Ask for a person’s name and provide your own
Chinese pronouns
我 wǒ I, me
你 nǐ You
她 tā She, her
他 tā He, him
他 叫 什么？Tā jiào shénme？What’s his name?
他 叫 Michael Jordan. Tā jiào Michael Jordan. He is called Michael Jordan.
她 叫 什么？Tā jiào shénme？What’s her name?
她 叫 Audrey Hepburn. Tā jiào Audrey Hepburn. She is called Audrey Hepburn.
你 叫 什么？Nǐ jiào shénme？What’s your name?
我 叫 李月。Wǒ jiào Lǐ Yuè。I am called Li Yue.
In Chinese, the family name comes before the given name, so for 李月Lǐ Yuè, “李” is the family name and “月” is the given name.
There are over 5000 Chinese family names, and more than 200 of them are commonly seen. “李 Lǐ、王 Wáng、张 Zhāng、刘 Liú” are the top 4. You can find more information about Chinese family names in another CIO Mooc course “百家姓 Tales From the Hundreds of Surnames”.
Reach your personal and professional goals
Unlock access to hundreds of expert online courses and degrees from top universities and educators to gain accredited qualifications and professional CV-building certificates.
Join over 18 million learners to launch, switch or build upon your career, all at your own pace, across a wide range of topic areas.
