Learn how to give someone your phone number
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| Hi! 大家好，我是李殷如。 |
| (Dà jiā hǎo, wǒ shì Lǐ Yīnrú.) |
| “Hi, everyone! I'm Yinru Li.” |
| In this lesson, you will learn how to tell someone your phone number in Chinese. |
| When giving phone numbers in Chinese, we say each digit separately. |
| So first, let’s take a look at how we say the 10 single-digit numbers in Chinese. |
| So, from the smallest to the biggest. |
| 零 (líng) |
| 一 (yī) |
| 二 (èr) |
| 三 (sān) |
| 四 (sì) |
| 五 (wǔ) |
| 六 (liù) |
| 七 (qī) |
| 八 (bā) |
| 九 (jiǔ) |
| Now, let’s count down from 9 to zero. Okay, here we go. |
| 九 (jiǔ) |
| 八 (bā) |
| 七 (qī) |
| 六 (liù) |
| 五 (wǔ) |
| 四 (sì) |
| 三 (sān) |
| 二 (èr) |
| 一 (yī) |
| 零 (líng) |
| Okay. Now, a special note on this number one, 一 (yī), usually, number one is said as 一 (yī), but when giving a phone number, the number one is often said as 一 (yāo), 一 (yāo). The reason is that number one and number seven, 一 (yī), 七 (qī), they’re pretty close, so to avoid any confusion, we usually say number one as 一 (yāo) and a string of numbers, such as in the phone number. So, in phone numbers, number one is often said as 一 (yāo). |
| Okay, now, let’s do- let’s read all these numbers one more time. Feel free to read after me. |
| 零 (líng) |
| 一 (yī) / 一 (yāo) |
| 二 (èr) |
| 三 (sān) |
| 四 (sì) |
| 五 (wǔ) |
| 六 (liù) |
| 七 (qī) |
| 八 (bā) |
| 九 (jiǔ) |
| Good job! |
| Next, we’re gonna hear a dialogue. Someone is registering her phone number in an office. So, here is how the dialogue goes. |
| 您的电话号码是多少？ |
| (Nín de diànhuà hàomǎ shì duōshao?) |
| 我的电话号码是 123 0198 7654。 |
| (Wǒ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì yāo èr sān, líng yāo jiǔ bā, qī liù wǔ sì.) |
| One more time, a bit slower. |
| 您的电话号码是多少？ |
| (Nín de diànhuà hàomǎ shì duōshao?) |
| 我的电话号码是 123 0198 7654。 |
| (Wǒ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì yāo èr sān, líng yāo jiǔ bā, qī liù wǔ sì.) |
| Now, let’s take a closer look at this dialogue. |
| First is the question: |
| 您的电话号码是多少？ |
| (Nín de diànhuà hàomǎ shì duōshao?) |
| So, 您的 (nín de), 您的 (nín de) is “your,” but this is the polite “your” because we use 您 (nín), instead of 你 (nǐ). So, because this is someone talking to their customer, someone they’re serving, that’s why they use this 您 (nín), the polite 您 (nín). But if you’re just, in everyday life, you’re talking to a friend or classmate, you can just use 你 (nǐ); 你的 (nǐ de). That is also polite, 你的 (nǐ de). |
| 你的电话号码 (Nǐ de diànhuà hàomǎ) |
| 电话 (diànhuà) “telephone” |
| 号码 (hàomǎ) “number” |
| Together, 电话号码 (diànhuà hàomǎ) “phone number.” |
| 是 (shì) “is” |
| 多少 (duōshao) |
| 多少 (Duōshao) is a question word that is used to ask about numbers. |
| 多少 (duōshao) |
| So, together: |
| 您的电话号码是多少？ |
| (Nín de diànhuà hàomǎ shì duōshao?) |
| Now, the answer: |
| 我的电话号码是 (Wǒ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì) [this number]. |
| Okay. First, 我的 (wǒ de) “my” |
| 电话号码 (diànhuà hàomǎ) “phone number” is this number. |
| Okay. Now, we put some spaces between the numbers, but usually in China, when you’re given a phone number either on a business card or on an ad, there’s often no space or hyphens between the long number. But it’s a good idea to put pauses when you say the phone number, when you give one and your phone number. |
| A common way to do it is after first three digits, 停一下 (tíng yīxià), put a pause there, and the next four digits, 停一下 (tíng yīxià), put a pause there, and the last four digits. |
| Such as 123 0198 7654 (yāo èr sān, líng yāo jiǔ bā, qī liù wǔ sì). |
| Okay. Now, let’s look at two more examples of giving your phone number in Chinese. |
| 我的电话号码是 (Wǒ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì)。。。 |
| So what is his phone number? |
| 111 6689 7789 (yāo yāo yāo, liù liù bā jiǔ, qī qī bā jiǔ) |
| 我的电话号码是 111 6689 7789 |
| (Wǒ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì yāo yāo yāo, liù liù bā jiǔ, qī qī bā jiǔ)。 |
| Okay, let’s try one more. This one is- first, let’s look at this number, see if we can say it. Now, let’s do it together. |
| 我的电话号码是 123 1234 5678 |
| (Wǒ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì yāo èr sān, yāo èr sān sì, wǔ liù qī bā)。 |
| You can also say it as 123 1234 5678 (yī èr sān, yī èr sān sì, wǔ liù qī bā). It’s not wrong, but it’s- you will hear 123 (yāo èr sān) a lot when you hear phone numbers in Chinese. |
| So, the pattern to give your phone number in Chinese is: |
| 我的电话号码是 (Wǒ de diànhuà hàomǎ shì) [PHONE NUMBER]。 |
| “My phone number is [PHONE NUMBER].” |
| As simple as that. |
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