<ol>
<li><p><strong>What is idiomatic in English does not mean its literal counterpart is idiomatic in Chinese.</strong> For instance, we don't say <code>你多老</code> for 'How old are you?' – that would be surely a mistranslation.</p>
</li>
<li><p><strong>Grammaticality and idiomaticity are separate things.</strong> I must disagree with r13's claim that <code>你什麼名字</code> is ungrammatical because it lacks a verb. It is at most unidiomatic (except in very limited circumstances, e.g. police interrogation as suggested by Wayne Cheah). Many Chinese sentences are of the topic-comment construction which permits the absence of a verb:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>這個人個子很高。 lit. Regarding this person (topic), his stature is tall (comment).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Also, just because you can insert a verb into the verbless sentence does not prove the verbless sentence is ungrammatical.</p>
</li>
<li><p><strong>Honorifics are idiomatic in Chinese when it comes to salutatory or courteous exchanges.</strong> It is especially not a good idea to translate expressions into Chinese literally in these instances. For example, we use <code>您</code> (honorific 2nd person singular pronoun) and <code>貴姓</code> ('surname', honorific) when we ask for someone's surname (depending on the context, it can be rude if we ask for someone's full name):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>a. 請問你姓什麼？<br>
b. 請問您姓什麼？<br>
c. 請問您貴姓？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Of course, when you are meeting someone for the first time, when that person shares a similar social status to you, and when you want to be especially courteous, you may ask for their full name like so:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>請問該怎麼稱呼您？ lit. How may I address you?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These examples are not exhaustive. But they are much more idiomatic expressions than <code>你什麼名字</code>.</p>
</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-20T03:51:49.723Z
I agree this explanation is better, but I still don't think "你什么名字?" is correct except in police interrogation as mentioned.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-20T03:02:06.100Z
2021-06-20T03:02:06.100Z
L Parker
<p><strong>你什么名字？</strong> is grammatically correct, however does feel somewhat rude, as if less words were included because you cared too little to include them.</p>
<p>I can understand you feel it might be grammatically incorrect, but if we look at phrases like <code>你什么时候去ta的家?</code>, it's basically using the same construction (no word between the 你 and the question word <code>什么时候</code>). The only reason this one feels more grammatically correct than the other is because we have gotten used to hearing this construction frequently.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-20T06:28:30.107Z
2021-06-20T06:28:30.107Z
你的老师
<p>Tatoeba contains this sentence: <a href="https://tatoeba.org/ru/sentences/show/1212007" rel="nofollow noreferrer">你什么名字?</a>.
Usually the phrase &quot;What is your name?&quot; is translated as &quot;你叫什么名字？&quot;.
Is &quot;你什么名字?&quot; correct?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-19T04:03:55.390Z
It is correct, but rude.
fefe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-19T04:13:38.420Z
"你什么名字" = "you what name?" Do you think it is ok. to say that in English?
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-19T04:14:35.877Z
Don't you find "What is your name?" equally impolite in English? unless of course you are a police officer interrogating a suspect.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-19T04:19:34.630Z
To be fair, any translation software would translate it literally that way. There are many polite ways to ask someone's name in a normal social setting, and "你什么名字" is not one of them.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-19T10:53:38.757Z
I don't think we can appraise Chinese sentences via English.  (E.g. 你叫什么名字？ = "you called what name?" is also incorrect in English.)
Becky 李蓓
<grammar>
Is "你什么名字? " correct?
# Is "你什么名字? " correct?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-06-19)

Tatoeba contains this sentence: [你什么名字?](https://tatoeba.org/ru/sentences/show/1212007).
Usually the phrase "What is your name?" is translated as "你叫什么名字？".
Is "你什么名字?" correct?

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It is correct, but rude.  
> **username_2**: "你什么名字" = "you what name?" Do you think it is ok. to say that in English?  
> **username_3**: Don't you find "What is your name?" equally impolite in English? unless of course you are a police officer interrogating a suspect.  
> **username_3**: To be fair, any translation software would translate it literally that way. There are many polite ways to ask someone's name in a normal social setting, and "你什么名字" is not one of them.  
> **username_4**: I don't think we can appraise Chinese sentences via English.  (E.g. 你叫什么名字？ = "you called what name?" is also incorrect in English.)  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2021-06-20. Score: 1

1. **What is idiomatic in English does not mean its literal counterpart is idiomatic in Chinese.** For instance, we don't say `你多老` for 'How old are you?' – that would be surely a mistranslation.
2. **Grammaticality and idiomaticity are separate things.** I must disagree with username_6's claim that `你什麼名字` is ungrammatical because it lacks a verb. It is at most unidiomatic (except in very limited circumstances, e.g. police interrogation as suggested by username_3). Many Chinese sentences are of the topic-comment construction which permits the absence of a verb:

   > 這個人個子很高。 lit. Regarding this person (topic), his stature is tall (comment).

   Also, just because you can insert a verb into the verbless sentence does not prove the verbless sentence is ungrammatical.
3. **Honorifics are idiomatic in Chinese when it comes to salutatory or courteous exchanges.** It is especially not a good idea to translate expressions into Chinese literally in these instances. For example, we use `您` (honorific 2nd person singular pronoun) and `貴姓` ('surname', honorific) when we ask for someone's surname (depending on the context, it can be rude if we ask for someone's full name):

   > a. 請問你姓什麼？  
   > b. 請問您姓什麼？  
   > c. 請問您貴姓？

   Of course, when you are meeting someone for the first time, when that person shares a similar social status to you, and when you want to be especially courteous, you may ask for their full name like so:

   > 請問該怎麼稱呼您？ lit. How may I address you?

   These examples are not exhaustive. But they are much more idiomatic expressions than `你什麼名字`.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: I agree this explanation is better, but I still don't think "你什么名字?" is correct except in police interrogation as mentioned.  

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### Answer by username_7 on 2021-06-20. Score: 1

**你什么名字？** is grammatically correct, however does feel somewhat rude, as if less words were included because you cared too little to include them.

I can understand you feel it might be grammatically incorrect, but if we look at phrases like `你什么时候去ta的家?`, it's basically using the same construction (no word between the 你 and the question word `什么时候`). The only reason this one feels more grammatically correct than the other is because we have gotten used to hearing this construction frequently.


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