Learn the key pattern to give your phone number
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| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how the civil servant asks, |
| "What is your phone number?" |
| 您的电话号码是多少？(Nín de diànhuà hàomǎ shì duōshao?) |
| First 您的 (nín de), "your." 您的. |
| This starts with 您 (nín), "you" when using formal Chinese. 您. 您. 您 is often used to show respect to people, such as seniors or customers. 您. |
| Now, you might be more familiar with 你 (nǐ), meaning "you." 你 (nǐ). As this is a city office setting, the speaker chooses to use the more formal 您 (nín). |
| Next is 的 (de), the possessive-marking particle. 的. 的. |
| Think of 的 as a way to indicate possession. The word it follows possesses the thing that comes after it. In this sentence, it marks 您, "you," as the possessor. |
| Together, it's 您的, a formal way to say "your." 您的. |
| Next is 电话号码 (diànhuà hàomǎ), "phone number." 电话号码. |
| 电话 (diànhuà). "Phone."电话 . 电话. |
| 号码 (hàomǎ). "Number."号码 . 号码. |
| Together, it's 电话号码 (diànhuà hàomǎ). "Phone number." 电话号码. |
| Remember this because you'll see it again in Mark's response. |
| Next is 是 (shì). In this case, it's like the "is" in "What is your phone number?" 是. 是. |
| After this is 多少 (duōshǎo), "what." 多少 . 多少. |
| 多少 literally means "a lot, a little." It's used to ask about quantities or numbers, and it usually translates as "how many." As a phone number is a set of numbers, 多少 is used in the question. Here, however, it translates as "what" in the question, "What is your phone number?" |
| All together, it's 您的电话号码是多少？(Nín de diànhuà hàomǎ shì duōshǎo?) This literally means, "Your phone number is how many?" but translates as "What is your phone number?" 您的电话号码是多少？ |
| Remember this request. You'll hear it again later. |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Mark says, |
| "My phone number is 12345678910." |
| 我的电话号码是 12345678910. |
| First is 我的 (Wǒ de), "my." 我的. |
| This starts with 我 (Wǒ), "I." 我 . 我. |
| After this is 的 (de), the possessive-marking particle. 的. |
| Together, it's 我的, "my." 我的. |
| Next, do you remember the word for "phone number?" |
| 电话号码 (diànhuà hàomǎ), "phone number." 电话号码。 |
| Together, 我的电话号码 (Wǒ de diànhuà hàomǎ) means "my phone number." 我的电话号码. |
| Next is 是 (shì), "is." Here, it's like the "is" in "my phone number is." 是 . 是. |
| Next is Mark's phone number, 12345678910. |
| 12345678910. |
| Note how Mark says his phone number: |
| First, he says each number independently. He says 1 2 3 (yāo èr sān). |
| Second, the number "one" is pronounced (yāo) instead of (yī) in this dialogue. This is often the case when giving phone numbers. |
| The reason? |
| The pronunciation of the number one (yī) is similar to the pronunciation of the number seven (qī). |
| This could be confusing, especially when you're talking over the phone or speaking quickly. |
| All together, it's 我的电话号码是 123 4567 8910。 |
| "My phone number is 123 4567 8910." |
| 我的电话号码是 123 4567 8910。 |
| The pattern is |
| 我的电话号码是 {phone number}. |
| "My phone number is {phone number}." |
| 我的电话号码是 {phone number}. |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the {phone number} placeholder with your phone number. |
| Imagine your phone number is 11122332233. |
| 11122332233. |
| Say |
| "My phone number is 11122332233." |
| Ready? |
| 我的电话号码是 11122332233. (Wǒ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì yāo yāo yāo, èr èr sān sān, èr èr sān sān.) |
| "My number is 111 2233 2233." |
| 我的电话号码是 11122332233. |
| In China, cellphone numbers are often written without hyphens or spaces between the digits. |
| When speaking, however, the digits are often grouped in the following format: three digits, four digits, and four digits, with pauses in between. |
| For example, 123 4567 8910. |
| For landline numbers, such as for office and home phones, a hyphen is often put after the area code. |
| When giving an office or home number, simply pause in place of the hyphen. |
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