I usually have no problem recalling a song’s name, but when it comes to the singer’s name that is a whole different story. Just like learning a language, sometimes we need that little push to get out of our comfort zone and improve: so, today, we are going to learn about one of my favorite singers.
My hidden agenda is to remember her name! But you have a bigger mission. Your mission is to learn how to describe your favorite singer using the structures introduced in this article. Ready to meet my favorite singer?
She goes by GEM, but this is not her real name. Her real name is Deng Ziqi.
The Singer’s Name
你最喜欢的歌手叫什么名字？/ nĭ zuì xĭ huan de gē shŏu jiào shén me míng zi？(What is your favorite singer's name?)
我最喜欢的歌手叫 GEM。 她的真名是邓紫棋，GEM 是她的化名。wŏ zuì xĭ huan de gē shŏu jiào GEM。/ tā de zhēn míng shì dèng zĭ qí ，GEM shì tā de huà míng。(My favorite singer isGEM. Her real name is Deng Ziqi. Gem is her stage name.)
It is quite normal for singers to use a stage name. Does your favorite singer use his real name or a stage name?
Vocabulary
真 / zhēn (real)
名 / míng (name)
化名 / huà míng (alias)
Examples
你最喜欢的歌手是用他的化名还是真名？/ nĭ zuì xĭ huan de gē shŏu shì yòng tā de huà míng hái shi zhēn míng？(Does your favorite singer use his real name or a stage name?)
最近很多网站需要真名验证。/ zuì jìn hĕn duō wăng zhàn xū yào zhēn míng yàn zhèng。(Recently, many websites require real name verification.)
我不喜欢用我的真名，所以我的作品都是用我的化名的。/ wŏ bù xĭ huan yòng wŏ de zhēn míng, suŏ yĭ wŏ de zuò pĭn dōu shì yòng wŏ de huà míng de。(I don't like to use my real name, so all my works are published using my alias.)
Name Order
GEM’s real name is Deng Ziqi. But be careful here; Deng is her actually last name! In Chinese culture, we say our last name first. So Deng Ziqi’s last name is Deng. Her first name is Ziqi (which consists of two characters):
邓 / dèng (Deng)
紫琪 / zĭ qí (Ziqi)
邓紫棋 / dèng zĭ qí (Deng Ziqi (also known as G.E.M))
To ask for a person’s last name, we use 姓 as a verb:
姓 / xìng (last name; surname)
你姓什么？/ nĭ xìng shén me? (What's your last name?)
我姓林。/ wŏ xìng lín。(My last name is Lin.)
Examples
你最喜欢的歌手姓什么？/ nĭ zuì xĭ huan de gē shŏu xìng shén me？(What is your favorite singer's last name?)
GEM 姓什么？/ GEM xìng shén me？(What is GEM's last name?)
GEM 姓邓。/ GEM xìng dèng。(GEM's last name is Deng.)
Since GEM speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese, I assumed that she was either from Hong Kong or Guangdong. I was only partially correct, however...
Origin of the Singer
Where was your favorite singer born?
你最喜欢的歌手是在哪里出生的？/ nĭ zuì xĭ huan de gē shŏu shì zài nă lĭ chū shēng de？(Where was your favorite singer born?)
邓紫棋出生于中国上海，四岁时移民到了香港。/ dèng zĭ qí chū shēng yú zhōng guó shàng hăi, sì suì shí yí mín dào le xiāng găng。(Deng Ziqi was born in Shanghai, China. Then she immigrated to Hong Kong when she was 4 years old.)
Just as with Chinese dates (check here), sentences describing locations go from big to small. So, here we talk about the country first before naming the province and city.
Vocabulary
出生 / chū shēng (born)
移民 / yí mín (immigrate, immigrant)
移民到了 / yí mín dào le (immigrated to…)
What about your favorite singer? Where was he born? Did he immigrate?
Examples
邓紫棋是在中国出生的。/ dèng zĭ qí shì zài zhōng guó chū shēng de。(Deng Ziqi was born in China.)
他什么时候移民的？/ tā shén me shí hou yí mín de？(When did he immigrate?)
他移民到了哪里？/ tā yí mín dào liăo nă lĭ？(Where did he immigrate to?)
