Coffee Break Chinese

Season 1, Lesson 2

Lesson notes

Introduction

Huānyíng láidào Coffee Break Chinese - welcome to Coffee Break Chinese! These are

the notes for lesson 2 in which you’ll be learning to greet people at different times of the

day, and also to introduce yourself and ask other people “what is your name?”

K Lesson notes

As usual Crystal begins the lesson saying, “hello everyone”:

dàjià hǎo

hello everyone

huānyíng láidào Coffee Break Chinese

welcome to Coffee Break Chinese

Mark: Nǐ hǎo. Nǐ hǎo ma?

Crystal: Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?

Mark: Wǒ hěn hǎo.

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 1 of 14

nǐ ne

how about you? what about you? and you?

Zhǔnbèi hǎo le ma?

are you good to go?

kāishǐ ba

let’s get started

Review

Nǐ hǎo ma?

how are you?

wǒ hěn hǎo

I’m well

wǒ fēicháng hǎo

I’m very well

Mark and Crystal put this language into a conversation, using the additional expression

covered in the introduction, nǐ ne, meaning “what about you?”

Mark: Nǐ hǎo ma?

Crystal: Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?

Mark: Wǒ fēicháng hǎo, xièxie.

The word for “also” or “too” in Mandarin is:

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 2 of 14

yě

also, too

wǒ yě hěn hǎo

I’m also well

They now repeat the conversation, adding in the word yě.

Mark: Nǐ hǎo ma?

Crystal: Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?

Mark: Wǒ yě hěn hǎo.

wǒ hái hǎo

I’m ok / I’m not (feeling) bad

wǒ bú tài hǎo

I’m not (feeling) too good / I’m (feeling) bad

Greetings at different times of the day

While nǐ hǎo works at any time of the day, you can be more specific:

zǎoshang hǎo

good morning

Literally this means “morning good”. Note the tones: zǎo is 3rd tone and shang is

neutral.

xiàwǔ hǎo

good afternoon

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 3 of 14

wǎnshang hǎo

good evening

wǎn’an

good night

The apostrophe in wǎn’an is used to indicate where one syllable (and character) stops

and the other starts. A learner may think that this word is made up of two syllables/

words, wǎ and nan, but this is not the case: it is made up of the syllables/words wǎn

and an. The apostrophe helps us to see how the word is made up.

w Cultural Notes: transcript

Mark: It’s time to move on and we’re going to start looking at the topic of names.

Crystal: Duì.

Mark: Let’s look at some of the cultural aspects of names in Chinese because I’m

very interested in this. “Crystal” to me doesn’t really sound like a traditional

Chinese name. Tell us the story, please!

Crystal: You’re right, Mark. Crystal is a western name, and I was given this name when I

was in university by an Australian teacher. Everybody in my class was given a

western name because we were learning English as our subject. My Chinese

name is Pān Yǒngqìng.

Mark: Pān Yǒngqìng.

Crystal: Fēicháng hǎo.

Mark: So which part of Pān Yǒngqìng is your surname, and which part is your given

name?

Crystal: Good question. In Chinese names we start with the family name first, so Pān is

my family name. Yǒngqìng is my given name and also Yǒng is what we call a

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 4 of 14

 generational name. That means all my siblings share the same generational

name, Yǒng. For example my elder brother is called Pān Yǒnggāng. His first

name is Gāng but we share Yǒng.

Mark: As a generational name, so all of the people in your generational of your

family?

Crystal: That’s right.

Mark: What would your father’s generational name be, for example?

Crystal: My father is called Pān Kěwǔ, so the generational name is Kě, for example his

brother is called Pān Kěcái.

Mark: I think that makes sense.

Crystal: But now it’s different: because of China’s One Child Policy in a family we don’t

have siblings like we used to anymore, so people tend to use just the given

name and family name, for example someone could be called Lǐ Hóng: Lǐ is

the family name and Hóng is the given name, so the generational name is

lost.

Mark: A fascinating insight into Chinese names!

Talking about names

To say “what is your name?” you can use the following question:

Nǐ jiào shénme?

what is your name?

Literally this means “you (are) named / called what?”

To answer the question you can use the word for “I”, wǒ and repeat the verb form jiào to

give:

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 5 of 14

wǒ jiào …

I’m called … / My name is …

In Crystal’s case, she would say:

wǒ jiào Pān Yǒngqìng

I’m called Pān Yǒngqìng

Crystal helps Mark to choose a Chinese name. His family name is Pentleton, so Crystal

suggests a popular Chinese family name Péng. This is the surname of the current (2017)

first lady of China, Péng Lìyuán. Mark’s first name already has a Chinese version, Mǎkè.

So Mark’s Chinese name should be Péng Mǎkè.

Mark: Nǐ jiào shénme?

Crystal: Wǒ jiào Pān Yǒngqìng. Nǐ ne?

Mark: Wǒ jiào Péng Mǎkè.

A useful way to ask questions

Very often in Mandarin you’ll hear native speakers using a phrase to start a question:

qǐngwèn

may I ask … ?

