Ch 1 · Lesson 6Mandarin · Chapter 1 · Lesson 6 · Grammar primer
Getting by: your name, and 我听不懂
Sentences for a first conversation: what's your name, my name is, I speak a little Chinese, and the most useful one a beginner owns, (wǒ tīng bu dǒng), I don't understand.
The short version
The question word sits where the answer goes
？Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?
Why?Hide
In (nǐ jiào shénme míngzi), what's your name, (shénme míngzi, what name) stands exactly where the name stands in the reply: (wǒ jiào Ānnà). Nothing moves to the front, and (jiào) is already the verb, so there is no (shì) as well.
Getting by
Six sentences get you through a first conversation. Learn each with its partner: the question and its answer arrive together.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
？ | Nǐ hǎo ma? | How are you? |
。 | Wǒ hěn hǎo. | I'm fine. |
？ | Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi? | What's your name? |
。 | Wǒ jiào Ānnà. | My name is Anna. |
。 | Wǒ huì shuō yìdiǎn Zhōngwén. | I speak a little Chinese. |
。 | Wǒ tīng bu dǒng. | I don't understand. |
Three things the table cannot show:
- The question word sits where the answer goes.
(shénme míngzi, what name) stands exactly where(Ānnà) stands in the reply, and that is how every Mandarin question word works. - is a textbook opener. It is real and everyone understands it, but friends often ask something concrete instead:
？(Nǐ chī le ma?) - Have you eaten? - has no "am" in it.
(hěn) is there because a bare adjective sounds like a comparison; adjectives without 是 explains it.
(wǒ tīng bu dǒng) is quietly the most useful sentence a beginner owns: it keeps a conversation alive by asking the other person to slow down or try again.
Mistakes English speakers make
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
。 | 。 | No (shì) before an adjective |
。 | 。 | (jiào) is already the verb |
？ | ？ | (shénme) already asks; no (ma) |
| by day | (zàijiàn) | (wǎn'ān) is good night only |
Going further: Greetings and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
Practise this lesson
7-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
New words in this lesson
叫jiàoto be called; to call out; to order
名字míng ziname (of a person or thing)
什么shén mewhat
会huìcan, to know how to; will; meeting
说shuōto say, to speak
听tīngto listen, to hear
一点yì diǎna little, a bit- 中文zhōng wénChinese (language); Chinese writing
学xuéto learn, to study, learning, -ology
懂dǒngto understand, to comprehend
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Lesson 6 of 15 in this chapter