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First name, last name and title |
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Different from western name, Chinese last name proceeds first
name. Most of the time, you can call a young person "xiao",
which means "young" plus last name, for example, "Xiao Zhang" can be
used to call a young man or woman with "Zhang" as his or her last name.
On the other hand. "lao", which means "old", can be used to call a man
or woman who is older. For example, "Lao Zhao" can be used to call an
old man or woman with "Zhao" as his or her last name. Some people
prefer to be address as "Xiao..." or ""Lao..." because it sounds
friendly and close.
Title is important in Chinese culture. When you address a person with a
title such as "manager" or "engineer", or "boss", they can be called
last name followed by the title. For example, "Zhang Zong" means "Zhang
Boss", "Zhang Gong", means "Zhang engineer". This is the way to show
you respect their important positions in the company.
"Xian sheng" , "Nu shi" and "Xiao jie" , which means "Mr." "Ms." and "Miss" respectively are also commonly used in China now.
"Tong zhi", which means "comrade", a political title Chinese used to
call every grown-up, is not used any more. People will be very
surprised if you address them "Zhang tongzhi". |