Using this phrase before your question will help you sound more authentic! It certainly

makes the question seem less abrupt:

Qǐngwèn, nǐ jiào shénme?

excuse me, may I ask what your name is?

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 6 of 14

Giving your full name
You can get by with the expression wǒ jiào … meaning “I’m called …” but you’ll often

hear the word xìng associated with names. You can use wǒ xìng to say “my family name

is …”.

wǒ xìng …

my family name is …

wǒ xìng Pān, (wǒ) jiào Pān Yǒngqìng

my family name is Pān, my full name is Pān Yǒngqìng

wǒ xìng Péng, (wǒ) jiào Péng Mǎkè

my family name is Péng, my full name is Péng Mǎkè

Note that you don’t need to repeat the wǒ in this construction: it’s fine to say wǒ xìng

Péng, jiào Péng Mǎkè.

Extending the topic of names further

While Nǐ jiào shénme? is an acceptable question, meaning “what are you called?” or

“what is your name?”, the normal, full version of this question is as follows:

Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

what is your name?

Literally this means “you (are) called what name?”

The complete version of the question then, including the question starter qǐngwèn is:

Qǐngwèn, nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

Excuse me, may I ask what your name is?

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 7 of 14

Mark: Qǐngwèn, nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

Crystal: Wǒ xìng Pān, wǒ jiào Pān Yǒngqìng.

Crystal: Qǐngwèn, nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

Mark: Wǒ xìng Péng, wǒ jiào Péng Mǎkè.

Saying “it’s nice to meet you”

One final phrase which will come in useful when you are introducing yourself to native

Mandarin speakers is the phrase “it’s nice to meet you”:

hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ

it’s nice to meet you

Crystal and Mark add this phrase to their dialogue:

Mark: Qǐngwèn, nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

Crystal: Wǒ xìng Pān, jiào Pān Yǒngqìng. Nǐ ne?

Mark: Wǒ xìng Péng, wǒ jiào Péng Mǎkè. Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ.

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 8 of 14

K Review lesson notes

In the bonus lesson we review the words and phrases we learned in the main lesson and

introduce some bonus vocabulary:

We’ve already learned wǒ xìng which is used to give your family name. A very polite

way of asking someone’s name is:

Nín guìxìng?

what is your “noble” name?

Note the word nín which is a formal version of nǐ and is used with people who are older

than you or with people who hold higher positions. Again, guì is used as a mark of

respect.

Qǐngwěn, nín guìxìng?

may I ask, what is your “noble” name?

The traditional answer to this question is: miǎn guìxìng (Pān). The expression miǎn guì

means something like “do away with the noble”. The answer miǎn guìxìng (Pān) is like

countering the very polite question by saying “you don’t need to be so polite with me,

my family name is (Pān).”

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 9 of 14

V Bonus episode: translation test

1. Wǒ xìng Yáng, wǒ jiào Yáng Liǔ.

2. Qǐngwèn, nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

3. Wǒ hěn lèi, wǎn’ān.

4. Wǒ yě hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ.

5. Wǒ jīntiān bú tài hǎo.

6. I am also very well.

7. Good morning. How are you?

8. What is your name?

9. My name is Pān Yǒngqìng.

10.It’s nice to meet you.

Answers can be found on the next page.

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 10 of 14

Answers

1. My family name is Yáng, my full name is Yáng Liǔ.

2. May I ask, what is your name?

3. I’m very tired, good night.

4. I’m also very pleased to meet you.

5. I’m not feeling great today / I’m not feeling well today.

6. Wǒ yě hěn hǎo.

7. Zǎoshang hǎo. Nǐ hǎo ma?

8. (Qǐngwen,) nǐ jiào shénme (míngzi)?

9. Wǒ jiào Pān Yǒngqìng. Wǒ xìng Pān, (wǒ) jiào Pān Yǒngqìng.

10.Hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ.

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 11 of 14

Appendix: lesson vocabulary with Chinese characters

你 ？
Nǐ ne?
what about you?

准备好了吗？
Zhǔnbèi hǎo le ma?
are you good to go?

始吧
kāishǐ ba!
let’s start!

也
yě
also

我也很好
wǒ yě hěn hǎo
I’m also well

早上好
zǎoshang hǎo
good morning

下午好
xiàwǔ hǎo
good afternoon

上好
wǎnshang hǎo
good evening

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 12 of 14

 安
wǎn’an
goodnight

潘永庆
Pān Yǒngqìng
Crystal’s Chinese name

彭马克
Péng Mǎkè
Mark’s Chinese name

我好 了
wǒ hǎo jí le
I’m extremely good/well

我叫。。。
wǒ jiào…
my name is / I’m called

你叫什么？
nǐ jiào shénme?
what is your name?

请问
qǐngwèn
may I ask…

我姓。。。
wǒ xìng …
my family name is …

你叫什么名字？
Nǐ jiǎo shénme míngzi?

Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 13 of 14

what is your name? (full version of question)

很高 认识你
hěn gāoxìng rènshi nǐ
pleased to meet you


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Coffee Break Chinese, Season 1, Lesson 2 - Notes page 14 of 14