Textbook · HSK 1
This Is My Friend 这是我朋友
李明 introduces 玛丽 to a classmate on their walk across campus: how to say who someone is, ask where they're from, and hand that same question straight back with 你呢.
In the last chapter, 李明 and 玛丽 traded names with ten words. This time they're walking across campus together when they spot someone else, and the conversation picks up a new job: saying who someone is, and finding out where they're from. Watch two things as you read. First, the word for 'this' turns into the word for 'that' depending on how far away someone is. Second, 玛丽 and 李明 keep doing the same comment-then-question move from before, now pointed at a new question.
ⓘ 那 points at someone still across the path
那 is 'that,' used for a person or thing that isn't close by. 张伟 is still over there, so 李明 answers with 那是..., 'that is...' Watch this same sentence shape once they've actually reached him.
note
They start walking toward him. By the next line, they've closed the distance, and so has the word for 'that.'
ⓘ 这是... introduces someone standing right here
Now that they've reached 张伟, 这 replaces 那: 这是我朋友，玛丽, 'this is my friend, Mary.' 这 and 那 are the same kind of word at two different distances, near and far. 是 does the actual naming in both sentences: X 是 Y states plainly who X is, and 是 itself never changes, no matter who's talking.
ⓘ 认识 means more than just 'meet'
认识你 literally says 'I know/recognize you,' and it doubles as the word Chinese uses for meeting someone the first time. That word doesn't disappear once the introduction is over either; 认识 keeps meaning 'to know' someone for as long as you actually know them.
ⓘ Skipping the connector between a name and 同学/朋友
You might expect a linking word between 李明 and 同学, the usual way to show 'Li Ming's ___.' In everyday speech, close relationship words like 同学 and 朋友 often skip it entirely right after a name or 我/你: 李明同学, 你朋友, 我同学. It still means exactly 'Li Ming's classmate'; it just moves faster.
note
He confirms with 是 twice, one short sentence for each fact: classmate, and friend.
ⓘ 哪 asks 'which' right where the answer will go
哪国人？follows the same shape as 什么名字？from the last chapter: the question word sits exactly where the answer word will go. 哪 means 'which,' 国 means 'country,' so 哪国人 asks 'which-country person'; the answer just drops a country name into that same slot, like 中国人 or 美国人.
ⓘ 你呢 bounces the same question back, again
Instead of repeating 你是哪国人？in full, 张伟 just says 你呢？, and 玛丽 knows exactly which question just came back to her. One word, and the question makes a full round trip.
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A short, plain answer is completely normal here. No need to repeat the whole question back.
Notice the swap in the middle of that exchange. While 张伟 is still down the path, 李明 calls him 那, 'that person over there.' The moment they reach him, the word changes to 这, 'this person right here.' Same sentence shape, X 是 Y, just a different pointing word for a different distance. Then, once names are out of the way, 玛丽 does the same answer-then-ask move as the last chapter, only now it's pointed at where someone is from: 你是哪国人？, and 张伟 hands it straight back with 你呢？
Why 是 never changes, no matter who's talking
English conjugates its 'to be': I am, you are, he is, they are, four different words for one idea. Chinese doesn't bother. 是 is 是, whether you're saying 我是中国人 ('I am Chinese'), 张伟是北京人 ('Zhang Wei is from Beijing'), or 张伟是我朋友 ('Zhang Wei is my friend'). Learn 是 once, and that exact same word carries every subject you'll ever plug in front of it, forever. That is one whole category of memorizing that Chinese simply asks less of you.
Three of today's words describe how people relate to each other. 认识 is the verb for knowing or recognizing someone, and it's also just how Chinese says 'meet' the first time. 同学 and 朋友 both describe 张伟, and neither one needs anything extra hanging between itself and a name to show whose classmate or whose friend he is.
同学 doesn't always mean 'in your class'
同学 literally combines 同 ('same') and 学 ('study'), and it covers anyone studying at the same school, not just the people sitting in your specific classroom. 张伟 and 李明 might never share a single class and still call each other 同学. Teachers use the word even more loosely: calling out 同学! to a student whose name they don't know yet is completely normal, the way you might say 'excuse me' to a stranger. It's less a label for one classroom and more a way of saying 'you belong here, at this school, same as me.'
Place your bets. 李明 wants to say 'this (person) is my friend.' Which single word actually does the naming, the word for 'is'? Picture the sentence, then reveal.
是. 这是我朋友 puts 这 (this), 是 (is), and 朋友 (friend) in a row, and 是 never changes no matter who you're talking about.
这, 那, and 哪 are really the same small word measured out at three distances: 这 for close, 那 for far, and 哪 for 'which one,' the question you ask when you don't know the distance yet. You already used all three today, once each, before you even noticed.
这, 那, and 哪 are one word measured at three distances
Line them up and the pattern is obvious: 这 (this) is close, 那 (that) is far, 哪 (which) is the question you ask when the distance or identity is still unknown. 这是我朋友 introduces someone right here; 那是我同学 points at someone farther off; 你是哪国人？ asks a question with the same word order, just with 哪 sitting in the exact spot where the answer will go. English keeps 'this,' 'that,' and 'which' looking unrelated. Chinese keeps its versions visibly, audibly, in the same family: learn one, and the other two come almost for free.
Bet first. You already know 这 means 'this' and 那 means 'that.' Which single word means 'which,' the one you'd use to ask instead of point? Guess, then reveal.
哪. 你是哪国人？ asks 'which country are you from,' with 哪 sitting exactly where the answer word will go, like 中国 or 美国.
Predict first. 张伟 is 李明's fellow student, and also 李明's friend. Which two Chinese words say each of those? Guess, then reveal.
同学 for fellow student, 朋友 for friend. 张伟是李明同学，是李明朋友 -- both are true at once, and neither needs a connector to link it to 李明's name.
That's the whole chapter. Ten more words, and you can now introduce two people to each other and find out where a new friend is from.
- 是 (shì): is, am, are
- 人 (rén): person, people
- 中国 (Zhōng guó): China
- 北京 (Běi jīng): Beijing
- 这 (zhè): this
- 那 (nà): that
- 哪 (nǎ): which
- 朋友 (péng you): friend
- 认识 (rèn shi): to know, to recognize, to meet
- 同学 (tóng xué): classmate, fellow student
Say 这是 for someone close by, 那是 for someone farther off, and ask 哪国人 when you want to know where they're from. Practice it in the study room, then find out who's in 玛丽's family next.