Holiday Phrases and more ...
  • chahongaloka November 2012
    Happy Thanksgiving! Here are some useful terms that can be used for the holidays. 

    感恩节 gǎn ēn jié (Thanksgiving)
    火鸡 huǒ jī (turkey)
    黑色星期五 hēi sè xīng qí wú (black Friday)
    购物 góu wù (shopping)
    快乐 kuài lè  (Happy)

    Phrases

    感恩节快乐! gǎn ēn jié kuài lè! (Happy Thanksgiving)

    感恩节过得怎么样啊？ gǎn ēn jié guó de zén mè yang a? (How was Thanksgiving?)

    有没有吃火鸡啊？yǒu méi yǒu chī huǒ jī a ? (Did you eat turkey?)

    黑色星期五，有没有去购物？hēi sè xī qí wú,  yǒu méi yǒu qù góu wù?

    Christmas is coming, so we should also learn some words for the upcoming holidays.

    圣诞节 shèng dàn jié (Christimas)
    新年 xīn nián (New Year)

    So how would you say:

    - Happy Christimas?
    - How was Christmas?
    - Happy New Year?
    - How was New Year’s?

    Hint: follow the same Structure as shown for “Happy Thanksgiving”

    Some useful phrases when you introduce yourself or when you meet someone.

    自我介绍 zì wǒ jiè shào (introduce myself)
    让 ràng (let)
    您 nín (you) This is the honorific/polite way for “you”
    贵姓 guì xìng  (A respectful term used to ask about the family name of the other party.)
    小姐 xiǎo jié (Miss)
    先生 xiān shēng (Mr.)

    When you meet some and you want to introduce yourself you can say:

    你好，让我自我介绍一下。 Nǐ hǎo, ràng wǒ zì wǒ jiè shào yī xià. (Hello, let me introduce myself)

    Polite way, instead of using 你 you can use 您
     
    您好，让我自我介绍一下。 Nín hǎo, ràng wǒ zì wǒ jiè shào yī xià.

    In Essential Chinese, Lesson 1-2 we learned how to say ：

    - 你叫什么名字？Nǐ jiào shénme míng zi. (What’s your name?)
    - 我叫张立 Wǒ jiào zhāng lì. (My name is Zhang Li)

    If you want to be polite, you can say: 

    请问您贵姓？Qǐng wèn nín guìxìng? (Could you please tell me your surname? )

    请问小姐贵姓？Qǐng wèn xiǎo jié guìxìng? (Miss, could you please tell me your surname? )

    请问先生贵姓？Qǐng wèn xiān shēng guìxìng? (Mr. could you please tell me your surname? )

    One would then reply:

    我姓张 Wǒ xìng zhāng. (My last name is Zhang)

    Another helpful phrase is:

    很高兴认识你。 Hén gāo xìng rèn shì nǐ. (It is nice to meet you.)

  • Roe January 9
    With kuài lè, can that be used like this: Wo shi kuai le?  (I am happy)?

    And with Ni jiao shenme ming zi: what does ming zi mean?  Because I know I can also just ask: Ni jiao shenme?  Correct?
  • Ginger January 10

    Hi Roe:

    To answer your questions:

    1)

    If you want to say "I'm happy." in Chinese, it should be, ”我 （觉得）快乐  wǒ （jué dé）kuài lè “。 Or you can say, "我是快乐的 wǒ shì kuài lè de“。 We don't really say "我是快乐wǒ shì kuài lè"。Basically, if you say that, people will think you mean "My name is Happy." Of course if someone is asking you, "Are you happy?" and you say   "我是快乐", people will understand what you are trying to say, but it's not the correct/best way to say it. 

    In Chinese, when you want to express your feelings, most of the time, we will use 
    觉得 jué dé （ not 是 shì）or simply say 我+feelings (happy, angry, hungry, sad....)  

    2) 名字 Míng zì means "NAME". Yes, when you want to ask someone's name, you can say "你叫什么(名字)? nǐ jiào shén me (míng zì) ?"  People will understand what you mean. 

    I hope my answer is clear. Let me know if you have any more questions! :)


    Ginger





  • Roe February 5
    Thank you :)
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