{"id":5676,"date":"2014-03-16T14:59:40","date_gmt":"2014-03-16T06:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/akikolingoland.com\/?p=5676"},"modified":"2015-05-21T21:23:38","modified_gmt":"2015-05-21T13:23:38","slug":"how-should-i-address-you-self-introduction-in-mandarin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/akikolingoland.com\/en\/how-should-i-address-you-self-introduction-in-mandarin\/","title":{"rendered":"How should I address you – Self Introduction in Mandarin"},"content":{"rendered":"

How should you introduce yourself in Mandarin, and how should you ask people for their names? Here<\/a> are the audio files, and below, the explanation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Get the order right<\/span><\/h3>\n

First of all, in Chinese, surnames come first, given names come last. This is why sometimes there is confusion with the terms ‘first name’ and ‘last name’, because in Chinese, ‘last names’ come first, while ‘first names’ come last!<\/p>\n

This can be quite annoying when filling up online forms. Take my name for example. My name is \u9ec4\u65b9\u9e92 Hu\u00e1ng F\u0101ngq\u00ed – \u9ec4 Hu\u00e1ng is my family name, \u65b9\u9e92 F\u0101ngq\u00ed, my given name. I am called ‘Hu\u00e1ng F\u0101ngq\u00ed’, not ‘F\u0101ngq\u00ed Hu\u00e1ng’. After correctly inputting my last name and first name, I end up becoming ‘F\u0101ngq\u00ed Hu\u00e1ng’. Sometimes, knowing there will be such an automatic switch by the system, I purposely enter my first and last names the other way round, but magically the system knows this is a Chinese name, and so I still end up becoming ‘F\u0101ngq\u00ed Hu\u00e1ng’. Hmm, maybe getting the order right is a tall order?<\/p>\n

Well, that was intended as a joke. I’m used to it!<\/p>\n

Play safe<\/span><\/h3>\n

Second, when asking for names of people of higher status, or when you want to be polite, you probably wouldn’t want to ask for their first names, nor would you want to call them by their first names. First names are used only in casual situations and for closer relationships. Even though I’ve noticed that people are getting more and more relaxed with this, I think it would still be good to play safe at the beginning.<\/p>\n

Start using them!<\/span><\/h3>\n

Now let’s get started with the actual phrases to use. There are two essential words you need to know \u2013 \u59d3 x\u00ecng and \u53eb ji\u00e0o. ‘X\u00ecng’ means surname, ‘ji\u00e0o’ means ‘to be called’.<\/p>\n

Again let’s use my name as an example. (Now you won’t forget me, hehe!) These are the ways you can introduce yourself:<\/p>\n

W\u01d2 x\u00ecng Hu\u00e1ng.
\n\u6211\u59d3\u9ec4\u3002
\nMy surname is Hu\u00e1ng.<\/p>\n

W\u01d2 ji\u00e0o Hu\u00e1ng F\u0101ngq\u00ed.
\n\u6211\u53eb\u9ec4\u65b9\u9e92\u3002
\nMy name is Hu\u00e1ng F\u0101ngq\u00ed.<\/p>\n

W\u01d2 ji\u00e0o F\u0101ngq\u00ed.
\n\u6211\u53eb\u65b9\u9e92\u3002
\nMy name is F\u0101ngq\u00ed.<\/p>\n

As you can see above, when you introduce yourself with your surname, you use ‘x\u00ecng’, and when you say your full name, or only your first name, you use ‘ji\u00e0o’.<\/p>\n

What about the way to ask? As I said earlier, it\u2019s always good to be polite, so the most usual form of asking for a name\u2026 is actually to ask for the surname.<\/p>\n

N\u00edn gu\u00ecx\u00ecng?
\n\u60a8\u8d35\u59d3\uff1f<\/p>\n

‘N\u00edn’ is the polite form of ‘n\u01d0’ (you), while ‘gu\u00ec’ means honorable, so this literally means ‘What’s your honorable surname?’<\/p>\n

In reply, since the person is asking you for your surname, answer with ‘W\u01d2 x\u00ecng Hu\u00e1ng’ – tell the person your surname. (Remember that ‘gu\u00ec’ means honorable, so you don’t want to use this when talking about your own surname!) If you don\u2019t want to be so formal, you can always add on something after that:<\/p>\n

