{"id":7393,"date":"2012-03-14T05:11:43","date_gmt":"2012-03-14T10:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=7393"},"modified":"2012-03-14T05:33:26","modified_gmt":"2012-03-14T10:33:26","slug":"20-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/20-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve already covered how to introduce yourself here on the Chinese blog (click here<\/a> for the written post, and check out the video here<\/a>), so now it’s time to equip you with some questions that you will certainly come in handy when you meet people in China:<\/p>\n

1. \u4f60\u53eb\u4ec0\u4e48\u540d\u5b57? (n\u01d0 ji\u00e0o sh\u00e9n me m\u00edng z\u00ec) – What’s your (first) name?<\/p>\n

2. \u4f60\u59d3\u4ec0\u4e48? (n\u01d0 x\u00ecng sh\u00e9n me) – What’s your last name\/surname?<\/p>\n

It should be noted here that when you are talking to elders, teachers, or anybody to whom you should show more respect, you should replace \u4f60 with \u60a8 (n\u00edn), as this is more polite.<\/p>\n

3. \u4f60\u662f\u54ea\u56fd\u4eba? (n\u01d0 sh\u00ec n\u01ce gu\u00f3 r\u00e9n) – Which country are you from?<\/p>\n

This is the most used form of one of the most common questions you will get in China. People are still fascinated by foreigners<\/strong>(\u5916\u56fd\u4eba – w\u00e0i gu\u00f3 r\u00e9n), especially outside of the big cities, and they are always curious to find out where you come from. You might hear this question asked in a few different ways, though, for example: \u4f60\u662f\u54ea\u4e2a\u56fd\u5bb6\u7684? (n\u01d0 sh\u00ec n\u01ce ge gu\u00f3 ji\u0101 de) or \u4f60\u4ece\u54ea\u6765\u7684? (n\u01d0 c\u00f3ng n\u01ce l\u00e1i de). Just go ahead and assume that the first question any Chinese person will ask you will be some variation of this, and be prepared with your response.<\/p>\n

4. \u4f60\u662f\u54ea\u91cc\u7684\u4eba? (n\u01d0 sh\u00ec n\u01ce l\u01d0 de r\u00e9n) – Where are you from?<\/p>\n

This version of the question can be used when you are speaking to Chinese people to ask them which part of China they are from.<\/p>\n

5. \u4f60\u591a\u5927? (n\u01d0 du\u014d d\u00e0) – How old are you?<\/p>\n

Unlike in Western cultures, Chinese will openly ask anyone their age. So just don’t be surprised, ladies, when people inquire about your age. They don’t mean to be rude, it’s just the Chinese way!<\/p>\n

6. \u4f60\u505a\u4ec0\u4e48\u5de5\u4f5c? (n\u01d0 zu\u00f2 sh\u00e9n me g\u014dng zu\u00f2) – What do you do?\/What’s your job?<\/p>\n

7. \u4f60\u5bb6\u6709\u51e0\u4e2a\u4eba? (n\u01d0 ji\u0101 y\u01d2u j\u01d0 g\u00e8 r\u00e9n) – How many people are in your family?<\/p>\n

8. \u4f60\u7ed3\u5a5a\u4e86\u5417? (n\u01d0 ji\u00e9 h\u016bn le ma) – Are you married?<\/p>\n

This question brings us to our first example that features the character \u5417. Although none of the previously mentioned questions contain this character, it is used to form a question. Adding \u5417 to the sentence makes a big difference: \u4f60\u7ed3\u5a5a\u4e86 means “You are married,” while \u4f60\u7ed3\u5a5a\u4e86\u5417 means “Are you married?”<\/p>\n

9. \u4f60\u6709\u5b69\u5b50\u5417? (n\u01d0 y\u01d2u h\u00e1i zi ma) – Do you have children?<\/p>\n

10. \u4f60\u6709\u7537\u670b\u53cb\u5417? (n\u01d0 y\u01d2u n\u00e1n p\u00e9ng y\u01d2u ma)\/\u4f60\u6709\u5973\u670b\u53cb\u5417? (n\u01d0 y\u01d2u n\u01da p\u00e9n gy\u01d2u ma? – Do you have a boyfriend?\/Do you have a girlfriend?<\/p>\n

11. \u4f60\u4f1a\u8bf4\u4e2d\u6587\u5417? (n\u01d0 hu\u00ec shu\u014d zh\u014dng w\u00e9n ma)\/\u4f60\u4f1a\u8bf4\u82f1\u6587\u5417? (n\u01d0 hu\u00ec shu\u014d y\u012bng w\u00e9n ma) – Can you speak Chinese?\/Can you speak English?<\/p>\n

