Learn how to talk about where you are from
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| Welcome to Can-Do Chinese by Chinese101.com. |
| 大家好。我是李殷如。 |
| Hi everyone! I’m Yinru Li. |
| In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say where you’re from. |
| This is Mark Lee, and he’s on a plane. |
| Xiaojun Wang, a passenger sitting next to him, asks, “Where are you from?” |
| 你是哪里人？ní shì nǎlǐ rén? |
| Listen to the conversation, and focus on Mark’s response. |
| Xiaojun Wang: 你是哪里人？Ní shì nǎlǐ rén? |
| Mark Lee: 我是美国人。我是从纽约来的。Wǒ shì Měiguó rén. Wǒ shì cóng Niǔyuē lái de. |
| Listen again to Mark’s response. |
| Mark Lee: 我是美国人。我是从纽约来的。Wǒ shì Měiguó rén. Wǒ shì cóng Niǔyuē lái de. |
| Listen again to Mark’s response, with the English translation. |
| Mark Lee: 我是美国人。我是从纽约来的。 |
| I am American. I come from New York. |
| Let’s take a closer look at the question and the response. |
| First, the question that starts the conversation: Xiaojun Wang, the passenger sitting next to Mark, says, |
| “Where are you from?” |
| Xiaojun Wang: 你是哪里人？Ní shì nǎlǐ rén? |
| The first word, 你, means “you.” 你. |
| Next is 是, which translates as “are” in this context. 是. |
| Together, 你是 means “you are.” 你是. |
| Next is 哪里, which means “where.” 哪里. |
| After this, 人 means “person.” 人. |
| Together, 哪里人 literally means “where person.” 哪里人. |
| All together, 你是哪里人？This literaly means “You are a where peson?” |
| But in more natural English, it’s “Where are you from?” 你是哪里人？ |
| Remember this question. You’ll hear it again in the practice section. |
| Now, let’s take a closer look at the response. |
| Mark Lee: 我是美国人。我是从纽约来的。 |
| Wǒ shì Měiguó rén. Wǒ shì cóng Niǔyuē lái de. |
| I am American. I come from New York. |
| Mark answers Xiaojun’s question in two ways. First, he says, |
| 我是美国人。Wǒ shì Měiguó rén. This means, “I am American.” 我是美国人。 |
| The first word, 我, means “I.” 我. |
| Next is 是, which translates as “am” in this context. 是. |
| Together, 我是 means “I am.” 我是. |
| Next, 美国 means “United States of America.” 美国. |
| And 人 is “person.” 人. |
| Together, 美国人 literaly means United States of America person, and translates as American, 美国人. |
| All together, 我是美国人。means “I am American.” 我是美国人。 |
| Note that in Chinese, 美国人 American 美国人 acts a noun in the sentence. |
| The corresponding English translation of 我是美国人。would be, “I am an American.” |
| We opted to use the more natural sounding “I am American.” |
| 我是美国人。means “I am American.” 我是美国人。 |
| This uses the basic sentence pattern: |
| 我是+ 地方 + 人. “I am + place + person.” 我是+ 地方 + 人. |
| Remember this sentence pattern, as you will use it later. |
| For example, to say “I am Chinese,” simply replace the word, 美国, meaning the United States of America, with 中国, the word for “China”. 中国. |
| 我是中国人。Wǒ shì Zhōngguó rén. “I am Chinese.” 我是中国人。 |
| Now let’s look at the second part of Mark’s response: |
| 我是从纽约来的。 |
| Wǒ shì cóng Niǔyuē lái de. |
| “I come from New York.” |
| The phrase, 我是 “I am.” appears in the first response. 我是. |
| Next is the phrase 从....来的, which means “to come from ….(a place)” or “to be from ….(a place).” 从....来的. |
| Together 我是从..(a place)..来的. This literally means “I am from (a place) coming.” 我是从..来的. But in more natural English, it's “I come from (a place).” 我是从..(a place)..来的. |
| Remember this sentence pattern, as you will use it later. |
| To complete the sentence, insert the geographical location. In this case, it’s 纽约, or “New York.” 纽约. |
| All together, 我是从纽约来的。 means “I come from New York.” 我是从纽约来的。 |
| This uses the following sentence pattern: |
| 我是 + 从 + 地方 + 来的，Wǒ shì cóng + dìfang + lái de. |
| “I am + from + place + coming.” 我是 + 从 + 地方 + 来的. |
| Note, |
| 我是从纽约来的。literaly means, “I am from New York coming.” But in natural English, it’s “I come from New York.” 我是从纽约来的。 |
| For example, to say “I am from London,” simply replace the word, 纽约, meaning “New York,” with 伦敦, the word for “London.” 伦敦. |
| 我是从伦敦来的。Wǒ shì cóng Lúndūn lái de. “I come from London.” 我是从伦敦来的。 |
| Important! Note that both patterns above can be used for talking about country names, province or state names, city names, and other types of “places.” |
| For example, in the dialogue, Marks says, |
| 我是美国人。 Wǒ shì Měiguó rén. “I am American.” 我是美国人。 |
| Mark could also say, |
| 我是纽约人。Wǒ shì Niǔyuērén. “I am a New Yorker.” 我是纽约人。 |
| And just as Mark says, |
| 我是从纽约来的。 Wǒ shì cóng Niǔyuē lái de. “I come from New York.” 我是从纽约来的。 |
| He could also say, |
| 我是从美国来的。Wǒ shì cóng Měiguó lái de. “I come from the United States.” 我是从美国来的。 |
| The following 2 patterns have essentially the same meaning: |
