Basic word order: Subject + Verb + Object (叫)
【一24-26】【一29】主语、谓语、宾语 / 动词谓语句
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
Good news: basic Chinese word order is the same as English: Subject + Verb + Object. 我叫王明 = “I'm called Wang Ming”, literally “I + call + Wang Ming”.
And verbs never conjugate: 我叫, 你叫, 他叫… No endings, no tenses. Context (and small words you'll meet later) shows the time.
To ask someone's name: 你叫什么名字？ (literally “you are-called what name?”). The answer uses the same frame: 我叫……
Tip: in Chinese, the family name comes first: in 王明, 王 (Wáng) is the surname and 明 (Míng) the given name.
Examples
我叫马克。
Wǒ jiào Mǎkè.My name is Marc.
你叫什么名字？
Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?What's your name?
她叫李月。
Tā jiào Lǐ Yuè.Her name is Li Yue.
我们学中文。
Wǒmen xué Zhōngwén.We study Chinese.
他吃面包。
Tā chī miànbāo.He eats bread.
Common mistakes
✗ 我是叫马克 → ✓ 我叫马克 (叫 is already the verb, no 是 needed).
✗ 我的名字叫是马克 → ✓ 我的名字是马克 or ✓ 我叫马克.