CLO_028: Do you know who she is?
Listen to this lesson, to learn what the following means:
Dialogue: Numbers
A: Ni3 zhi1dao4 ta1 shi4 shei2 ma?
B: Wo3 bu4 zhi1dao4. Ta1 shi4 shei2?
A: Ta1 zai4 zhe4li3 shi4 ge hen3 you3ming2de ren2.
Dialogue: Tones
A: Nǐ zhīdào tā shì shéi ma?
B: Wǒ bù zhīdào. Tā shì shéi?
A: Tā zài zhèlǐ shì ge hěn yǒumíngde rén.
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PDF Notes: 
September 30th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Which is the difference between shéi and shúi?. Can they both be used the same way?
Thanks
September 30th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Hi Guillermo,
Actually it’s the same character. People from Northern China sometimes pronounce it as shúi while other parts of China pronounce it as shéi. We wanted you to be familiar with both versions.
October 29th, 2008 at 11:21 am
If shei is supposed to be a question word for who, why do you also use ‘ma ‘ at the end of the first sentence?
October 30th, 2008 at 2:00 am
Hi Michelle,
Good question! It may be clearer if we break the sentence down into pieces:
Nǐ zhīdào ma? (Do you know?)
Tā shì shéi? (Who is that?)
Nǐ zhīdào tā shì shéi ma? (Do you know who that is?)
Does that help?
November 4th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Hi Adam,
Everything is clear is now. You’re a great teacher!
Thanks
Michelle
August 30th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
It seems you have re-recorded some parts of these old lessons, but now the text in the dialogue summary doesn’t match what is being said anymore. The review audio still has the old audio and the old dialogues, though!
August 31st, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Thanks Luís, the dialogue text has been fixed. We will keep the old review audio for now until we have new ones recorded there as well.
September 11th, 2011 at 9:12 am
Hi,
I have a question regarding the sentence: Ni3 zhi1dao4 ta1 shi4 shei2 ma?
Why isn’t ren4shi used in place of zhi1dao4? I thought ren4shi is used
in sentences regarding people — to know someone or to recognize someone.
Thanks.
September 11th, 2011 at 10:02 am
Hi Claudia,
Ren4shi is used when you “know someone” rather than “know of someone” which we are talking about here. Since the person being discussed is a celebrity, chances are they only know who the person is, rather than knowing them personally.
Hope that helps!
September 11th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
Hi, Adam,
Yes, thanks!