Lesson Two

Who is Tom

Basic expressions

We learned a question word 什么what in the previous lesson. This lesson we will learn another question word.

1.

shéi

 

who, whom

who, whom

 

2.

shì

 

to be

to be

In spoken Chinese both he and she share the same pronunciation:

3.

, ,

 

he, him, she, her, it

he, him, she, her, it

 

4.

Tāngmǔ

汤姆

 

Tom

Tom

 

5.

Bǐdé

彼得

 

Peter

Peter

 

Lets used who to form a question.

shéi jiào         Tāngmǔ

   

     

汤姆?

Who is called Tom?

who

 is called

Tom

 

Tom would answer:

wǒ jiào         Tāngmǔ

   

     

汤姆?

I    am called Tom 

I

am called

Tom

 

If I ask Peter to answer the question, Peter would say: ‘他叫 汤姆’ while pointing at Tom.

Now you know how to sayI, you, he andshe in Chinese.  All of them are used in the singular.  If these words are followed by the word as in我们 we, 你们 you in plural, 他们 they, they become plural.

Conversation

Now lets say the following dialogue.

a.              汤姆?                                     

     shéi jiào        Tāngmǔ

     who is called Tom?                                   

    Who is called Tom?

 

b.              汤姆。                                   

     wǒ jiào         Tāngmǔ

     I   am called  Tom.                                      

     I am called Tom.

 

a.               彼得?                                

     shéi jiào         Bǐdé

     who is called Peter?                                    

     Who is Peter?

 

b.            彼得。                                     

     wǒ jiào       Bǐdé

     He is called Peter.                                         

    He is called Peter

 

Notes on expressions

In the above dialogue, who is used as the subject in the sentence.

shéi

jiào

姆?Tāngmǔ

who

is  called

Tom

Who is called Tom?

can also be used as the object of a sentence.  Listen the following:

shì

shéi

he

is

whom

Who is he?

The answer will be:

shì

彼得 Bǐdé

he

is

Peter

He is Peter.      

Listen to the following dialogue.

a

shì

shéi

She

is

whom

Who is she?

b

shì

戴菲妮 Dàifēiní

 She

is

Daphne

She is Daphne.

Practice

1. Listen to and practise the Tape version as much as you can.

2. Find out all the names of your classmates using the question word who.

3. Introduce all your classmates to a visitor, in Chinese.

Tape version

Part one: new words

1.

Who

 

2.

to be

 

3.

he, him, (she, her)

 

4.

Tom

 

5.

Peter

 

Part two: expressions

A

who is called Tom

Who is called Tom?

B

he/she is called what

What is he/she called?

C

Tom, you good/ well

Hello Tom

Part three: conversation

a

who is called Tom

Who is called Tom?

b

I am called Tom

I am called Tom.

a

who is called Peter

Who is called Peter?

b

he is called Peter

He is called Peter.