Learn Chinese for Free—Lesson 4
Today's Chinese characters:
请问您贵姓
The other Chinese characters contained in this lesson have already been studied previously. You can just click on them and go back to the corresponding lesson.
I believe it's good to learn as soon as possible how to show politeness and respect in Chinese. In this lesson you are going to learn how to ask questions politely and how to respectfully ask someone's name.
| Character Knowledge Meter |
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4.78%
Today with this lesson your knowledge of Chinese characters will reach 4.78% of all the Chinese language usage! |
Characters' Essentials
| - | Expensive, costly; precious; honourable |
| - | Your (term of respect used in polite expressions) |
Description and Examples
The question "请问您贵姓？" is a great example of politeness built on three expressions that you may want to make your own:
- Use of 请问
- Use of 您
- Use of 贵姓
The meaning of: 你 and 您—Part 1 你 and 您 both mean "you". 您 is used as an honorific appellation or respectful title instead of 你. It is normally reserved for old people or elders. To show politeness, you may extend its use to people of your own generation, especially at the first meeting. Anyway, the usage of 你 is not limited to informal speech. You can use it addressing your close friend as well as the President of the People's Republic of China. |
How to say: What's your name?—Part 1 您贵姓？ This is probably the most polite way to ask someone's name. It shows respect, honour, esteem. Please note that what is actually asked is only the surname. At this level of formality, there is no need to ask for the first name. |
The meaning of: 请问⋯ It's a polite expression used to ask questions. It might correspond to "May I ask...", "Excuse me...", etc. followed by a question. For example:
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