Answer to Introducing Yourself – My name is Yao Ming.

Correct Answer: B

Everyone’s name can be used to tell others who you are and is a way for others to refer to you. For a Chinese learner, it is very important to learn to express names “姓名(xìngmíng),” as the first step in learning Chinese.

Firstly, Chinese people’s “姓名(xìngmíng), name” is made up of two parts. The part referred to as “姓(xìng)” is the family name, and the other part is “名(míng), the first / given name.”

Usually, Chinese people have a “单姓(dānxìng), single surname,” such as “张(Zhāng), Zhang,” “李(lǐ),  Li,” or “王(Wáng), Wang,” etc. We also have “复姓(fùxìng),” which are compound surnames such as “东方(Dōngfāng), Dongfang,” “西门(Xīmén), Ximen,” “司马(Sīmǎ), Sima,” etc.

After the surname, we generally use one or two characters as the first name, such as “军(Jūn), Jun,” “红(Hóng), Hong,” “亚楠(Yà nán), Yanan,” “一平(Yīpíng), Yiping,” and so on.

In the Chinese language, “姓(xìng), family name” should be placed in front of “名(míng), first name.” Check out the chart below to better understand.

Examples

For any Chinese learner, the first step to introducing yourself to others is to introduce your name. To do so, we have three basic structures for introducing your name.

Structure 1: Subject + 姓(xìng) + family name.

In this structure, the word “姓(xìng)” can be used as predicate.

Examples

Wǒ xìng Yáng.
我   姓     杨。

My surname is Yang.

Wǒ de lǎobǎn xìng Lǐ.
我   的 老板     姓   李。

My boss’ family name is Li.

Structure 2: Subject + 叫(jiào) + name

Examples

Nǐ hǎo! Wǒ jiào Sòng Yīng.
你 好， 我   叫    宋     英。

Hello! My name is Song Ying.

Tā de fùqin jiào Zhāng Zhìshān.
他  的 父亲  叫   张        志山。

His father’s name is Zhang Zhishan.

Structure 3: Subject + 是(shì) + name

Examples

Dàjiā hǎo! Wǒ shì Zhào Xīnrú.
大家   好！ 我  是   赵     心如。

Hello everyone! I’m Zhao Xinru.

Jason: Nà ge rén shì shuí?
Jason: 那  个  人   是  谁？

Jason: Who is that person?

zhāng Lì: Tā shì Sīmǎ Fēng.
张       莉: 他  是   司马 丰。

Zhang Li: He is Sima Feng.

Usually, Structure 1 is used together with Structure 2 or Structure 3.

Translation of the dialogue:

Wǒ xìng Yáo, wǒ jiàoYáo Míng (Wo shì Yáo Míng).
我    姓   姚，  我 叫   姚    明    (我   是   姚   明) 。

My family name is Yao and my name is Yao Ming. (I’m Yao Ming.)

In our test, only answer B follows the three structures above, so our answer is B.

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