How to introduce yourself in Chinese

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One of the first things you need to learn in Chinese is how to introduce yourself and let people know a little bit about you. In this post I’ll cover all this and more.

Table of Contents

Hello / 你好 / nǐ hǎo

你nǐ好hǎo (nǐ hǎo) is the most straightforward way to introduce yourself in Chinese, and is the equivalent of saying “hello” in English. You will also see this written as 你nǐ好hǎo吗ma (nǐ hǎo ma), not the difference here is that the 吗ma (ma) character has been added to the end. The difference here is that 你nǐ好hǎo (nǐ hǎo) means “hello” and 你nǐ好hǎo吗ma (nǐ hǎo ma) is the equivalent of “how are you?”

你nǐ好hǎo
nǐ hǎo
Hello

You can use 你nǐ好hǎo (nǐ hǎo) in almost any situation, however you should be aware of a slight variation which is 您nín好hǎo (nín hǎo). Here 您nín (nín) means “you” but is the polite equivalent你nǐ (nǐ). Examples of when to use 你nǐ好hǎo (nǐ hǎo) include

Greeting someone who is older such as an elder or teacher
Greeting someone who is of a senior rank, for example meeting the company CEO
Meeting someone in a formal situation, for example greeting a guest from another company
Meeting someone you don’t know where it is apparent they are older or more senior to yourself

Be careful when using 您nín好hǎo (nín hǎo) as it is formal and definitely makes the situation less casual.

Children might use 您nín好hǎo (nín hǎo) more than adults, however for children it is more common to greet people by their title, so for example:

Hello elder brother 姐姐好 (jiějiě hǎo)
Hello elder sister 哥哥好 (gēgē hǎo)
Hello auntie 阿姨好 (āyí hǎo)
Hello uncle 叔叔好 (shūshu hǎo)
Hello grandfather 爷爷好 (yéyé hǎo)
Hello grandmother 奶奶好 (nǎinai hǎo)

My name is / 我叫 / wǒ jiào

我wǒ叫jiào (wǒ jiào) The most simple way to tell someone your name. The way to use this is to say something like:

eemm>>我wǒ叫jiàoMMiikkee
wǒ jiào Mike
My name is Mike

As Chinese may have some difficulty pronouncing your English name, I suggest you look up it’s Chinese equivalent on my posts here:

Be sure to also check out my post on how to address people in Chinese.

Here is a break down of 我wǒ叫jiào (wǒ jiào)

我wǒ	叫jiào
wǒ	jiào
I	called

What is your name? / 你叫什么名字？ / nǐ jiào shénme míngzì?

你nǐ叫jiào什shén么me名míng字zi (nǐ jiào shénme míngzì) is a reasonably casual way of asking someone their name and literally means “What are you called?” You can use 你nǐ叫jiào什shén么me名míng字zi (nǐ jiào shénme míngzì) in combination with saying hello and telling the other person your name, for example:so for example:

你nǐ好hǎo，,我wǒ叫jiàoMMiikkee。. 你nǐ叫jiào什shén么me名míng字zi？?
nǐ hǎo，wǒ jiào Mike. nǐ jiào shénme míngzì
Hi, my name is Mike. What is your name?

Here is word-by-word break down of 你nǐ叫jiào什shén么me名míng字zi (nǐ jiào shénme míngzì):

你nǐ	叫jiào	什shén么me	名míng字zi
nǐ	jiào	shénme	míngzì
you	called	what	name

As you can see from the break down, this is equivalent to English, albeit with a slight change in word order.

How do I address you? / 怎么称呼你？ / zěnme chēnghu nǐ?

怎zěn么me称chēng呼hu你nǐ (zěnme chēnghu nǐ) is best used when you are unsure of how to address someone. Broken down this literally means “how (do I) address you?”:

怎zěn么me	称chēng呼hu	你nǐ
zěnme	chēnghu	nǐ
how	(to) address	you

Here are some sample answer could expect to asking someone 怎么称呼你 (zěnme chēnghu nǐ):

English	Chinese	Pinyin Pronunciation
Call me Mike (is good).	叫jiào我wǒMMiikkee好hǎo了le。.	jiào wǒ Mike hǎole.
Most people call me Mike	大dà家jiā叫jiào我wǒMMiikkee。.	dàjiā jiào wǒ Mike
Please call me Lao Wang (old Wang) is fine (good).	请qǐng叫jiào我wǒ老lǎo王wáng就jiù好hǎo了le。.	qǐng jiào wǒ lǎo wáng jiù hǎole.
You can call me nurse Zhang.	你nǐ可kě以yǐ叫jiào我wǒ张zhāng护hù士shi。.	nǐ kěyǐ jiào wǒ zhāng hùshì
Call me Mr Wang.	叫jiào我wǒ王wáng先Xiān生sheng。.	jiào wǒ wáng xiānshēng

What nationality are you (which country are you from)? / 你是哪国人？/ nǐ shì nǎ guó rén?

