课程 → Level 1 · 入门 → 课 3
Level 1 · Lesson 3 您贵姓?
May I ask your surname?
请问,您贵姓?我姓李。
Ask for a surname politely with 请问 and 贵姓, and answer with 姓.
听 · Listen
对话
Excuse me — may I ask your surname?
My surname is Wang. And what is your surname?
My surname is Li; my name is Li Ming.
Hello, Mr Li!
Hello, Mr Wang!
What is her surname?
Her surname is Zhang; she is called Zhang Xiaomei.
(as she walks over) Hello, Miss Zhang!
讲解 · Explanation
我姓李,我叫李明。
Two verbs, two jobs. 姓 xìng takes the family name and nothing else — 我姓李. 叫 jiào takes the whole name or the given name — 我叫李明, and 张小美 could say 我叫小美. So 我姓李明 is wrong, and so is 我叫李 on its own. This is why a Chinese self-introduction so often comes in two beats: surname first, then the full name.
请问,您贵姓?
请 qǐng before a verb is the polite frame of Chinese, so 请 + 问 'ask' gives 请问 — 'excuse me, may I ask'. 贵姓 is the honour you pay someone else: 贵 means 'honourable', and the phrase goes only with 您. You never say it of yourself, so the answer is 我姓王, not 我贵姓王.
王先生,您好!张小姐,您好!
A title follows the surname in Chinese, the mirror image of English: 王先生 is Mr Wang, 张小姐 is Miss Zhang. Listen to the second syllables — they are not alike. 先生 goes light and toneless, xiānsheng, while 小姐 keeps its third tone, xiǎojiě, two third tones in a row exactly like 你好. And when you use a title, 您 comes with it almost automatically: the title and the pronoun are doing the same polite work.
生词 · Vocabulary
| 词 | Meaning | 注 · Note |
|---|---|---|
| 姓 | to be surnamed; surname | takes the family name only |
| 请 | please | 请 + verb makes a request polite |
| 问 | to ask | |
| 贵姓 | your honourable surname | only with 您, never of yourself |
| 先生 | Mr, sir | after the surname: 王先生 |
| 小姐 | Miss | after the surname: 张小姐; on the mainland 女士 nǚshì is the safer formal choice |
练习 · Practice
用一用 · Use it
请问,您贵姓?我姓……,我叫……
Say the whole polite exchange aloud. Ask 请问,您贵姓? then answer for yourself in two beats: 我姓 … first, 我叫 … second. Finish by greeting the person with their surname plus a title — 王先生,您好!or 张小姐,您好!