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HSK 1Sentence Structure

叫(jiào)

To Be Called / Named

Structure Pattern

Subject+叫+Name

Explanation

叫 (jiào) is the standard verb for stating one's name. Unlike 是, which links to a noun, 叫 directly takes the name itself: "I am called X". HSK 3.0 introduces this in Band 1 alongside 是 because both are needed for the simplest self-introductions (我叫… vs 我是…学生).

Example Sentences

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1
我叫小明。

Wǒ jiào Xiǎomíng.

My name is Xiaoming.

2
你叫什么名字？

Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?

What's your name?

3
他叫王老师。

Tā jiào Wáng lǎoshī.

He goes by Teacher Wang.

Common Mistakes

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❌

Common Mistake

我是小明。

✅
✅

Correct Usage

我叫小明。

info

是 introduces categories (我是学生 — I am a student). For names use 叫.

verbintroductionbasicname

Related Grammar Points

是HSK 1

To Be

shì

是 (shì) is one of the most fundamental verbs in Chinese. It functions like "to be" in English but is used specifically to link a subject to a noun or pronoun — NOT to an adjective. Unlike English, you don't use 是 to say "I am happy" (that uses 很 instead). Think of 是 as an equals sign: A 是 B means "A = B".

Sentence Structure4 examples

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