你nǐ是shì哪nǎ国guó人rén (nǐ shì nǎ guórén) is a very common question people will ask of foreigners and thus is a question you will get good at answering. Equally if you are in China, it is unlikely you will need to ask someone where they are from, as the answer is probably obvious. here is 你nǐ是shì哪nǎ国guó人rén (nǐ shì nǎ guórén) broken down word-for-word:

你nǐ	是shì	哪nǎ	国guó	人rén
nǐ	shì	nǎ	guó	rén
you	are	which	country	person

As you can see, broken down 你nǐ是shì哪nǎ国guó人rén (nǐ shì nǎ guórén) is a straight forward translation.

To answer 你nǐ是shì哪nǎ国guó人rén (nǐ shì nǎ guórén) , you should say

I am <nationality> / 我是<nationality>人 / wǒ shì <nationality> rén

我wǒ是shì<country>人 ( wǒ shì <country> rén ) is the most appropriate way to tell which country you’re from. To use this phrase you simply insert the Chinese name of the country you are from, for example:

English	Chinese	Pinyin Pronunciation
I’m Chinese	我wǒ是shì中Zhōng国guó人rén	wǒ shì zhōngguó rén
I’m American	我wǒ是shì美Měi国guó人rén	wǒ shì měiguó rén
I’m Canadian	我wǒ是shì加Jiā拿ná大dà人rén	wǒ shì jiānádà rén
I am Australian	我wǒ是shì澳Aò洲zhōu人rén	wǒ shì àozhōu rén
I am Indian	我wǒ是shì印Yìn度dù人rén	wǒ shì yìn duó rén
I’m British	我wǒ是shì英Yīng国guó人rén	wǒ shì yīngguó rén

In Chinese, to turn a country into a nationality, you simply add 人 (rén) after the Chinese name of the country, thus:

China 中Zhōng国guó (zhōngguó rén)”] becomes Chinese 中Zhōng国guó人rén (zhōngguó rén)
America 美Měi国guó (měiguó) becomes American 美Měi国guó人rén (měiguó rén)
Canada 加Jiā拿ná大dà (jiānádà) becomes Canadian 加Jiā拿ná大dà人rén ( jiānádà rén)
Australia 澳Aò洲zhōu (àozhōu) becomes Australian 澳Aò洲zhōu人rén (àozhōu)
Indian 印Yìn度dù (yìndù) becomes Indian 印Yìn度dù人rén (yìndù rén)
Britain 英Yīng国guó (yīngguó) becomes British 英Yīng国guó人rén yīngguó rén )

If your country isn’t in the short list above, check out my post on Country Names in Chinese.

Note that someone saying they are Chinese 美Měi国guó人rén (měiguó rén) refers to their nationality, not ethnicity. Someone who is ethnically Chinese but is not a citizen of China is called a 华Huá人rén (huárén).

Where are you from? / 你从哪里来？ / nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái?

你nǐ从cóng哪nǎ里lǐ来lái (nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái) is a common question you will hear or may use to ask where someone is from. This is different to 你nǐ是shì哪nǎ国guó人rén (nǐ shì nǎ guórén), which was asking someone what their nationality. 你nǐ从cóng哪nǎ里lǐ来lái (nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái) could be answered with:

the country you are from, but necessarily you nationality
the state or province you’re from
the city your from

Here is a break down of 你从哪里来 (nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái):

Note that in some cases you place a classifier, otherwise known as a measure word, in front of the profession, so rather than say “I am student” 我wǒ是shì学xué生sheng ( wǒ shì xuéshēng) it is more correct to say “I am a student” 我wǒ是shì个gè个gè学xué生sheng ( wǒ shì yī gè xuéshēng), where “一个” means “one”.

Check out my post on how to address people in Chinese for more details on professions and how to address people. If you want to know more about classifiers, please take a look at my post Chinese Classifiers: What are they and how to use them as well as my complete list of Mandarin Chinese classifiers and measure words.

A sample dialogue for introducing yourself in Chinese

To put this together I thought it would be useful to show you sample dialogue of introductions in Chinese:

你nǐ好hǎo。.
nǐ hǎo.
Hello.

你nǐ好hǎo，,我wǒ叫jiàoMMiikkee。.怎zěn么me称chēng呼hu你nǐ？?
nǐ hǎo, wǒ jiào Mike. Zěnme chēnghu nǐ?
Hi, I’m (called) Mike. How should I address you?

我wǒ叫jiào老lǎo王wáng。.你nǐ是shì哪nǎ国guó人rén？?
wǒ jiào lǎo wáng. Nǐ shì nǎ guórén?
I’m old Wang. Which country are you from?

我wǒ是shì美Měi国guó人rén。.你nǐ从cóng哪nǎ里lǐ来lái？?
wǒ shì měiguó rén. nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái?
I’m American. Where are you from?

我wǒ是shì北Běi京jīng人rén。.你nǐ做zuò什shén么me工gōng作zuò？?
wǒ shì běijīng rén. Nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò?
I’m from Beijing. What do you do (job)?

我wǒ是shì一yī个gè学xué生sheng，,你nǐ呢ne？?
wǒ shì yīgè xuéshēng， nǐ ne?
I’m a student， (how about) you?

我wǒ是shì工gōng程chéng师shī。.
wǒ shì gōngchéngshī.
I’m an engineer.

Wrapping it up

I hope this has been useful, be sure to also check out my post on the Top 25 Chinese phrases for tourists tourists to help build you Chinese vocabulary.