen first

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

  1. Listening

    Listen first. What is the girl's surname?

    1. 李
    2. 王
    3. 安
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 李.

    安娜 says 她姓李.

  2. Listening

    Who is the old person?

    1. her grandma
    2. her teacher
    3. her mum
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, her grandma.

    安娜 says 是她的奶奶.

  3. Listening

    What does Xiaoyu's mum do well?

    1. cook Chinese food
    2. write characters
    3. run in the park
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, write characters.

    她会写很多汉字.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 安娜

    王老师Wáng lǎoshī，您nín看kàn，这个zhège女孩nǚhái是shì我wǒ的de朋友péngyou。

    Teacher Wang, look, this girl is my friend.

  2. 王老师

    她Tā叫jiào什么shénme名字míngzi？

    What's her name?

  3. 安娜

    她Tā姓xìng李Lǐ，叫jiào李Lǐ小雨Xiǎoyǔ，是shì中国人Zhōngguórén。

    Her surname is Li, her name is Li Xiaoyu, and she's Chinese.

  4. 王老师

    她Tā旁边pángbiān的de老人lǎorén是shì谁shéi？

    Who is the old person next to her?

  5. 安娜

    是Shì她tā的de奶奶nǎinai。奶奶Nǎinai今年jīnnián八十bāshí岁suì，每天měitiān早上zǎoshang去qù公园gōngyuán。人们Rénmen都dōu说shuō她tā身体shēntǐ很hěn好hǎo。

    Her grandma. Grandma is eighty this year and goes to the park every morning. People all say she is very healthy.

  6. 王老师

    那个Nàge女人nǚrén呢ne？

    And that woman?

  7. 安娜

    是Shì小雨Xiǎoyǔ的de妈妈māma。她Tā会huì写xiě很hěn多duō汉字Hànzì，写xiě的de字zì很hěn漂亮piàoliang！

    Xiaoyu's mum. She can write lots of characters, and her writing is beautiful!

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.

  • 她姓李，叫李小雨，是中国人。

    Tā xìng Lǐ, jiào Lǐ Xiǎoyǔ, shì Zhōngguórén.

    Her surname is Li, her name is Li Xiaoyu, and she's Chinese.

  • 那个女人呢？

    Nàge nǚrén ne?

    And that woman?

  • 她旁边的老人是谁？

    Tā pángbiān de lǎorén shì shéi?

    Who is the old person next to her?

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 姓 mean?

    1. Chinese (language)
    2. hot
    3. to be surnamed, surname
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, to be surnamed, surname.

    姓 (xìng) means to be surnamed, surname.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “Chinese person”?

    1. 对不起
    2. 没关系
    3. 中国人
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 中国人.

    “Chinese person” is 中国人 (Zhōngguórén).

  3. Pinyin

    How do you read 女孩 (girl)?

    1. nǖhái
    2. nǚhái
    3. nǚhài
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, nǚhái.

    女孩 is read nǚhái. Check the tone mark on every syllable.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    女人 nǚrén

    1. woman
    2. older brother
    3. to welcome
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, woman.

    You heard 女人 (nǚrén): woman.

  5. Pinyin

    Type the pinyin of 老人 (old person, the elderly). Tone marks or tone numbers are welcome.

    Show the answer

    Answer: lǎorén

    老人 is lǎorén in pinyin.

  6. Listening

    Listen. Which sentence did you hear?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    是她的奶奶。奶奶今年八十岁，每天早上去公园。人们都说她身体很好。 Shì tā de nǎinai. Nǎinai jīnnián bāshí suì, měitiān zǎoshang qù gōngyuán. Rénmen dōu shuō tā shēntǐ hěn hǎo.

    1. And that woman?
    2. Her grandma. Grandma is eighty this year and goes to the park every morning. People all say she is very healthy.
    3. Who is the old person next to her?
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, Her grandma. Grandma is eighty this year and goes to the park every morning. People all say she is very healthy..

    You heard 是她的奶奶。奶奶今年八十岁，每天早上去公园。人们都说她身体很好。 (Shì tā de nǎinai. Nǎinai jīnnián bāshí suì, měitiān zǎoshang qù gōngyuán. Rénmen dōu shuō tā shēntǐ hěn hǎo.): Her grandma. Grandma is eighty this year and goes to the park every morning. People all say she is very healthy.

  7. Grammar

    Which question asks for someone's surname?

    1. 你叫什么？
    2. 你姓什么？
    3. 你是什么？
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 你姓什么？.

    你姓什么？ 姓 asks for the surname.

  8. Fill the gap

    Complete: People all like this park.

    ＿＿都喜欢这个公园。

    1. 很多人们
    2. 人们
    3. 人们们
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 人们.

    人们都喜欢这个公园。 人们 is already plural.

  9. In context

    You want to say the woman over there is Chinese. What do you say?

    1. 那个女人是中国人。
    2. 那个女人是中国。
    3. 那个女人中国人。
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 那个女人是中国人。.

    那个女人是中国人。 Country + 人 for a person.

  10. Reading

    Read: 我姓王，叫王小月。我是中国人，今年二十岁。我会写很多汉字。 How old is Wang Xiaoyue?

    1. twelve
    2. twenty
    3. eighty
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, twenty.

    我今年二十岁.

Ask about surnames

Ask three people (or imagine three people) their surname and name, and say one thing about each of them.

  1. Ask 你姓什么？ and 你叫什么名字？
  2. Say where each person is from with …是…人.

Sentence frames

  • 她姓＿＿，叫＿＿。

    Tā xìng ＿＿, jiào ＿＿.

    Her surname is ..., her name is ...

  • 他是＿＿人。

    Tā shì ＿＿ rén.

    He is from ...

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 and give a surname with 姓.
  • I can talk about the people in a photo: 女孩, 女人, 老人.
  • I know 人们 never takes 很多.

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: Before the stories: New Year and the station