{"id":8447,"date":"2019-10-26T04:53:22","date_gmt":"2019-10-26T04:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-reading\/a-proper-way-to-address-a-stranger-shi-fu-or-xian-sheng\/"},"modified":"2019-10-26T04:53:22","modified_gmt":"2019-10-26T04:53:22","slug":"a-proper-way-to-address-a-stranger-shi-fu-or-xian-sheng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/my\/a-proper-way-to-address-a-stranger-shi-fu-or-xian-sheng\/","title":{"rendered":"A proper way to address a stranger \u5e08\u5085 or \u5148\u751f"},"content":{"rendered":"
It is always correct to address a man “\u5148\u751f xiansheng (Sir)” and a girl “\u5c0f\u59d0 xiaojie (Miss)” all the time at different circumastances in China. But if you want to speak more specificly  in a Chinese way, you should know the most common ex<\/em>pression “\u5e08\u5085 shifu”.  Just like “Sir\/Madam”, \u5e08\u5085 sh\u012bfu  is a very common and polite Chinese term to call the skilled workers from working class , such as taxi-drivers, shop assistant, co<\/em>nstruction workers, repairmen, dustmen, doormen, cook, barbers, elderly workers, bakers, or anyone (elder people most of time) in the street when you want to ask for help but you don’t know their name. It can be used to address men as well as women,  more likely to be male than female. If we know the skilled worker’s family name (Zhang, Wang or something), we address him\/her \u5f20\u5e08\u5085 Zhang Shifu or \u738b\u5e08\u5085 Wang Shifu.<\/p>\n

If you really want to match an equavalent English translation to “\u5e08\u5085 sh\u012bfu “, “Sir” is all right, they are still not the same in a formal way in terms of their social context. However, “Sir \u5148\u751f (xiansheng) \/Madam \u5973\u58eb(nvshi) \/Miss \u5c0f\u59d0 (xiaojie)” is a borrowed term from English and French to formally and politely address a person who is somewhat from upper class. We often call a stranger at a meeting or other public gatherings “Sir \u5148\u751f(xiansheng) \/Madam\u5973\u58eb(nvshi) \/Miss \u5c0f\u59d0(xiaojie)” to start a conversation, just because you know eaxactly they are not workers.<\/p>\n

For the staff in a restaurant, we call a waiter or waitress “\u670d\u52a1\u5458” (wufu yuan), which means a staff to serve (fuwu). At a hotel, we also call a roomkeeper “\u670d\u52a1\u5458” (wufu yuan) . Alternatively, you may call the female staff “\u5c0f\u59d0” (xiaojie, Miss) all the time for a polite manner. But we still call  the taxi-drivers, doormen and the bellmen \u5e08\u5085 (shifu) most of the time.<\/p>\n

Examples for comparion:<\/p>\n

— (To a taxi driver) \u5e08\u5085, \u8bf7\u9001\u6211\u53bb\u673a\u573a.<\/p>\n

      Shifu, qing song wo chu jichang.<\/p>\n

      Sir, please drive me to the airport.<\/p>\n

— (At a banquet to ask a person sitting beside) <\/p>\n

      \u5148\u751f, \u8bf7\u95ee\u60a8\u5728\u54ea\u4e2a\u90e8\u95e8\u5de5\u4f5c?<\/p>\n

     Xiansheng, qingwen nin zai nage bumen gongzuo?<\/p>\n

     Sir,  which department do you work, please?<\/p>\n

— (At a hotel) \u670d\u52a1\u5458, \u5e2e\u6211\u5f00\u4e00\u4e0b\u95e8\u3002 \u6211\u5fd8\u8bb0\u5e26\u94a5\u5319\u4e86\u3002<\/p>\n

      Fuwu yuan, bang wo kai yixia men. Wo wangji dai yaoshi le.<\/p>\n

      Miss, open the door for me please. I left the key in the room.<\/p>\n

_________________________________<\/p>\n

Also, \u5e08\u5085 sh\u012bfu can be used as \u5e08\u7236 sh\u012bfu (\u5e08sh\u012b – teacher, \u7236 fu – like a father) for a common address to a monk or nun, and a martial arts instructor. In the classic novel “Xi You Ji” (\u897f\u6e38\u8bb0\uff0cJourney to the West), you may find that Mo<\/em>ney King always called the monk Tang-Seng “\u5e08\u7236 sh\u012bfu”. Chinese people traditio<\/em>nally respect their teachers as equally as their own parents, that is the reason why \u5e08 sh\u012b is for a teacher, and \u7236 fu is like a father. Both “\u5e08\u5085” and “\u5e08\u7236” are read “shifu”. Although in modern Chinese, lots of people mix them, they are still not the same in a formal way in terms of their social context.<\/p>\n

_________________________<\/p>\n

More examples:<\/p>\n

1\uff0e—(In a shop) Sh\u012bfu, zhèige l\u01d0ngdài du\u014dshao qián?<\/p>\n

           \u5e08\u5085\uff0c\u8fd9\u4e2a\u9886\u5e26\u591a\u5c11\u94b1\uff1fExcuse me, sir. How much is this tie?<\/p>\n

2\uff0e— (On a strreet) Sh\u012bfù, q\u01d0ngwèn fùjìn y\u01d2u yínháng ma ?<\/p>\n

            \u5e08\u5085\uff0c\u8bf7\u95ee\u9644\u8fd1\u6709\u94f6\u884c\u5417 ? Sir, is there a bank nearby ?<\/p>\n

      — Qiánmian jiùshì Zh\u014dngguó Yínháng.<\/p>\n

            \u524d\u9762\u5c31\u662f\u4e2d\u56fd\u94f6\u884c\u3002To the front is Bank of China.<\/p>\n

3\uff0e — (At a repair shop) Sh\u012bfù, w\u01d2de sh\u01d2ubi\u01ceo huài le. K\u011by\u01d0 xi\u016b ma ?<\/p>\n

         \u5e08\u5085\uff0c\u6211\u7684\u624b\u8868\u574f\u4e86\u3002\u53ef\u4ee5\u4fee\u5417\uff1fSir, my watch doesn’t work. Can you have it fixed ?<\/p>\n

     — Ràng w\u01d2 kànkan.<\/p>\n

          \u8ba9\u6211\u770b\u770b\u3002Let me have a look.      
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