Learn Chinese L2: May I know your name?

Dachuan takes a pile of new books to the classroom. As he is descending the stairs he drops all his books. In response, someone comes to help. Dachuan expresses his thanks and asks for his name.

Dialogue One

xiè　xie　qǐng　wèn　nín　guì　xìng
谢　 谢！ 请　　问　 您 　贵　 姓？
Thanks. What's your name please?
bú　yòng　xiè　miǎn　guì　xìng　zhāng　
不　用　　谢！　免　 贵　 姓　　张。　
jiào　wǒ　zhāng　lǎo　shī　jiù　kě　yǐ　 le　
叫　 我　　张　　老　 师　 就　可　以　了。
That's all right. My surname is Zhang. You can call me Mr. Zhang.
Dialogue Two

nǐ　hǎo　wǒ　jiào　gāo　qiáng　nǐ　jiào　shén　me　míng　zi
你　好！ 我　 叫　 高　　强，　 你　叫　　什　 么　　名　 字？
Hello. My name is Gao Qiang. What's your name?
nǐ　hǎo　wǒ　jiào　 dà　chuān　hěn　gāo　xìng　rèn　shi　nǐ
你　好！ 我　 叫　　大　　川。　很　 高　　兴　 认　 识　你。
Hello. My name is Dachuan. Nice to meet you.
hěn　gāo　xìng　 rèn　shi　nǐ
很　　高　 兴　　认　 识　你。
Nice to meet you.
Explanations of difficult points


1. 谢谢!
"谢"(xiè) is usually said twice "谢谢"(xiè xie) or "谢谢你"(xiè xie nǐ), meaning "thank you". The reply usually is, "不客气！"(bú kè qi), "不用谢！"(bú yòng xiè), "不谢！"(bú xiè) and so on.

2．贵姓
"贵姓"(guì xìng) literally means "valuable surname". The term is a respectful way of addressing someone for the first time by saying his/her last name. When "姓" is used indepently, meaning "to be named (surname)". When the elderly people see younger people, or young people are meeting each other, then "你叫什么名字?"(nǐ jiào shén me míng zi) can be used.

3．免贵姓……
"免"(miǎn) itself means "no need for/free of". So "免贵姓……"(miǎn guì xìng) means that there is no need to be too polite by saying "贵姓"(guì xìng). It's a polite way to answer "您贵姓?"(nín guì xìng) Or you can say "我姓……"(wǒ xìng).

4．什么？
"什么"(shén me) means "what" and can be used as a question word. The sentence form is very simple. When putting a question, you can just replac the question word with what you want to ask. The word order is the same as a declarative sentence. For example: "我叫高强"(wǒ jiào gāo qiáng, declarative sentence) → "你叫什么名字?"(nǐ jiào shén me míng zi, interrogative sentence)

5．请问？
"请问"(qǐng wèn) means "excuse me, I want to ask you something." It is more polite to say "请问" before asking others a question.

6．就可以了
Here "就可以了"(jiù kě yǐ le) means "it's okay/alright". "就"(jiù) means "it is..." and is used to intensify the certainty of the statement. One meaning of "可以"(kě yǐ) is "okay". "了"(le) is used at the end of a statement to intensify a mood of certainty.