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- "What is your name?"
"What is your name?"
Translation:你叫什么？
328 Comments
They should give the possibility to listen to the pronunciation of the correct answer or the alternative translation
Agreed. It makes no sense just showing us the proper way of writing it without its pronunciation. I've gotten this one wrong several times because I have no prior reference for how to pronounce the sentence entirely.
Hi i think by cliking on the word you can hear prononsiation however this question has wrong prononsiation for words otherwise it is easy to answer
I agree and was about to write the same thing. They need to get on this fix, it's bugging the whole lot of us
Completely agree. It's hard to learn it properly without referring to the pronunciation.
With playback speed from 0.25 to 2!
If you're not sure of the pronunciation of a phrase, say 泰山 (which is tàishān by the way), google search ”泰山读音“ and the 汉语拼音 and the meaning in English and Chinese comes out.
Using the ...... translation option, you can break down the sentence a bit and see how it is subtly teaching possessive (i think) "your" and the verb to be (i think) "is"
It's right in line with the learning process style used here, where we have to explore and learn just as much as they have to teach and reveal.
I love the fact we have to figure things out on our own. However, translating literally as you go is counter productive - take "nijiao shenme mingzi" (I have no way to write Chinese here)
You could also ask "nijiao shenme"? And get the same answer... Perhaps? That's all we should care about this early into our journey IMO.
Instead of focusing on the possessive, I'd go a different way and realize there is NO possessive needed to state your name. The math of it is wo + jiao = what I'm called ie. What I would state as "my name is _"
Anyway, check out yellowbridge.com - there are a bunch of Chinese character related resources. It helps me greatly in learning them by looking at their etymology. Good luck :)
From my research, "ni jiao shenme mingzi" is asking for the full name - a more proper way of asking. If you are just looking for the given name, or first name, then yes, you should be able to just ask, "Ni jiao shenme".
sounds legit. would they?
till then, i suppose that we should learn by from our mistkes alone, thats with no doubt the best way
There's no 叫 because the expected answer is 你的名字是什么， even though 你叫什么名字 is also correct
Personally, the lessons have not even introduced what 的 is to me yet, making this exercise extremely confusing.
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I am re-doing exercises, and I was confused by this too! I was looking for 叫 also. But it's not a problem.. I now have an alternative to learn!
Same here! I even went back and read the lesson details, no mention of that character yet for me. Suddenly knowing where to put it in a sentence like this isn't the best way to learn!
If you're using a PC, click on the light-bulb next to the lesson. If you are using a phone, I don't know that there is a way.
I've wondered what this character is for quite a while. It's dropped in here and there but never explained
Yes!! I have gotten this sentence wrong so many times because of that little character. I don't know what it is or where it goes in the sentence.
When is 叫 needed? I thought 你什么名字 - "Your name what" would be correct. Is that just a mistake or is it wrong? Sorry for just being a beginner. I'm still learning how this works.
叫 is "to be called", so in the examples they use 叫 they are usually saying "You are called what?" In this example they are literally asking "Your name is what?". Also your answer is missing 是 for "is". I don't know why 的 is required, but I have noticed that it often comes after 你/我 when using them with 是. I just started a few days ago too so someone more experienced can answer
的 means ownership. So 你的/Your 我的/My/mine. You would also put it after ta to say his/hers etc.
You need 的, because that is how you state that something is your possessed by the person mention before using 的. Therefore 你的名字 literally means "your name". I must also say that if the person you are talking to is close to you, lime a friend or family member you can avoid using 的. For example, you can avoid it when saying my dad "我爸爸" instead of “我的爸爸”.
的 is placed after 你 because it represents ownership. Like when you say 我的, it means "mine". So I guess 你的 here means "your".
For me it lists two correct solutions when I get it wrong:
"Correct solutions: 你的名字是什么？, 你叫什么名字？"
I've only learned how to do the latter so far, but the character isn't there! I don't know what 的 means yet.
So the structure of the answer they're looking for is 'your name is what?'
Both 的 (de, indicating possessive, a bit like "'s" in English - so 你的 is like "you's", or rather "your") and 是 (shì, which can mean 'this' or 'to be' or 'is') are unfamiliar to me at this point in the course, and I'm finding it really hard getting the hang of them without being given a meaning or even a pronunciation. So looking them up elsewhere and posting my understanding here is my attempt to get over that. :)
Really maddening to be introduced to them by being expected to use them in a sentence, and then being asked again and again with nothing to hang them on!
I don't see how that would really be useful when they mean the same thing though.
The "叫" character was available for me. I wrote "你叫什么" and it was accepted. I believe the literal translation of this answer would be "your name is what?"
There are two ways to ask 'What is your name?':
You are called what name? 你叫什么名字?
Or alternatively:
Your name is what? 你的名字是什么?
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you call what name? You (your, separate symbol) name be what (chinese does not have different forms in verbs)
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That is exactly what i am missing, all at once they give another symbol without any explanation why
I don't get the structure of this sentence. Can someone explain it to me? Thank you!
Basically they prefer the direct structure for the sentence. Questions are made by replacing the word with a special "question word" (what, where, which etc), or by adding "general question word" at the end of the sentence (for general questions.
So this is the original statement:
Your (你 + 的）name （名字） is （是） Andrea.
To make a special question we replace the answer with a "what". 什么
Your 你的 name 名字 is 是 what 什么?
你(you)的(possessive particle, so "you" becomes "your")名字(name)是(is)什么(what). So, the sentence is "your name is what". As there is a "question word" in the sentence, it becomes a question when translated to English, as "What is your name". As commented by others, 你(you)叫(are called)什么(what)名字(name), something like "What name are you called by?" is valid too.
"你的名字是什么? " - It literally translates to "Your name is what?". Hope that helps.
I don't have access to a Chinese keyboard but the proposed answer is: Ni3 de ming2zi4 shi4 shen2me? (using numbers for tones) Ni3 means you De indicates that what is before de qualifies what is after de. Here it means possession: "ni3 de something" means "your something". Here it can be omitted because a name is always considered personal. Ming2zi4 means name Shi4 means is. I believe it can also be omitted here. Shen2me means what.
So the sentence means, word for word: You 's name is what? That you can translate by "what is your name?"
I don't know if I understand it correctly, but here're my thoughts
的 is something like 's (posession) and 是 is like to be
So the word to word translation might look like this:
You 's name is what
This app needs a grammar part explaining the rules. You can't learn a language without solid understanding of the grammar.
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The website has a grammer section to go along with the skill. But yes, the app needs it too.
I'm a beginner as well. But I think:
你的 = your
的 is added to express possession.
Whoops, this was supposed to be a reply to Andrea. The other (better) answers hadn't loaded, so I thought no one had replied yet.
I am a beginner in the Chinese course, and I have been doing the review exercises. For some reason, in all of the main lessons I've done, I've never been taught the character 的. I don't know how they expect me to answer a question correctly if I haven't even been taught the answer. If this is a bug or something, can you please fix this Dualingo? If it's not, can anyone tell me where I might have missed this being initially taught?
的 is a 语助词 or an ancillary, sometimes accessory character. It can mean possession as part of a 短语, which is a phrase with three or more characters forming a "semantic unit", and as accessory it can be used to make the sentence sound smoother as a whole.
I'm not sure how to explain it because I learnt Chinese grammar (as I remember it) from examples and the explanations only came up after the "foundations" were completed, which goes to show how little rules there actually are.
Actually, if you're not sure of the pronunciation or meaning, just copy and and google search it using the formula "(word)+意义". You're welcome to copy that too.
Okay so I talked to a guy at my church who was a missionary in China for a while and is fluent in Mandarin, and he said that 的 or de means belonging to , and whoever it belongs to you put before the de, so 你的 would me your or yours. So 你的名字是什么 literally means "Your name is what?"
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叫 was not an option to click on, although it was listed as a possible answer. Do you expect beginners to already have Mandarin writing tools installed? Also, at this level, what if we are not familiar with this structure (你的名字是什么？) yet? Did I miss something?
Isn't it 你叫什么名字？你 = you (sbj) 叫 = to be called (verb) 什么 = what (question) 名字 = name (obj)
What I wish existed was a word practice option with Chineasy pictures. The words I know really well are from my Chineasy study. And I wish they every time there was a new character that you are hearing and identifying the sound, the character appeared to you in stroke order. I would like to write down words with their meaning, and hear the sound, see the stroke order, and have a picture memory device. This language is like bike riding with a passenger in a basket in the front, there are a lot of moving parts of meaning to balance at the same time.
I'm new to Chinese. I have no idea what is happening here. Duolingo doesn't teach, it just tests you.
I never get this sentence right, I always make my (single) mistake here. As a bloody beginner I am happy to know how to build 你叫什么 , I am overstraiend to cope with with several alternatives. I can match 你叫什么名字 as well but a third alternative is a bit of an overload for beginners I think.
duolingo always throws in new words without any preparation, ugh. Teach it first before you call me wrong
I have tried : 什么是你名字 ? and it ... worked. Can somebody confirm it is correct ?
You really should have a 的 after 你 and if you say that to a Chinese person they will get the idea but they will be laughing at you because that is VERY informal
So 什么是你的名字 is correct. Does it mean that the word order does ever count ? "Your name is what" = "What is your name" ?
This is infuriating, i cannot get past this name lesson because it keeps changing how to translate Whats your name with two new characters without explaining the difference. I can't get past this
I don't have the word bank for jiao! How possibly can I complete the lesson ?
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I had the same problem, but found the answer in KX3's reponse: It could be because another way of asking the question is expected: 你的名字是什么？ When I had 'm in that order, it was approved. Pfew!
this question has a bug because Jiao is not available as one of the characters in the answer choices. very frustrating because i can't move to the next lesson without answering this question
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I had the same problem, but found the answer in KX3's reponse: It could be because another way of asking the question is expected: 你的名字是什么？ When I had 'm in that order, it was approved. Pfew!
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Please help? The 叫 in the 'Correct solution isn't even an option! And it won't let me go further! When I hit 'skip', it's just show me the 'correct solution', and when I hit 'continue' , it keeps giving me that one sentence to translate. Ugh... Any idea how I can get past this? If I 'quit' I will lose everything I did ...
I hope I'm referring to the sentence you're having trouble with. Try finding the characters for: ni de mingze shi shen me
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Thank your for your reaction! I found the answer in KX3's response shortly after I posted my question (but couldn't find my question anymore to tell I'd found a solution): It could be because another way of asking the question is expected: 你的名字是什么？ When I had 'm in that order, it was approved. Pfew!
Ok guys so - 什么名字? 你叫什么名字? They are the same no? Why does it say my answer is incorrect?
Help I don't know what I did wrong. I used the translation given under the word and my sentence was wrong...
Here is a good explanation of how to say phrases such as this: https://www.digmandarin.com/all-video-lessons/what-is-your-name-in-chinese
Yeah, I am absolutely sure that Duolingo provides the incorrect options in the drop down menus of the words "your name."
According to Google Translate, 你叫 means "your name," and it does not show up in the drop down menu of the word "your," or the word "name" in this Duolingo question.
I'm not sure about the drop-down options, but 你叫 means "You are called". Sometimes, or often, as seems to be the case, the meaning(s) given are for individual characters and not the "word" or phrase they form, which may be one reason for the inaccuracy.
I got the drag and pull exercise. Out of the options I had, the correct answer was: 你叫什么名字 - "You're called name what?". I don't understand when 叫 "called" is needed and when it's not? I thought 你什么名字 - "Your name what" would be correct. Is that just a mistake or is it wrong? Thank you.
叫 is not needed if you ask 你的名字是什么, "your name IS what?". The things you left out are 的 to make 你 possessive, and 是, for "is".
Id like someone else to comment on this. It would be helpful. I know it may seem obvious but its a new language
Err... 什么 is what so direct translation of 你叫什么名字 is you called what name and direct translation of 你什么名字 is your what name tell me which sounds better
This is incorrect. The correct way to say what is your name in chinese is ni jiao shenme mingzi
Hm... There was no 'de' in my sudgested list for pick. How could i choose it???
The solution they gave me didn't have the character they wanted. I am banging my head against the key board.
Then type it??? But that is weird I don't think that Duolingo looks here so you should report it
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This is not usefull at all for learning a new language when you know neither the signs nor the sounds
I wish there were more explanations about the characters. I also write down all of the new symbols and sentences I've learnt and it seems like there's maybe 3 different ways to ask for your name and if you don't put the exact one they want it's incorrect even if it's been accepted as right in the past. It's a bit confusing.
I agree.. i wanna hear the sounds of what im choosing but it is more challenging to too figure it out this way...
Perhaps after u submit ur answer then u can select and hear the characters sounds...
Pinyin would give it away and it is very important to know how some letters in Chinese are different than American letters. Here are the main ones: a o u e i and one more I cannot write. Is is a letter u with two dots over it
I have a question. You can use the English word order or you can use the Chinese word order. Because its showing me another translation.
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This sentence was not in the lesson, I could only copy and paste the correct sentence after what felt like 20 wrong guesses ^^
This is different because it's similar to asking, "Your name is what?". Name is possessive here.
I don't know why there's no the "jiào" character, I mean they are asking me to translate "What is ypur name?" Before they told me the translation for that is "ní jiào shen me?" And now that isn't correct
Why can you sometimes just say 你 but then sometimes have to say 你的? Don't they both mean 'yours?" I know that 你 usually just means you, but I thought that it was implied?
的 means that it is this person's just 你 means you not this person's. In English this is like saying 你气球飞很高了。(you balloon flew very high) vs 你的气球飞很高了。(Your balloon flew very high)
I've hearing "what is your name" differently and then I came up with this one so I don't understand.
Every time I get this question, I get it wrong every time and I can't get my head round it. Even after reading the comments, it would make sense to have Jiao in there as it's a viable answer?
How come the characters are not translated from the begining like the numbers and names it only shows the symbols and transliteration but no translation. in the spanish course it wad much simpler and everything is translated how are we suppose to learn the language easier with knowing what the symbols mean before hand and in what order they come . very hard for beginners .
The structure of this sentence is different than the previous one, how am I supposed to get this?
I know this is new but it would be good if there was an explanation of the use of "叫" as opposed to 的. I get it right because I've done it wrong so many times I've now memorized the order but it would be helpful if there was an explanation. I'm just assuming that I'm a one-year old in Chinese and will eventually get it.
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the alternative of 叫 (jiao) isn't on one of the options but they say that i could have put it in this manner 你叫什么名字？ and i was not yet taught this method 你的名字是什么？
Boy I love how they put this question in my practice session even though I never learned these new characters.
Greaaat.
This is just ridiculous. They teach nie jiao shan me ming zi in the lessons and then ask this question with three words and symbols they haven't even taught yet. So I copy the correct answer without even knowing what three of the words and symbols are just to get past this point.
I don't understand what order to put it in. The literal order of the answer above is "Your name is what?" but how would I know not to write it as "什么是你的名字?"
I have not seen this format before, it contains unfamiliar characters. Please introduce the characters first.
They offer a "correct solution" that needs jiao, which is not offered via "Use Keyboard". I have to Use Keyboard because I cannot type the Chinese characters on my keyboard.
I was seriously confused over this. I don't feel like they gave any information on what sequence the characters should be in, and the translation (dotted line thingies), although they tell what the characters should be, are not much help either. Maybe I'm just being picky, or this is how the course is supposed to run, but I feel like they may have to give a better understanding of the grammar side of the language.
Also with the whole missing 'Jiao' character- It left us... nooo... But seriously, I've been using it this whole time and now you expect us to figure out and learn the phrase another way entirely? Again, before this question I was not informed how to phrase it one way, let alone two. Thanks for listening to my two cents :)
The practices have always presented this question as "你叫什么名字?", it has never been presented as shown in the answer. This is very confusing to require an alternate way without having covered it in practice.
Hover over the sentence with your mouse for pc or tap the sentence for mobile
Why in this case does shenme come last when it comes first when using jíao?
If you can't be bothered just copy it and paste it because i agree they should have said the word.
When you hover over the English it doesn't give you the right order and when you haven't done Chinese for a week you are going to struggle.
Basically ME
I'm not sure how to type in chinese characters on my computer, do you have to install an extension of sorts?
Ange1ic, if you're on Windows, you can go to the settings window for "keyboard," and choose add language. (I'm not at home right now, so those are approximations)
From there, you can add simplified or traditional Chinese. I believe it's called Microsoft Pinyin, and it will allow you to type in Pinyin, and characters will pop up on the screen next to where you are typing. The first character in the list is what will be used, or you can press the number key corresponding to the number next to the character you want. You can type out a whole sentence before submitting it to be converted to characters, but sometimes it doesn't give you the right thing, so I usually just type a few characters at a time.
I'm not sure how to install a Chinese keyboard on Mac, but I'd assume it's similar.
Because it’s chinese it’s not the same language and because they are both so different they are not gonna have literal translations. Like French most of the time they put adjectives after the noun.
I can't learn this because they don't tell you what letter in Chinese means in English...
Yes it does, how else do you think people learn it? If you’re struggling and can’t remember the characters either hover your mouse over it for pc or tap on it for mobile
Can someone break the grammar down for me? It would be very helpful to me if I actually knew why these words are in their places.
I promise I'll properly study the grammar ASAP
The question word goes where the answer would go. 你的名字是 什么 is literally Your name is what? And the answer would be: 我的名字是 什么 replacing 什么 with your name. Where as 你叫什么名字 You are called what name? would be I am called name. Again replacing the "What" with the answer. So the grammar rule is basically, make the statement, but replace the answer with the question word.
Why didnt they teach me this before? Ive learned "你 叫 什么名字" but why not the other characters? Makes no sense to ask me to use it in a sentence when I havent been taught it.
There were two "correct" solutions, and I was looking for the second one which had been exercised earlier, but the symbol for "called" was not available. Why not ? As the first "correct" answer hadn't been exercised earlier , it's not surprising that I got it wrong!! This weakness in the course should be rectified so that other people don't have to suffer the same frustration as me!!
I never saw the second or fifth symbol before. No idea what they mean or sound like. And I've been learning these quite effortlessly, so I'm pretty sure it's not me...
Same problem again - the 2nd and 5th symbols are brand new, and I am supposed to know them without ever having learned them. And Jiau is not an option although it's given as a possible solution.
Can someone pronounce the ownership character and upvote it? It would help a lot of people.
The question word goes where the answer would go. 你的名字是 什么 is literally Your name is what? And the answer would be: 我的名字是 什么 replacing 什么 with your name. Where as 你叫什么名字 You are called what name? would be I am called name. Again replacing the "What" with the answer.
https://chinesefor.us/lessons/say-ask-people-name-chinese-mandarin/ I´m hopeful that it can help you :)
I have lived with Chinese people for over 15 years and this question was never posed in this version. I have studied Chinese for far longer and whenever a student posed that question this way the native Chinese speaker said yes people will understand you,but they may laugh.
的 Pinyin: de (no tone) Show's possession or ownership. So 你的 is equivalent to your.
Everyone if they haven’t taught you it hover over it with your mouse or tap on it for mobile.
this character (是) introduced, without explanation
The correct solution suggest : 你的名字是什么？, 你叫什么名字？
Got this one(well it's not clear if comments are tied to each question. They seem to be linked to multiple) and a similar one wrong on the mobile app.
I'm presented with a selection of Chinese characters to use, but two of them have not been taught, I get audio pronounciation when I tap them(although I agree audio and pinyin for the answer would be nice, can I even find my wrong answers or favourite/bookmark ones I want to review?). No English hint/tooltip like when given Chinese text to convert to english(can tap a character for English meaning per character or it shows English word for combination of characters where appropriate).
I havent been taught the 2nd or 4th word in this sentence yet... im just shooting in the dark with this one.
I am confused as this structure is very different from what is taught before
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There are symbols missing in the text (for calling, it is missing) so the lessons cannot be completed. Also: it is important to give the signification of every symbol and also a correct explanation of the sentence: how it is constructed in Chinese. The pronounciation is different from real chinese people, how is that possible
Ok, this is my fourth time through thos lesson in rapid succession, and it does not work. The translation of What is your name changes around with two new characters and the order of the words change with no explanation nor help with why its different out of no where.
THE SYMBOL FOR JIAO IS MISSING IN THIS QUESTION AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ELSE IT COULD BE. RATHER THAN JUST ASKING THE SAME QUESTION REPEATEDLY WITHOUT ANY HINTS OF HOW TO PROCEED, DUOLINGO JUST REPEATS THE QUESTION. MORE KNOWLEDGE IS NEEDED TO ANSWER THE QUESTION CORRECTLY. THIS IS A WEAKNESS IN THE DUOLINGO SYSTEM OF TEACHING.
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Oh THANK YOU!!! This totally helped me get past this question!!! (The system wouldn't allow me to go on, unless I gave the right answer but the solution they gave as correct had the 叫 in it which was not an option to choose from).
You're most welcome. If you encounter trouble in the future, try reading through the discussion thread. It is admittedly not free from spam and not 100% accurate, but usually more than sufficient for the purposes of passing. :)
Why are there two ways of asking your name? I'm still at a very low level and to stay with one method which is acceptable would be great please
For the same reason that you can ask, in English:
- What is your name?
- Your name is what?
- What are you called?
- What do they call you?
- What are you called?
- How should I address you?
Yes, the second is generally considered terrible English, but often used in the form "And your name is …?" where the ellipsis (here, pause) replaces actually saying "what" :o)
And in French:
- Quel est ton nom? [ kinda brusque ]
- Comment t'appelles-tu? [ How do you call yourself? ]
…and so on.
Duo seems to accept:
- 你叫什么？
- 你叫什么名字？
- 你的名字是什么？
which are literally
- You (are) called what?
- You (are) called what name?
- Your name is what?
There's another version which asks only for "family name", which uses 姓 instead of 叫, and doesn't get the 名字 on the end. I'm guessing here, but it seems like that's because 姓 already includes the concept of "name". We ask "What is your name?" not "What name is your name?".
Forgive me for saying this, but the course appears to be designed for people already familiar with the characters. The Duolingo course is failing eager novice students.
Correct solution: 你叫什么名字？ but why doesn't it give me a choice to put 叫?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?
jiao was not an option to place into the sentence which resulted in an incorrect answer for me
I found errors on some of this quoestions, the jiao word isn't present in the choices
My exercise will only accept 你叫什么名字？as the correct response but the 叫 is not offered so I'm stuck in an endless loop of not completing the last question of the round. Really profoundly frustrating as I would have the correct answer if only the character was offered in the tray.
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I had the same problem, but found the answer in KX3's reponse: It could be because another way of asking the question is expected: 你的名字是什么？ When I had 'm in that order, it was approved. Pfew!
I answered correctly and the app said "incorrect", even when my answer was the same that it appeared on the screen. why?
This module seems to escalate so much faster thsn the others. There are too many combinations of words which we havent actuslly learned yet, its hard to keep up with the pace
I haven't been taught how to construct these sentences beforehand, the longer ones are too hard for the first lesson.
Both 你叫什么名字 and 你叫什么 are accepted as correct - What is your name?
What is the purpose then of 名字 at the end of the first one?
You should be able to star a sentence or word so you can word on those one more and you can add a button so you can work on those words
It types 你叫什麼名字 instead of the other character is it because of newer characters?
I think the point of this one is to show you that you can recognise patterns and its fine to be wrong
This problem has had me stumped all night. My translation of this was: 什么什你叫名字. I'm sorry if this is horribly off, this is my first day trying Mandarin.
what is your name? Translates to 你叫什麼名字? For english translated.. you are call what name? Basically the question backwards. Chinese phrases are translated in a form that is different from english, so u cant read it like its english.
I still dont understand when i should put Jiao, before or after wo or ni etc as there are cases in which it is before.
I'm confusfused about the ending(名字). It says that I'm correct even when I don't include it. Is it something to do with the context(formal or casual)?
