Say your name and ask for theirs

Meet Lin An

• Lin An introduces herself: I / me我wǒvariant of 叫叫jiào林安lín ān。 Wǒ jiào Lín Ān. — My name is Lin An.
• I / me我wǒ wǒ means I; variant of 叫叫jiào jiào introduces the name here. Use your own name after I / me我wǒvariant of 叫叫jiào, including a non-Chinese name.

Ask the other person’s name

• you你nǐvariant of 叫叫jiàowhat什么shén mename (of a person or thing)名字míng zì？ Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi? — What is your name?
• you你nǐ nǐ means you; what什么shén me shénme means what; name (of a person or thing)名字míng zì míngzi means name. Learn what什么shén mename (of a person or thing)名字míng zì together: “what name”.

Compare question and answer

• Question: you你nǐvariant of 叫叫jiàowhat什么shén mename (of a person or thing)名字míng zì？ Answer: I / me我wǒvariant of 叫叫jiào林安lín ān。 Change you你nǐ to I / me我wǒ because the person answering speaks about themself.
• Keep this simple naming pattern: I / me我wǒvariant of 叫叫jiào…… . Do not add to be / is是shì to the pattern we are practising.

Hear a different name

• Play and find the name after variant of 叫叫jiào.
• Wang Li (1900-1986), one of…王力wáng lì is Wáng Lì. In these Chinese names, the surname is first: to rule王wáng / power力lì and (bound form) woods林lín / (bound form) calm安ān. You do not have to invent a Chinese name to study Chinese.

Introduce yourself

• Say I / me我wǒvariant of 叫叫jiào followed by your own name. Ask someone else’s name, or answer the recorded question without reading.
• Write or type your name sentence. An IME lets you enter pinyin and choose characters; see the typing guide.

Next: say who someone is.