Who's Who: Jobs and People
Say what you and others do (我是医生), ask 你做什么工作？, tell men from women with 男 and 女, and address people the Chinese way: surname + title.
是 + job: no word for "a"
To say what someone does, use the same 是 (shì) you met with nationalities: 我是医生 (wǒ shì yīshēng) (I'm a doctor), 她是老师 (tā shì lǎoshī) (she's a teacher). English needs "a" in front of a job; Chinese has no such word, so the job follows 是 directly.
The negative is 不是 (bú shì): 他不是工人 (tā bú shì gōngrén) (he isn't a worker). To correct someone, put both halves side by side: 我不是老师，我是学生 (wǒ bú shì lǎoshī, wǒ shì xuésheng) -- "I'm not a teacher, I'm a student."
Words for people: 老师 (lǎoshī) teacher, 学生 (xuésheng) student, 大学生 (dàxuéshēng) university student (大学 is "university"), 同学 (tóngxué) classmate, 医生 (yīshēng) doctor, 工人 (gōngrén) worker (in a factory or on a building site), 朋友 (péngyou) friend.
Quick check
1. How do you say "He is a doctor"?
What do you do? 你做什么工作？
工作 (gōngzuò) means "work, job," and 做 (zuò) means "to do." Put 什么 where the answer would go and you get the standard question 你做什么工作？ (nǐ zuò shénme gōngzuò?) -- literally "you do what work?" Learn it as one block.
Answer with 是 + job, not with 做: 我是老师 (wǒ shì lǎoshī). To someone older or senior, use the polite 您: 您做什么工作？ (nín zuò shénme gōngzuò?)
Students usually just say 我是学生 (wǒ shì xuésheng), or 我是大学生 (wǒ shì dàxuéshēng) at university.
Quick check
1. Put the words in order.
Hint: “What do you do (for work)?”
Men and women: 男 and 女
男 (nán) is "male" and 女 (nǚ) "female." With 人 they make 男人 (nánrén) (man) and 女人 (nǚrén) (woman); with 生 they make 男生 (nánshēng) and 女生 (nǚshēng), male and female students -- and, in everyday talk, guys and girls of student age or a bit older.
Put 男 or 女 in front of a job to say which: 男老师 (nán lǎoshī) (male teacher), 女医生 (nǚ yīshēng) (female doctor). It's neutral and very common in Chinese, where English would usually leave it out. You'll also see 男 and 女 on toilet doors.
女人 is the plain word for "woman," but for young women people usually say 女生, which sounds friendlier.
Quick check
1. What does 女生 usually mean in everyday speech?
Culture: surname + title
In China you address people by surname + title, not by their given name: 王老师 (Wáng lǎoshī) (Teacher Wang), 李医生 (Lǐ yīshēng) (Dr Li), 张先生 (Zhāng xiānsheng) (Mr Zhang), 陈小姐 (Chén xiǎojiě) (Miss Chen). The title comes after the surname. Calling your teacher by her given name, as you might in an English-speaking class, sounds odd or rude.
Students greet a teacher with title + 好: 王老师好！ (Wáng lǎoshī hǎo!) or just 老师好！ (lǎoshī hǎo!) Classmates call each other by full name: 李明 (Lǐ Míng), not just 明.
先生 (xiānsheng) and 小姐 (xiǎojiě) are for polite, formal settings: a hotel, an email, a business meeting. Don't call out 小姐 on its own to a waitress -- in mainland China today that can sound disrespectful.
Quick check
1. Your teacher is 刘洋 (Liú Yáng). How do you greet her?
Try it yourself
Write a sentence or two using what this lesson covered. Not graded -- just for you, saved so you can come back to it.
Pick with a tap, a number key or Space. A Chinese keyboard on your device works in the box below too.
Final review
0/16 answered across this lesson
1. Say it in Chinese (characters or pinyin).
2. Say it in Chinese (characters or pinyin).
3. Say it in Chinese (characters or pinyin).
4. Say it in Chinese (characters or pinyin).
5. Say it in Chinese (characters or pinyin).
6. Complete (characters or pinyin).
7. Complete (characters or pinyin).
8. Put the words in order.
Hint: “They aren't workers.”
9. Match each word to its meaning.
10. A new business contact is called 张伟 (Zhāng Wěi). How do you address him politely?
11. What did you hear?
12. Say you're a student, then politely ask what the other person does.
Say your answer out loud and record it, then compare it with the model.
Tip: zuò and shì are falling tones: short and firm. 什么 is shénme, with a light second syllable.