Learn to Make Self introduction in Chinese

In the previous episode of Easy Chinese Series, we have learned how to greet people in Chinese. Now you may ask: what do we do after we have exchanged greetings? Yes, it’s time to introduce yourself! An excellent self introduction in Chinese is very important because it will leave a good first impression on other people. Learn to introduce yourself in Chinese with us and make you “well-known” to people around you.

Sheldon Learning to Make Self Introduction in Chinese

What Is Your Name?

In Chinese, we have the following ways to introduce our names.

1. 我是… (wǒ shì …) This is the easiest and most common way to introduce one's name. In this sentence, the personal pronoun 我, which means “I” is used as a subject, while 是, which means “is” in Chinese is used as a verb. And we put our names after this phrase to make it a whole sentence which means “I am …”

2. 我叫… (wǒ jiào …) In this sentence, 叫 is a verb which means “(someone) to be called”, so literally 我叫… means “I am called…” Actually, “我叫…” has the same sentence pattern and pretty much the same meaning with “我是…”. The only slight difference between the two is that “我叫…” is less formal and is often used in oral Chinese.

3. 我的名字是… (wǒ de mínɡzi shì ...) In this sentence, 我的 means “my”. We have a small grammar point here. In Chinese grammar, we put 的 after personal pronouns to make them possessive pronouns. 名字 in this sentence means “name”. So 我的名字是… simply means “My name is…”

4. 我姓… (wǒ xìnɡ …) This is yet another way to introduce your name, your family name to be precise. The Chinese character 姓 can be both a noun and a verb. When used a noun, 姓 means “family name”. When used as a verb, as in this case, it means “(my) family name is…” So, 我姓… means “My family name is …”

Where Are You From?

我来自… (wǒ láizì …) Besides names, you may also want to tell people where you come from. In Chinese, the Chinese phrase “来自” has the meaning of “come from”, with 来 meaning “come”, and “自” meaning “from”. For example, if you are from America, you can say 我来自美国 (wǒ láizì měiɡuó).

How Old Are You?

Age, especially a woman’s age is kind of a secret in some countries, but in China, age is not so private a thing. Chinese people often tell people how old they are when they are making a self introduction. In Chinese, we use this sentence 我今年…岁 (wǒ jīn nián … suì) to tell our age. 今年 means “this year” in Chinese and the character 岁 has the meaning of “years old”. So, if you are 21 years old, you can say “我今年21岁”. In oral Chinese, we often omit “今年” to make it more simple. So, you can also say “我21岁” for short.

Now, can you make a self introduction in Chinese with what you have learned? Write to us and let us know about you!