"叫我张明。"
Translation:Call me Ming Zhang.
76 Comments
- 25
- 17
- 15
- 12
- 10
- 9
- 9
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 6
- 5
- 3
- 2
- 2
- 2
- 2
Can this be translated as "My name is Zhang Ming"?
- 6
- 6
- 6
- 4
- 3
- 3
- 2
Wo Jian=I am called Jian Wo=Call me Same meaning you get when you flip the words in English. English just has a lot more fluff inbetween the words that needs to be changed for it to make sense.
- 21
- 11
- 203
In Chinese, the last name (also called "family name") appears before the first name. So in English, we have to flip the order. 张明 ＝ Ming Zhang
It's slightly confusing because we intentionally call them "first" and "last" names because that's how they appear in English. But for languages that don't follow this convention, it becomes a misnomer.
no, because you jiao means call and wo means me so it wouldn't work. But if you wanted to say that then it would be wo-de-ming-zi-jiao-zhang-ming
- 25
- 9
- 8
- 610
Actually, it'd be either wo-de-ming-zi-shi-zhang-ming or wo-jiao-zhang-ming, not both. What you suggested would be translated as, in English, "My name is called Ming Zhang".
- 15
- 14
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 5
- 5
- 5
- 5
- 3
- 3
- 2
- 2
- 2
- 2
- 2
Despite the correct answer being marked as Name / Surname, if someone tells you this sentence, should you call him/her ming Zhang or Zhang ming?
- 14
- 13
- 8
- 6
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 69
Last names go before first names in Chinese = Zhang (surname) ming (first name). The translation should be the english arrangement in which the first name comes before last name.
- 25
- 25
- 11
- 1615
I think in real life the original order is occasionally retained in English, but it's probably very context/speaker/target-dependent? A Chinese person might feel much more comfortable hearing their full (Chinese) name in Chinese order - English order might sound weird and unfamiliar. Of course there's a decent chance they just use an English name in English-speaking contexts, in which case English order seems obvious.
Some insight into the matter from a Chinese person would be nice.
Duo accepts both orders, for what it's worth.
- 25
- 19
- 18
- 12
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 6
- 5
- 6
My friends and I usually have three names or a Christian/English name, so we use that or the other two (non-family) names. For those with two, we use the "Chinese" arrangement, so here you would call him Zhang Ming.
that's not true They might do that when they pronounce names at school for roll call but I could be wrong
- 25
- 9
- 8
- 610
If, by call, you mean say aloud, then call the person Zhang Ming. Although if this hypothetical situation was taking place outside of China (or even within, if you looked like a foreigner), the person wouldn't fault you for saying the first name first. Generally speaking, for Chinese names, when both the first name and the surname are one character, call the person by his/her full name, in the surname/first name order. When the first name has two characters, then it's fine to call the person by only his/her first name.
Although Zhang is the surname and written first, call him/her Ming as that is his/her NAME.
I transkated it - i am zhang ming - and it said I'm wrong, i think it's a mistake
- 14
- 13
- 8
- 6
- 4
- 3
- 2
- 69
Last names go before first names in Chinese = Zhang (surname) ming (first name). The translation should be the english arrangement in which the first name comes before last name.
I think it needs to be literal translation bcs your answer can be translated to a different sentence, wo jiao zhang ming = call me zhang ming
- 6
- 5
In what situations does "jiao" come before "wo"? Can they be used interchangeably?
Is there a difference between wo jiao and jiao wo? Does it imply a different meaning?
- 12
- 11
- 10
- 10
- 9
- 8
- 6
- 6
- 5
- 5
- 4
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 3
"Z" would have the "Dz" sound. "Zh" has a hard "J" sound but you put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth while you say it. I found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H6p-AkRWiE very helpful in differentiating between the "hard sounds".
- 18
- 9
- 4
So are these written characters' meanings pronounced the same as these names? For example, Duolingo tells me that "张" means Zhang as well as "Sheets". So does that mean the word for sheets is pronounced Zhang? Are all Chinese names common words? What do they do with western names?