One you will hear from Chinese people all of the time, and the other you will probably find yourself asking Chinese people all the time.<\/p>\n

12. \u4f60\u5728\u4e2d\u56fd\u591a\u957f\u65f6\u95f4\u4e86? (n\u01d0 z\u00e0i zh\u014dng gu\u00f3 du\u014d ch\u00e1ng sh\u00ed ji\u0101n le) – How long have you been in China?<\/p>\n

13. \u4f60\u559c\u6b22\u4e2d\u56fd\u5417? (n\u01d0 x\u01d0 huan zh\u014dng gu\u00f3 ma) – Do you like China?<\/p>\n

Chinese are always curious to hear what foreigners think about living here, so this question is quite common. You will also often be asked Do you like Chinese food<\/strong>? (\u4f60\u559c\u6b22\u4e2d\u56fd\u83dc\u5417 – n\u01d0 x\u01d0 huan zh\u014dng gu\u00f3 c\u00e0i ma).<\/p>\n

14. \u4f60\u4e60\u60ef\u4f4f\u5728\u4e2d\u56fd\u5417? (n\u01d0 x\u00ed gu\u00e0n zh\u00f9 z\u00e0i zh\u014dng gu\u00f3 ma) – Are you used to living in China?<\/p>\n

Speaking Chinese is hard. Eating spicy food and strange things like chicken feet with chopsticks is hard. As such, Chinese people are interested to hear whether or not you are used to the way of life here.<\/p>\n

15. \u5728\u4e2d\u56fd\u4f60\u53bb\u8fc7\u4ec0\u4e48\u5730\u65b9? (z\u00e0i zh\u014dng gu\u00f3 n\u01d0 q\u00f9 gu\u00f2 sh\u00e8n me d\u00ec f\u0101ng) – Which places have you been to in China?<\/p>\n

I’ve noticed that a lot of people in Beijing are always curious to ask me about my travels in China. Since I’ve been quite a few places, this is always a good conversation starter.<\/p>\n

16. \u4f60\u7684\u7231\u597d\u662f\u4ec0\u4e48? (n\u01d0 de \u00e0i h\u00e0o sh\u00ec sh\u00e9n me) – What are your hobbies?<\/p>\n

17. \u4f60\u7684\u5de5\u8d44\u662f\u591a\u5c11? (n\u01d0 de g\u014dng z\u012b sh\u00ec du\u014d sh\u01ceo) – What’s your salary?<\/p>\n

In the West, one’s income is thought to be a private matter, and as such, it’s considered rude to ask someone directly about their salary. This, however, is not the case in China. Chinese people will openly discuss their personal income, so don’t be surprised when your cab driver asks you how much you earn within a few minutes of meeting you.<\/p>\n

18. \u4f60\u4e3a\u4ec0\u4e48\u642c\u5230\u4e2d\u56fd? (n\u01d0 w\u00e8i sh\u00e9n me b\u0101n d\u00e0o zh\u014dng gu\u00f3) – Why did you move to China?<\/p>\n

For a lot of Chinese people, they still can’t understand why someone would leave the US or another Western country to move here. Discussing your reasons for moving to China can result in very interesting conversations.<\/p>\n

19. \u4f60\u4f4f\u5728\u54ea\u91cc? (n\u01d0 zh\u00f9 z\u00e0i n\u01ce l\u01d0) – Where do you live?<\/p>\n

20. \u4f60\u7684\u516c\u5bd3\u662f\u591a\u5c11\u94b1\u4e00\u4e2a\u6708? (n\u01d0 de g\u014dng y\u00f9 sh\u00ec du\u014d sh\u01ceo qi\u00e1n y\u012b g\u00e8 yu\u00e8) – How much is your apartment every month?<\/p>\n

Once again, Chinese are not shy when it comes to talking about finance. They’re always curious to hear whether foreigners own or rent an apartment, and how much they pay for it.<\/p>\n

There ya go, 20 questions that you will most likely hear at some point if you should ever find yourself traveling or living in China. Now get working on your answers!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve already covered how to introduce yourself here on the Chinese blog (click here for the written post, and check out the video here), so now it’s time to equip you with some questions that you will certainly come in handy when you meet people in China: 1. \u4f60\u53eb\u4ec0\u4e48\u540d\u5b57? (n\u01d0 ji\u00e0o sh\u00e9n me m\u00edng z\u00ec)…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,1,13],"tags":[127275],"class_list":["post-7393","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","category-uncategorized","category-vocabulary","tag-common-questons-in-chinese"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7393"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7397,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7393\/revisions\/7397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}