W\u01d2 x\u00ecng Hu\u00e1ng, ji\u00e0o F\u0101ngq\u00ed. Ji\u00e0o w\u01d2 F\u0101ngq\u00ed h\u01ceo le.
\n\u6211\u59d3\u9ec4\uff0c\u53eb\u65b9\u9e92\u3002\u53eb\u6211\u65b9\u9e92\u597d\u4e86\u3002
\nMy surname is Hu\u00e1ng, my first name is F\u0101ngq\u00ed. Just call me F\u0101ngq\u00ed.<\/p>\n

In a casual setting, you can ask:<\/p>\n

N\u01d0 ji\u00e0o sh\u00e9nme (m\u00edngzi)?
\n\u4f60\u53eb\u4ec0\u4e48\uff08\u540d\u5b57\uff09\uff1f<\/p>\n

‘Sh\u00e9nme’ means what, and ‘m\u00edngzi’ means name, so this question means ‘What is your name’, or literally, ‘What (name) are you called by?’<\/p>\n

To this question, you can reply with just your first name or your full name.<\/p>\n

W\u01d2 ji\u00e0o F\u0101ngq\u00ed.\/ W\u01d2 ji\u00e0o Hu\u00e1ng F\u0101ngq\u00ed.
\n\u6211\u53eb\u65b9\u9e92\u3002\/\u6211\u53eb\u9ec4\u65b9\u9e92\u3002<\/p>\n

One thing to note about ‘N\u00edn gu\u00ecx\u00ecng’ is, we use this only when we’re asking the person directly. So when we’re asking about someone else, for example, ‘t\u0101’ (he), we don\u2019t say ‘T\u0101 gu\u00ecx\u00ecng?’ Instead, we ask:<\/p>\n

T\u0101 x\u00ecng sh\u00e9nme?
\n\u4ed6\u59d3\u4ec0\u4e48\uff1f
\nWhat’s his surname?<\/p>\n

You can also use this less formal way of asking directly with someone you’re already friends with. For example, you have a classmate or colleague and like everybody else you call him by his first name, but one day you realize you don’t know his surname. In such a case, you can ask him directly ‘N\u01d0 x\u00ecng sh\u00e9nme?’<\/p>\n

Actually there’s a way to use neither ‘x\u00ecng’ nor ‘ji\u00e0o’ when asking for a name. You can ask:<\/p>\n

Z\u011bnme ch\u0113nghu n\u00edn?
\n\u600e\u4e48\u79f0\u547c\u60a8\uff1f
\nHow should I address you?<\/p>\n

This is considered more polite than ‘N\u01d0 ji\u00e0o sh\u00e9nme m\u00edngzi?’ Since this doesn’t specifically ask for your surname or name, you can reply with your surname, full name or first name, depending on how formal or how casual you think the situation is.<\/p>\n

One final note. For foreigners, since they are foreign names, perhaps, anything goes! You can use ‘ji\u00e0o’ even if you’re telling someone your surname, it won’t sound odd since they probably won’t realize whether it’s a surname or a given name. However, if a foreigner tells me, ‘W\u01d2 x\u00ecng ___, ji\u00e0o ___’ I’ll be totally impressed. Cool, they know the difference! And it does make me more eager to get to know them better, because they seem to care about our culture and language.<\/p>\n

So, there you have it.<\/p>\n

W\u01d2 x\u00ecng Hu\u00e1ng, ji\u00e0o F\u0101ngq\u00ed. Ji\u00e0o w\u01d2 Q\u00edq\u00ed h\u01ceo le. N\u00edn gu\u00ecx\u00ecng?
\n\u6211\u59d3\u9ec4\uff0c\u53eb\u65b9\u9e92\u3002\u53eb\u6211\u9e92\u9e92\u597d\u4e86\u3002\u60a8\u8d35\u59d3\uff1f<\/p>\n

Let me know in the comments! And, check out the audio files<\/a> to start practising!<\/p>\n

See you next time…
\n

<\/div>\nIf you’ve enjoyed this, don’t forget to hit one of the sharing buttons below, and do join me on<\/span> Google+<\/span><\/a>\/ Facebook<\/span><\/a>\/\u00a0Youtub<\/span><\/a>e\/\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\/ Pinterest<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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How should you introduce yourself in Mandarin, and how should you ask people for their names? Here are the audio files, and below, the explanation. Get the order right First of all, in Chinese, surnames come first,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[293,78,79,82],"tags":[235],"class_list":["post-5676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-culture","category-greetings","category-mandarin","tag-beginner"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t