Mandarin: Talking about yourself

Part ofMandarinTalking 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?'

A boy and girl dance.

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

There is jiào to ask for a person’s full name, or in some cases their first name, and xìng to ask for a person’s last name.

A boy and girl dance.

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

Nǐ jiào shén me?

What's your name?

Nǐ xìng shén me?

What's your last name?

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'My name is...'

You can answer in Mandarin using:

Wǒ jiào

My name is…

Wǒ xìng

My last name is…

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'How old are you?'

Little girl with a pony tail

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

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

Nǐ jǐ suì le? - How old are you?

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

Nǐ duō dà le? - How old are you?

Little girl with a pony tail
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'I am ... years old'

You can answer either question in Mandarin using:

Wǒ … suì le - I am … years old.

Examples:

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

You can learn more about Mandarin numbers here.

A lightbulb.

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:

Nǐ zhù zài nǎ lǐ? - Where do you live?

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'I live in...'

A map of Scotland

You can say:

Wǒ zhù zài… - I live in…

  • Wǒ zhù zài sū gé lán - I live in Scotland
A map of Scotland
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'Where are you from?'

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

Nǐ lái zì nǎ lǐ? - Where are you from?

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'I am from...'

You can say:

Wǒ lái zì… - I am from…

  • Wǒ 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?'

The flags of England, Spain, Wales and China.

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

Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén? - What nationality are you?

The flags of England, Spain, Wales and China.
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'I am... (nationality)'

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

Wǒ shì … rén - I am… (nationality)

  • Wǒ shì sūgélán rén - I am Scottish
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Quiz

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Conversation time

A boy smiles and points with a girl who is smiling.

Now you've learnt how to talk about yourself in Mandarin, let's put it into a conversation!

Alex:

Nǐmen hǎo, wǒ jiào Alex. Nǐmen jiào shénme?

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

Sarah:

Nǐ hǎo, wǒ jiào Sarah.

Hello, I’m called Sarah.

Daniel:

Wǒ jiào Daniel. Nǐ jǐ suì?

I’m called Daniel. How old are you?

Alex:

Wǒ jiǔ suì. Nǐmen ne?

I’m nine years old. How about you?

Sarah:

Wǒ shí suì, Daniel shí yī suì.

I’m ten and Daniel is eleven.

Daniel:

Wǒmen zhù zài Àidīngbǎo. Nǐ zhù zài nǎlǐ?

We live in Edinburgh. Where do you live?

Alex:

Wǒ zhù zài Gélāsīgē.

I live in Glasgow.

Key words

- nǐ - you (when you are talking to just one person)

- nǐ men - you (when talking to more than one person)

- wǒ - I, me

- wǒ men – we, us

- Gé lā sī gē - Glasgow

- Ài dīng bǎo - Edinburgh

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