I don’t watch a lot of TV shows, so I was quite surprised when I learned that there is a talent show dedicated to established singers! The show is called 我是歌手 (I Am a Singer). GEM was already an established singer before appearing on the show, but the show gained her a lot of popularity. Did your favorite singer become well known because of a show or a song?
How did the Singer Become Famous?
他是怎么出名的？/ tā shì zĕn me chū míng de？(How did he become famous?)
我是歌手是一个歌唱竞赛节目。/ wŏ shì gē shŏu shì yī gè gē chàng jìng sài jié mù。(I am a Singer is a singing competition program.)
GEM 在参与了湖南卫视的《我是歌手》节目后走红了。/ GEM zài cān yù le hú nán wèi shì de wŏ shì gē shŏu jié mù hòu zŏu hóng le。(GEM became popular after participating in HunanTV's I am a Singer show.)
Maybe you got to know about your favorite singer from a different show. In China, variety shows are very popular as fans get to see their celebrities in a very different perspective.
Vocabulary
烹饪节目 / pēng rèn jié mù (cooking show)
体育节目 / tĭ yù jié mù (sports show)
才艺竞赛; 达人秀 / cái yì jìng sài; dá rén xiù (talent show)
综艺节目 / zōng yì jié mù (variety show)
Your Favorite Singer’s Music Genre
他唱什么类型的歌？/ tā chàng shén me lèi xíng de gē？(What genre of music does he sing?)
Since GEM immigrated to Hong Kong when she was 4, she is multilingual, with songs in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. To express that songs in different languages, we simply add the language before the word song. So to say Chinese song, we say 中文歌。 The structure of these sentences is Language + 歌.
Vocabulary
歌 / gē (song)
中文 / zhōng wén (Chinese)
英文 / yīng wén (English)
粤语 / yuè yŭ (Cantonese)
From the article Let’s Talk about Your Music Preference we learned about different music genres. GEM’s music falls into 流行音乐。
流行音乐 / liú xíng yīn yuè (pop music)
It would be extremely unfair to learn all of this information about GEM and not hear her voice, so here are three songs that I love from GEM (one in each language!).
《泡沫》是一首中文歌。/《pào mò》shì yī shŏu zhōng wén gē。(Bubble is a Chinese song.)
《If I Were a Boy》是一首英文歌。/《If I Were a Boy》shì yī shŏu yīng wén gē。(If I Were a Boy is an English song.)
《喜欢你》 是一首粤语歌 。/《xĭ huan nĭ》shì yī shŏu yuè yŭ gē。(Liking You is a Cantonese song.)
首 is the measure word for songs. The structure is the same as other measure words:
Quantity (Number) + 首 + 歌
Examples
我最喜欢的一首歌是 《泡沫》。/ wŏ zuì xĭ huan de yī shŏu gē shì《pào mò》。(My favorite song is Bubble.)GEM 推出过很多首歌。/ GEM tuī chū guò hĕn duō shŏu gē 。(GEM has released many songs.)你最喜欢哪首歌？/ nĭ zuì xĭ huan nă shŏu gē？(Which song is your favorite?)
Now it is your turn to complete your big mission!
Your Big Mission!
Pick one of your favorite singers and answer the following questions:
他叫什么名字？/ tā jiào shén me míng zi？(What is his name?)
他在哪里出生的？/ tā zài nă lĭ chū shēng de? (Where was he born?)
他是怎么出名的？/ tā shì zĕn me chū míng de？(How did he become famous?)
他唱什么类型的歌？/ tā chàng shén me lèi xíng de gē？(What genre of music does he sing?)
I enjoy all the three of the songs listed above. If pop music is your music preference, which one of GEM’s songs do you like? How did you do with your Big Mission? Did you learn anything new about your favorite singer?
I feel that you don’t necessarily need to know a language to enjoy music sung in that language. But, when you do, sometimes you get to enjoy the music on a deeper level. Not only does GEM sing in Mandarin, she also sings in Cantonese and English. GEM is a perfect example of how knowing multiple languages can bring so much joy to people. Her multilingual talent has allowed her to share her musical talent to a wider audience.
Image Source:
