Learn how to use Chinese adjectives
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| Introduction |
| Eric: Welcome to 3-Minute Chinese Season 1, Lesson 9 - Talking about your Nationality. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to answer where you are from in Chinese. |
| Body |
| Eric: Here's the formal way to say "I am Chinese." in Chinese. |
| Cho: [Normal] 我是中国人。(wǒ shì zhōngguórén.) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning "I" |
| Cho: [Normal] 我 [Slow] 我 (wǒ) |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning "am” as in “I am.” |
| Cho: [Normal] 是 [Slow] 是(shì) |
| Eric: Last is a word that means both "Chinese people” and “Chinese person.” |
| Cho: [Normal] 中国人 [Slow] 中国人(Zhōngguórén) |
| Eric: Listen again to the formal phrase meaning "I am Chinese." |
| Cho: [Slow] 我是中国人。 [Normal] 我是中国人。 |
| Eric: Ok, now let's take a look at the formal way to say "Are you Chinese?" |
| Cho: [Normal] 你是中国人吗？(nǐ shì zhōngguórén ma?) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning "you" |
| Cho: [Normal] 你 [Slow] 你 (nǐ) |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning "am" |
| Cho: [Normal] 是 [Slow] 是(shì) |
| Eric: Followed by the word for "Chinese person" |
| Cho: [Normal] 中国人 [Slow] 中国人(Zhōngguórén) |
| Eric: Last is the question marker. |
| Cho: [Normal] 吗 [Slow] 吗(ma) |
| Eric: Listen again to the formal phrase meaning "Are you Chinese?" |
| Cho: [Slow] 你是中国人吗？ [Normal] 你是中国人吗？ |
| Eric: Next up is the formal way to say "We are Americans." |
| Cho: [Normal] 我们是美国人。(wǒmen shì měiguórén.) |
| Eric: First is a pronoun meaning "we" |
| Cho: [Normal] 我们 [Slow] 我们(wǒmen) |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning "to be" |
| Cho: [Normal] 是 [Slow] 是(shì) |
| Eric: Last is the word meaning "American people" |
| Cho: [Normal] 美国人 [Slow] 美国人(Měiguórén) |
| Eric: Listen again to the formal phrase meaning "We are Americans." |
| Cho: [Slow] 我们是美国人。 [Normal] 我们是美国人。 |
| Eric: Finally, here is a formal way to say "You are Japanese" to a group of people. |
| Cho: [Normal] 你们是日本人。(nǐmen shì rìběnrén.) |
| Eric: First is a word meaning "you” as a plural. |
| Cho: [Normal] 你们 [Slow] 你们(nǐmen) |
| Eric: Next is the word meaning "to be" |
| Cho: [Normal] 是 [Slow] 是(shì) |
| Eric: Last is the word meaning "Japanese people" |
| Cho: [Normal] 日本人 [Slow] 日本人(rìběnrén) |
| Eric: Listen again to the formal phrase meaning "You are Japanese" to a group of people. |
| Cho: [Slow] 你们是日本人。 [Normal] 你们是日本人。 |
| Cultural Insight |
| Eric: Now it's time for a quick cultural insight. |
| Cho: Since China is such a big country, there is a lot of variety between its different cities. So when people from different parts of the country meet, they often have questions about each other’s hometown. In these situations, you will often hear Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén? and Nǐ cóng nǎli lái?. In these cases, you just need to state a town or city name in place of a country name. That’s it! |
Outro |
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| Eric: And that’s all for this lesson. Don’t forget to check out the lesson notes, and we’ll see you in the next lesson! |
| Cho: 再见。 |
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