Level 1 · Lesson 10

你是哪儿人？
Where are you from?

你是哪儿人？我是北京人。再见！

Review: ask where someone is from with 哪儿, and put 姓, 叫, 是 and 学 together into a whole self-introduction.

听 · Listen

对话
 李明 —  安娜，你是哪儿人？ 
Anna, where are you from?  
 安娜 —  我是美国人。你呢？你是哪儿人？ 
I'm American. And you? Where are you from?  
 李明 —  我是北京人。 
I'm from Beijing.  
 安娜 —  王老师也是北京人吗？ 
Is Teacher Wang from Beijing too?  
 李明 —  她不是北京人，她是上海人。 
She isn't from Beijing — she's from Shanghai.  
 安娜 —  张东呢？ 
And Zhang Dong?  
 李明 —  他是香港人。他学英语，我也学英语，我们是同学。 
He's from Hong Kong. He studies English, I study English too — we're classmates.  
 安娜 —  不错！谢谢你，李明。再见！ 
Nice! Thank you, Li Ming. Goodbye!  

讲解 · Explanation

你是哪儿人？我是北京人。

哪儿 nǎr is 'where', but do not reach for a verb of motion — this is a 是-sentence, exactly like 你是哪国人？ from before. A place name plus 人 makes a person from that place: 北京 gives 北京人, 上海 gives 上海人, 香港 gives 香港人. So 哪儿人 is 'which-place person', and it sits in the very slot the answer will fill. The r on the end of 哪儿 is the northern erhua, and we write it as it is said.

我姓王，我叫王小雨，我是上海人，我学汉语。

Four sentences, four verbs, and a complete self-introduction. 姓 takes the family name only. 叫 takes the full name or the given name. 是 links you to a category — a nationality, a city, a job. 学 takes a real object. Say them in that order and you have introduced yourself the way a Chinese speaker does: surname first, then name, then where you are from, then what you do.

张东呢？再见！

Two small pieces of conversational glue. 呢 saves you a whole sentence: after 你是哪儿人？ has been asked once, just say 张东呢？ and everyone knows what you mean. And 再见 zàijiàn closes the conversation — it is 再 'again' plus 见 'to meet', so the Chinese goodbye is a promise to meet again, not a farewell.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
哪儿	where	哪儿人 = a person from where
再见	goodbye	再 again + 见 to meet
北京	Beijing	北京人 Běijīngrén
上海	Shanghai	上海人 Shànghǎirén
香港	Hong Kong	香港人 Xiānggǎngrén

练习 · Practice

你是哪儿人？ You are from Shanghai. Which answer is correct?

李明 Your surname is Li and your full name is Li Ming. Which is right?

他是香港______。 He is from Hong Kong.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'Where are you from?'

哪儿、再见、北京、上海、香港 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

你好！我姓……，我叫……，我是……人，我学汉语。你呢？再见！

Say the whole introduction aloud, without stopping, four sentences in a row: greet, give your surname, give your name, say where you are from, say what you study. Then hand the turn over with 你呢？ and close with 再见. Ten lessons ago you had two syllables; you now have a first conversation from 你好 to 再见.