I can fill in a Chinese form — family and given name, sex, date of birth, citizenship, passport, address, and phone — read a number where 1 is said yāo, and ask a question for each field.
The form: its fields and the questions behind them
The form: its fields and the questions behind them
You fill in a form at a hotel, a university, a bank, and a doctor's office. Its fields are always the same — see the table; learn to recognize them on sight.
• 姓名 (xìngmíng) — family name first, then the given name.
• 出生日期 (chūshēng rìqī) — year, month, day (not month, day, year as in English): 1995年3月12日 (1995 nián 3 yuè 12 rì).
• 地址 (dìzhǐ) — from the largest unit to the smallest: country, city, district, street, number 号 (hào), building 楼 (lóu), apartment 室 (shì). A US address goes the other way round.
• A phone number is read digit by digit, and 1 is said yāo: 138 — yāo sān bā.
Each field answers a question. The question word stands in the place of the answer — not at the front, as in English “Where does he work?” — and the word order doesn't change: 谁是您的汉语老师？(Shéi shì nín de Hànyǔ lǎoshī?) — 刘老师是我的汉语老师。(Liú lǎoshī shì wǒ de Hànyǔ lǎoshī.) All the question words you know are in the table.
Common mistakes:
• ×哪儿他工作？(×Nǎr tā gōngzuò?) → 他在哪儿工作？(Tā zài nǎr gōngzuò?)
• ×12日3月1995年 → 1995年3月12日
• ×502室3号楼15号 → 15号3号楼502室
Form fields
The example is filled in with the details of 王志远 (Wáng Zhìyuǎn); for the address, see the table below.
| Field | Pinyin | What goes in it | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 姓名 | xìngmíng | family name and given name | 王志远 |
| 性别 | xìngbié | sex | 男 |
| 出生日期 | chūshēng rìqī | date of birth | 1990年6月8日 |
| 国籍 | guójí | citizenship | 中国 |
| 护照号码 | hùzhào hàomǎ | passport number | E12345678 |
| 地址 | dìzhǐ | address | see the table below |
| 电话号码 | diànhuà hàomǎ | phone number | 139-8765-4321 |
| 已婚 | yǐhūn | married | 已婚 |
| 未婚 | wèihūn | single | 未婚 |
Address: from the largest unit to the smallest
In a US address it's roughly the other way round: 15 学院路 Street, Building 3, Apt. 502, 海淀区 District, 北京 (city), 中国 (country).
| Part | Pinyin | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 中国 | Zhōngguó | country |
| 北京市 | Běijīng Shì | city |
| 海淀区 | Hǎidiàn Qū | district |
| 学院路 | Xuéyuàn Lù | street |
| 15号 | 15 hào | street number |
| 3号楼 | 3 hào lóu | building |
| 502室 | 502 shì | apartment |
Question words: a summary
All the words were introduced earlier; the question word goes in the place of the answer.
| Word | Pinyin | What it asks about | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 吗 | ma | yes or no | ……吗？ |
| 什么 | shénme | what, what kind | 什么名字 |
| 谁 | shéi | who, whose | 谁的 |
| 哪 | nǎ | which (of several) | 哪国人 |
| 哪个 | nǎge | which one | 哪本书 |
| 哪儿 (哪里) | nǎr (nǎli) | where | 在哪儿 |
| 几 | jǐ | how many (when a small number is expected; in questions about the date, the day of the week and the hour, always 几) | 几岁, 几点, 星期几, 几月几号 |
| 多少 | duōshao | how much, how many; what number | 多少钱 |
| 多 + adj. | duō | how (+ adjective: how old, how big) | 多大 |
| 怎么 | zěnme | in what way | 怎么去 |
| 怎么样 | zěnmeyàng | what … like, how | ……怎么样？ |
| 什么时候 | shénme shíhou | when | 什么时候去 |
| A不A | máng bu máng | yes or no | 忙不忙 |
Lesson notes
The form: its fields and the questions behind them
You fill in a form at a hotel, a university, a bank, and a doctor's office. Its fields are always the same — see the table; learn to recognize them on sight.
• 姓名 (xìngmíng) — family name first, then the given name.
• 出生日期 (chūshēng rìqī) — year, month, day (not month, day, year as in English): 1995年3月12日 (1995 nián 3 yuè 12 rì).
• 地址 (dìzhǐ) — from the largest unit to the smallest: country, city, district, street, number 号 (hào), building 楼 (lóu), apartment 室 (shì). A US address goes the other way round.
• A phone number is read digit by digit, and 1 is said yāo: 138 — yāo sān bā.
Each field answers a question. The question word stands in the place of the answer — not at the front, as in English “Where does he work?” — and the word order doesn't change: 谁是您的汉语老师？(Shéi shì nín de Hànyǔ lǎoshī?) — 刘老师是我的汉语老师。(Liú lǎoshī shì wǒ de Hànyǔ lǎoshī.) All the question words you know are in the table.
Common mistakes:
• ×哪儿他工作？(×Nǎr tā gōngzuò?) → 他在哪儿工作？(Tā zài nǎr gōngzuò?)
• ×12日3月1995年 → 1995年3月12日
• ×502室3号楼15号 → 15号3号楼502室
A foreign name in characters: 安娜·彼得罗娃
Foreign names are written in characters by their sound: Anna — 安娜 (Ānnà), Ivan — 伊万 (Yīwàn). A middle dot goes between the given name and the family name: 安娜·彼得罗娃 (Ānnà Bǐdéluówá). The order stays as in the passport — given name, then family name; only Chinese names put the family name first. One name can be written in several ways — it helps to choose the characters for your own name with a Chinese friend.