| 我是 + 地方 + 人。 “I am + a place + person,” and |
| 我是+ 从 + 地方 +来的。 “I am + from + place + coming.” |
| Whether to use 我是 + place + 人 pattern or 我是从 + place + 来的 pattern, and whether you respond with a country of a city name, depends on the context of the conversation and how the question is structured. |
| In the dialogue, because Xiaojun asked, |
| 你是哪里人？You are a where person? 你是哪里人？ |
| Mark’s response follows the same pattern. |
| 我是美国人。“I am American.” 我是美国人。 |
| Then Mark continues to explain more specifically where in the U.S. he comes from. |
| 我是从纽约来的。Wǒ shì cóng Niǔyuē lái de. “I come from New York.” 我是从纽约来的。 |
| When referring to a place or an address in Chinese, the order goes from large to small. For example, to say Manhattan, New York, US, in the Chinese order, it would be |
| 美国 Měiguó USA ; 纽约 Niǔyuē New York, 曼哈顿 Mànhādùn Manhattan.” 美国 纽约 曼哈顿。 |
| When introducing where you’re from, you should also follow this large-to-small order. For example, to say I am from Changsha City in Hunan province. |
| 我是从湖南长沙来的。Wǒ shì cóng Húnán Chángshā lái de. “I come from Changsha, Hunan.” 我是从湖南长沙来的。 |
| Put 湖南, the province, first and then the city, 长沙. The order is the reverse of that found in English. |
| Let’s look at some more examples of how to tell someone where you’re from. |
| Here are two locations. |
| 美国, Měiguó. United States of America. |
| 西雅图, Xīyǎtú. Seattle. |
| First, do you remember the word for “I”? |
| 我 Wǒ |
| And the word for “am” |
| 是 shì |
| Now do you remember the word for “person?” |
| 人 rén |
| These are pieces you need to form the key pattern 我是 + place + 人。“I am + place + person.” 我是 + place + 人。 |
| Now Imagine you’re from 美国 “the U.S.A.” 美国。 |
| Remember how to say American using the country name? |
| 美国人 American 美国人 |
| Use the response pattern to say, “I am American.” |
| Listen to the correct response: |
| 我是美国人。 |
| “I am American.” |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 我是美国人。 |
| “I am American.” |
| Let’s look at one more example: |
| Again, do you remember the phrase for “I am”? |
| 我是 wǒshì 我是 |
| And do you remember the phrase for “to come from….”? |
| 从...来的 |
| Now, imagine you’re from 西雅图, “Seattle.” 西雅图。 |
| Use the two response patterns to say, “I am ‘American’. 美国人 ( I come from ‘Seattle’.” 西雅图 |
| Listen to the correct response: |
| 我是美国人。我是从西雅图来的。 |
| Wǒ shì Měiguó rén. Wǒ shì cóng Xīyǎtú lái de. |
| I am American. I come from Seattle. |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 我是美国人。我是从西雅图来的。 |
| Wǒ shì Měiguó rén. Wǒ shì cóng Xīyǎtú lái de. |
| I am American. I come from Seattle. |
| Now let’s practice with these 2 people: |
| Ally Smith. She is from 伦敦, Lúndūn, “London.” 英国, Yīngguó, “United Kingdom.” |
| Danny Miller. He is from 悉尼, Xīní. “Sydney.” 澳大利亚, Aòdàlìyà, “Australia.” |
| Do you recall the question asked by the passenger, Xiaojun Wang? |
| 你是哪里人？ní shì nǎlǐ rén? |
| Now, imagine you’re Ally Smith from London 伦敦, UK. 英国. |
| You meet Xiaojun Wang, and he asks you where you’re from. |
| Use the response patterns to say, “I am British. I come from London. 伦敦 |
| Remember, to form the word British you’ll use the word 英国 “United Kingdom” 英国 + 人 rén |
| Ready? |
| 你是哪里人？ |
| Where are you from? |
| The correct response is: |
| 我是英国人。Wǒ shì Yīngguó rén. 我是从伦敦来的。Wǒ shì cóng Lúndūn lái de. “I come from London.” |
| “I am British.” |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 我是英国人。Wǒ shì Yīngguó rén. 我是从伦敦来的。Wǒ shì cóng Lúndūn lái de. “I come from London.” |
| Let’s look at one more example: |
| Now, imagine you're Danny Miller from Sydney, Australia. 澳大利亚 悉尼. |
| You meet Xiaojun Wang, and he asks you where you’re from. |
| Use the response patterns to say, “I am Australian. I come from Sydney.” 悉尼 |
| Remember, |
| to form the word Australian you’ll use the word 澳大利亚 “Australia” 澳大利亚 + 人 rén |
| Ready? |
| 你是哪里人？ |
| Where are you from? |
| The correct response was: |
| 我是澳大利亚人。我是从悉尼来的。Wǒ shì Aòdàlìyà rén. Wǒ shì cóng Xīní lái de. |
| “I am Australian. I come from Sydney.“ |
| Listen again and repeat. |
| 我是澳大利亚人。我是从悉尼来的。Wǒ shì Aòdàlìyà rén. Wǒ shì cóng Xīní lái de. |
| “I am Australian. I come from Sydney.“ |
| This is the end of this lesson. Question or comment? Let us know. |
| Remember these Can-Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. Once you have mastered the content in this lesson, prove it. |
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| And don’t forget the lesson notes for this lesson while you’re there. |
| Thank you for watching. |
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