There is no way to infer the correct order of words from the lesson itself nor is it ever covered, so you are left to smash your head against a brick wall constantly getting it wrong until you finally break through - and even then you don't have an understanding of why it works when following the literal ordering of words when pressing the words themselves does not. This is an objectivly terrible way to structure a language course and deeply counterintuitive.
what I understood when I was through (Malaysian language )that asian languages required you to change the way that you look to the sentances. for example you cannot think in English and try to write in chines, what you need is to develop way to think using the language you are studying.
I m not really able to get which word is representing which word in chinese......plzz can some one give the proper explaination?
I think the topic names should be tought in an easier way like im very confused
What is your name can also be 你叫什麼名字? Not only 你叫什麼？should have more possibility because either of those two ways are correct.
Whats thedifference between 你叫伸么 and 你叫伸名字? They both mean the same thing no?
Whats the difference between 你叫伸么 and 你叫伸么名字? they both mean the same thing no?
What is the difference between "你叫什么名字" and "你叫什么"? Why can "名字" be omitted?
There are alternating answers where you have to add ming zi, or where you do and they say its wrong...confused
I am confused. they alternate btwn needing ming zi added on, and correcting you and saying you're wrong when they dont want it there!
what is the differences between: 你叫什么名字 and 你叫什么？ is it because the formal and informal or else?
The first is more polite. I'd say they're both informal. When meeting someone for the first time, the former is preferred, but 请问你叫什么名字 or adding a 嗨，你好 in front, for example, would be much better.
The top Hint for "What" was counted as wrong. I will be reporting Hints were missing the "correct" answer.
Something has troubled me this time, and has been occurring somewhat frequently with my recent Chinese lessons. On many questions, one or more of the dictionary hints have only shown characters that are not options for selecting; and not showing which character, of the available options, they want you to choose. I have checked the surrounding words to see if the answer is somewhere in those dictionary hints, but they still are not there. It's confusing and discouraging, please fix.
I'm not sure about the dictionary hints, but, as seems to be the case, the meaning(s) given are often for individual characters and not the "word" or phrase they form, which may be one reason for the inaccuracy. If you pick up any 词典 (ci2 dian3) or an online form, you will notice that one character, itself having perhaps several meanings, gains even more when 'joined' with different characters to form new 'two-character', 'four-character words'. When translated to English e.g. in an Chinese-English dictionary, it becomes, usually, even more apparent.
It is rather confusing at the first attempt, but other than writing it down so you learn and remember it for the next time you see it, you can also google search the word, e.g. by searching ”（character(s)）+ 意义 " . This is not the most accurate method, by far, but it is sufficient for duolingo.
If I practice on my phone everything is ok, If I do it on a computer "shen" is sounded as "shi". Does anybody else have the same problem and mayby know how to fix it?
So, why is it that when I choose the options in the drop down menu of each word provided by Duolingo, Duolingo still says I'm wrong? Duolingo confuses me that way!
That'd be "You are called 'name'" or "Your name is 'name'", literally. 你叫什么 or 你叫什么名字 are both fine, although the latter is more polite and appropriate for asking someone you meet for the first time.
Difficult to learn before learning what word each symbol represents....am I missing something here?
I incorporated the words for "name" (ming zi) and got it wrong. How.
Are the placement of each Chinese word based on the English word? Like if "Is" placed second does the Chinese placed second too?
chinese word order is often not the same as english word order. I think the word "is" may be absent or implied in this example case however. Here, the translation is like your name/your calling/you are called (is) what
It's hard to know the correct order without looking when they only give u the sentence
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I have a question. For as far as I understand you can use both 叫 and 叫名字 as a construction to say 'to be called' or '[possessive pronoun] name is'. So why can't you use the second one in a question because 你叫名字什么？is not correct?
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叫 literally means "call" or "called," and 叫＜名字＞ literally means "call " or "called ."
As description words for nouns typically go before the nouns, instead of 名字什么 ("name what"), 什么名字 ("what name") is used for asking names.
Interestingly, there's another usage of 什么 that's similar to "whatever" and has the effect of "so on." Ex. 名字什么的，都难。 ("Names and whatever - [they're] all difficult.")
What is the rule for using jiao and mingzi, when and in which order. It is very very confusing.
"Ni jiao shen me" is kind of informal, but the whole sentence is "ni jiao shen me mingzi". "Mingzi" is dropped unless necessary.
