Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

25

Basic strategies for

communication

Languages have specific expressions that speakers use to start conversations and to keep them

going. These expressions often reflect the degree of formality of the situation, the relationship

of the participants in the conversation, and the attitudes of the speakers. This section presents

the most commonly used expressions in Mandarin.

25.1 Attracting someone’s attention

25.1.1 attracting attention by using a name or title

In Mandarin, the most common way to attract someone’s attention is to address them with their

name, a title, or a kinship term.

C22.4

马教授/馬教授 王玫玲

Mǎ jiàoshòu Wáng Méilíng

Professor Ma Wang Meiling

先生 小姐

Xiānsheng Xiǎojie

Mr./sir Miss

In mainland China, to politely get the attention of a male whom you do not know, you can say:

师傅/師傅 shīfu master (as in, ‘master craftsman’)

Taxi drivers are typically addressed as:

司机/司機 sījī driver

An informal way to attract someone’s attention is by using the interjection:

欸 ēi hey

25.1.2 attracting attention by apologizing for the intrusion

麻烦你 对不起 劳驾

麻煩你 對不起 勞駕

máfan nǐ duìbuqǐ láojià

excuse me (I am

bothering you)

excuse me (sorry for

being rude)

excuse me (for creating

(^) extra work for you)