How to use 姓
姓 + Surname
Mandarin has a verb specifically for a person's family name: 姓. Place the person before 姓 and the surname after it. This concise structure identifies the family name, rather than giving a complete personal name. Chinese names normally place the family name before the given name, which helps when interpreting introductions.
Do not treat 姓 as a general replacement for 叫. The latter can introduce a full name or the name somebody goes by, while 姓 focuses on the surname. Questions keep the missing surname in the same position after the verb. The level of politeness can vary with the wording used to ask, particularly in a first introduction.
Examples with pinyin and English
我姓王。
My family name is Wang.
你老板姓李吗？
Is your boss's last name Li?
那个帅哥姓张。
That handsome guy's last name is Zhang.
我爸爸姓周，我妈妈姓林。
My father's family name is Zhou. My mother's family name is Lin.
What to remember
- Follow 姓 with the family name.
- Use 叫 for a full naming introduction.
- Keep surname questions after the verb.
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Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.