Lesson Three: What Country Are You From?
Conversation: 你是哪国人?
你是哪国人？
What country are you from?
我是新西兰人。
I am from New Zealand.
他们也是新西兰人吗?
Are they also from New Zealand?
不，他是澳大利亚人，她是德国人。
No, he is Australian, she is German.
| New Words | ||
|---|---|---|
| 哪 | pt. which; what (when expressing appreciation for confirmation, or when giving advice or encouragement) | |
| 国 | n. country, nation, state | |
| 人 | n. person, people, humanity; others, other people | |
| 们 | pt. use to make plural forms of personal pronouns or nouns referring to animate entities | |
| 也 | adv. also, too; (indicating concession) still | |
| 她 | pron. she, her | |
| 新西兰 | n. New Zealand; 新西兰 人 = New Zealander | |
| 澳大利亚 | n. Australia; 澳大利亚 人 = Australian | |
| 德国 | n. Germany; 德国 人 = German |
Language Applications
As a general rule there are two ways of forming the name of foreign countries in Chinese.
1. The word “country” (国 ) is added to a character whose pronunciation is similar to the name of the country concerned.
- 美国 : America
- 英国 : England
- 法国 : France
- 德国 : Germany
2. A purely phonetic translation is used. Chinese characters are used to replace the sound of the country’s name.
- 爱尔兰 : Ireland
- 意大利 : Italy
| List of Countries | ||
|---|---|---|
| 美 国 | America | |
| 澳大利亚 | Australia | |
| 加拿大 | Canada | |
| 中国 | China | |
| 英国 | England | |
| 法国 | France | |
| 德国 | Germany | |
| 印度 | India | |
| 爱尔兰 | Ireland | |
| 意大利 | Italy | |
| 日本 | Japan | |
| 韩国 | Korea | |
| 新西兰 | New Zealand | |
| 巴基斯坦 | Pakistan | |
| 土耳其 | Turkey | |
| 越南 | Viet Nam |
For even more countries, see Free Chinese Lessons list of countries.
Grammar Points
The Adverb 也
The adverb 也 must be placed before the verb that it modifies. It cannot be used without the word on which it depends. For example, 他也是新西兰人。 He is also from New Zealand.
Asking questions with 哪
Like other adjectives or interrogative pronouns, 哪 is
used where the question’s answer should be. For example:
- Q: 你是哪国人?
- A: 我是美国 人。
Using the plural suffix 们
们 is a suffix mainly used to form plural personal pronouns. For
example, 我们, 你们, 他们.
Exercises
Complete the following conversations by filling in the blanks.
- 你是哪国人?
- 我是 _________ 人。
- 你是韩国人吗?
- 我不是 _____________。
- 他是哪国人?
- ______国人。
Writing Exercises
Let’s first review two characters you already know. Putting together 中 and 国 and you have the word China.
Here is the first character for England. You already know the second.
This concludes our third lesson. If things are progressing too quickly for you take the time to go over the previous lessons again. When you’re ready, move onto the next lesson.