成人快手

Mandarin: Talking about yourself

Part of MandarinTalking topics

Learn how to talk about yourself in Mandarin and ask others about themselves.

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The 1-2-3 challenge

Join Scottish pupils as they give Mandarin a go!

Listen and guess what they are saying before trying yourself.

Tip: This video can be used as an interactive introduction to this topic or as a recap on key vocabulary and phrases already learnt.

Remember!

It doesn't matter if your pronunciation isn't perfect. Try your best and have fun!

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'What’s your name?'

In Mandarin, there are two verbs that can be used when asking for someone’s name.

There is 箩颈à辞 to ask for a person’s full name, or in some cases their first name, and 虫ì苍驳 to ask for a person’s last name.

This gives you two different ways of asking for someone's name in Mandarin:

狈ǐ 箩颈à辞 shén me?

What's your name?

狈ǐ 虫ì苍驳 shén me?

What's your last name?

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'My name is...'

You can answer in Mandarin using:

奥ǒ 箩颈à辞

My name is…

奥ǒ 虫ì苍驳

My last name is…

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'How old are you?'

There are two ways to ask someone's age, depending on how old they seem:

  • If the person seems 10 years or younger, use:

狈ǐ jǐ suì le? - How old are you?

  • If the person seems older than 10 years old, use:

狈ǐ duō dà le? - How old are you?

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'I am ... years old'

You can answer either question in Mandarin using:

奥ǒ … suì le - I am … years old.

Examples:

  • 奥ǒ bā suì le - I am eight years old
  • 奥ǒ jiǔ suì le - I am nine years old
  • 奥ǒ shí suì le - I am ten years old

You can learn more about Mandarin numbers here.

Did you know?

In China, when you are asking for the age of someone older than you, you show your respect by asking:

Nín duō dà nián jì le? - How old are you?

This phrase is usually used when talking to elderly people. It is not considered rude to ask how old someone is in China.

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'Where do you live?'

To ask where a person lives, you can say:

狈ǐ zhù zài nǎ lǐ? - Where do you live?

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'I live in...'

You can say:

奥ǒ zhù zài… - I live in…

  • 奥ǒ zhù zài sū gé lán - I live in Scotland
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'Where are you from?'

To ask where a person is from, you can say:

狈ǐ lái zì nǎ lǐ? - Where are you from?

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'I am from...'

You can say:

奥ǒ lái zì… - I am from…

  • 奥ǒ lái zì bō lán - I am from Poland
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Countries

Practice saying where you are from, using different countries from this list:

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'What nationality are you?'

To ask what nationality a person is, you can say:

狈ǐ shì nǎ guó rén? - What nationality are you?

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'I am... (nationality)'

To reply, you say: ('I am') + the country + ('person'):

奥ǒ shì … rén - I am… (nationality)

  • 奥ǒ shì sūgélán rén - I am Scottish
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Conversation time

Now you've learnt how to talk about yourself in Mandarin, let's put it into a conversation! Add to it if you need more of a challenge!

Alex:

狈ǐ hǎo, wǒ 箩颈à辞 Alex. 狈ǐ 箩颈à辞 shénme?

Hello, I’m called Alex. What are you called?

Sarah:

狈ǐ hǎo, wǒ 箩颈à辞 Sarah. 狈ǐ jǐ suì?

Hello, I’m called Sarah. How old are you?

Alex:

奥ǒ jiǔ suì. 狈ǐ ne?

I’m nine years old. How about you?

Sarah:

奥ǒ shí suì.

I’m ten.

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