12 Responses to “CLO_007: Questions and Titles”

1. gustavo riveros Says:
   August 1st, 2007 at 5:15 pm

   excellent metod Im enjoing to learn

2. Frank Thieme Says:
   October 27th, 2007 at 5:58 am

   Maybe you should mention - like chinesepod.com is - that wen3 instead of wen4 could get you in some trouble

   Because you then ask for some french kissing instead of a question…

3. Adam Says:
   October 27th, 2007 at 7:41 am

   Good point, Frank!

4. Frank Thieme Says:
   November 5th, 2007 at 3:31 pm

   I still couldn’t figure out what is said in the video. First he asks her for her name and she answers. But whats then?

5. Adam Says:
   November 5th, 2007 at 6:33 pm

   Hi Frank, the second part is Nǐde shēngrì shì jǐ hǎo? (When is your birthday) to which she answers Wǔyuè èr hào (May 5th).

   A similar question is asked in the first question of the new exercises page: http://www.chineselearnonline.com/exercises

6. Frank Thieme Says:
   November 6th, 2007 at 3:29 pm

   May 2nd

7. Adam Says:
   November 6th, 2007 at 5:37 pm

   Haha, right, sorry!

8. Frank Thieme Says:
   January 5th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

   Another side note: I read a book today and stumpled upon nüshi (女士). I asked some chinese friend of mine and she said that you usually say to a woman nüshi unless you know she is married…

9. Kent Alderson Says:
   December 21st, 2009 at 6:23 am

   Lesson 7 Questions, to use Possessive or not?
   For the vocabulary summary:

   The answers to questions 1,3,5, do not use possesive “de”
   But
   questions 2, 11,12 and 13 do use the possesive form.
   Can you use nide3 and wode3 in all of those examples?

10. Adam Says:
    December 22nd, 2009 at 9:09 pm

    Hi Kent,

    To answer your question, we will have to take a look at the literal translations of each sentence:

    1. Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi? (Literally: You call what name? No possessive is used in this literal translation, therefore “de” particle is not required in the sentence”.
    2. Qǐngwèn nǐde míngzi shì… (Literally: May I ask, your name is… Here, we use the “de” in “your”).
    3. Wǒ jiào Kirin. (Literally: I called Kirin. No possessive required).
    4. Wǒ shì Kirin. (Lit: I am Kirin. No possessive required).
    5. Nín guì xìng? (Lit: You honorable surname. Here a possessive COULD be used (Nínde), but this is a standard and most polite way of asking someone’s last name, so I don’t recommend changing the format).
    6. Wǒ xìng Yang. Jiào Kirin. (Lit: I last name Yang, (first name) called Kirin. This is a shortened form of #7 below that doesn’t use the possessive.
    7. Wǒde xìng shì… (Lit: My last name is… Possessive used for “my”).
    8. Nǐde shēngrì shì jǐ hào? (Lit: Your birthday is how many number? Possessive used for “your”).

    Hope that helps. Let me know if there are more examples you would like to go over.

11. Cindy Kaup Says:
    August 2nd, 2010 at 1:59 pm

    I was speaking to my friend and I called her xiao jie and she laughed and said I was calling her a hooker (prostitute)! She lives in Northeast China. And she told me to just say ni hao and her name only and forget the xiao jie.

    I’m going to China for over 2 months and out of curiousity I will say “xiao jie” and see what happens. I don’t want to end up in the hospital IN CHINA over saying “xiao jie” to a woman I meet on the street. And, my friend told me she lives on a block where there is a “pink light” on in the next building!!! (I guess they are out of red light bulbs).

12. Luise (admin) Says:
    August 3rd, 2010 at 2:28 am

    Hi Cindy,

    Thanks for bringing this up. I’ve heard that this could be a derogatory term in some parts of Northern China, whereas it’s absolutely common place in other places, so it’s best to check ahead, as you have done.

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