- 21
- 13
Yes, the surname 张 and the measure word for flat objects 张 (e.g., "一张纸" / yì zhāng zhǐ / one sheet of paper) are both pronounced with the first tone: "zhāng".
Many other common Chinese surnames also share their characters with common words: 马 (mǎ - "horse"), 李 (lǐ - "plum"), 林 (lín - "forest"), and so on. You can generally tell from context whether these characters refer to surnames or one of their other meanings in sentences.
Westerners may have their names transliterated, striving to make their Chinese names as phonetically similar to their original names as possible. These names are often recognizable because they tend to be longer than usual, as well as retain Western first-last name order.
Alternatively, others may adopt (often with the guidance of a native speaker) a name consisting of a common Chinese surname followed by a one- to two-character given name, often selected based on the meaning of the character(s).
- 20
- 14
- 12
- 12
- 9
- 6
- 5
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 3
- 3
- 3
- 46
It's very very simple so that it became hard I think it's just as easy as you train yourself speaking it
- 25
- 25
- 22
- 20
- 17
- 15
- 13
- 12
- 10
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 6
- 6
- 5
- 5
- 5
- 5
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 3
- 2
- 2
- 2
- 2
I'm really confused about this "names" thing, are they writen in one order but pronounced other way or something like it?
- 25
- 22
- 19
- 16
- 15
- 3
- 2228
English and Mandarin Chinese have different name orders. They are switched between translations because of that cultural context. Without it, one of the translations will appear unusual.
If I'm just speaking casually with the person, do I call him/her just Ming? Or should I always say the full name?
- 11
- 6
- 6
Its must supposed to translate like : Jiao wo Zhang Ming Call me Zhang Ming. Is it, right? What do you think, guys?
Was a little hard for me because personally, I love the Chinese language but it seems very difficult.
- 15
- 11
- 11
- 10
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 5
- 4
- 4
- 3
- 3
- 2
- 2
- 2
- 2
- 465
Frankly, I prefer that for Chinese names, keep them exactly as they are ordered in Chinese. Flipping the first and last names like this can be very confusing.
- 14
- 12
- 10
- 6
- 101
Would people tend to be offended if, in my blundering ignorance mixed the names around? Cultures can be such difficult things.
- 13
- 12
- 8
- 6
- 3
- 2
- 24
What about the characters' order: 我叫 or 叫我 do they have the same meaning?
- 13
- 12
- 8
- 6
- 3
- 2
- 24
What about the characters' order: 我叫 or 叫我 have the same meaning?
- 21
- 16
- 14
- 12
- 12
- 11
- 11
- 11
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 9
- 9
- 9
- 9
- 9
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 6
- 6
- 4
- 4
- 2
So, the infamous line from Doctor Who, "Everyone calls me Ace" would be ”大家叫我隗斯“? I never expected it to be such a simple sentence, lol, but I had no idea you could switch “我叫” to “叫我” and change the meaning!
- 20
- 18
- 15
- 14
- 13
- 12
- 12
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 9
- 9
- 9
- 8
- 8
- 8
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 5
- 3
Wo xing Bond. Wo jiao James Bond
- 25
- 11
- 10
- 10
- 10
- 8
- 8
- 7
It must be Zhang Ming. To reverse it to be Ming Zhang sounds ridiculous. Calling a chinese name is not like that
Certain people think differently. Though I certainly agree with you, I still think that you shouldn't phrase it that way.
- 22
- 13
- 12
- 12
- 10
- 9
- 9
- 7
- 6
- 6
- 2
- 2
- 2
Specially when you're talking about a Chinese person in English to an English audience. If that's the case and you say the person you're talking about is called "Zhang Ming", people who aren't familiar with the Chinese name order would not actually understand the person's name and you would have to explain the order.
Calling the person "Ming Zhang" would be correct in the context, in an anglo-centered environment.
