Question words
1. 谁 (shéi) –who
A:你 是 谁？Nǐ shì shéi?Who are you?
B:我 是 他 女朋友。Wǒ shì tā nǚpéngyou.I'm his
girlfriend.
A:她 是 谁？Tā shì shéi?Who is she?
B:她 是 我的老师。Tā shì wǒ de lǎoshī.She‘s my
teacher.
2. 哪儿 (nǎr)/哪里 (nǎli) - where.
A:你 在 哪里？Nǐ zài nǎli?Where are you?
B:我 在 家。Wǒ zài jiā.I'm at home.
A:你 要 去 哪儿？Nǐ yào qù nǎr?Where are you going
now?
B:我 要 去 厕所。Wǒ yào qù cèsuǒ.I'm going to the
bathroom.
A:我们 在 哪儿？Wǒmen zài nǎr?Where are we?
B:我们 在 泰莱大学。Wǒmen zài Tàilái Dàxué.We are
at Taylor’s University.
A: 星期六 你 想 去 哪儿？Xīngqīliù nǐ xiǎng
qù nǎr?Where do you want to go on Saturday?
B:我 想 去 图书馆。Wǒ xiǎng qù túshūguǎn.I want to go
to the library.
A: 你好，你 要 去 哪儿？Nǐhǎo, nǐ yào qù nǎr?Hello,
where do you want to go?
B:我 要 去 书店。Wǒ yào qù shūdiàn.I want to go to the
bookstore.
3. 什么 (shénme) – what
你想吃什么？Nǐ xiǎng chī shénme? What do you want to eat?
我想吃水果。Wǒ xiǎng chī shuǐguǒ. I want to eat fruits.
你想喝什么？Nǐ xiǎng hē shénme? What is you name?
4. 怎么 (zěnme) – how
A:你 怎么 上网？Nǐ zěnme shàngwǎng?How do you go
online?
B:我 用 手机 上网。Wǒ yòng shǒujī shàngwǎng.I use
my cell phone to go online.
A:你 怎么 去 北京？Nǐ zěnme qù Běijīng?How do you
go to Beijing?
B:我 坐 火车 去北京。Wǒ zuò huǒchē qù Běijīng.I take
the train to go to Beijing.
A:你们 怎么 回家 ？Nǐmen zěnme huíjiā?How are you
guys going to get home?
B:我 开车 回家。Wǒ kāichē huíjiā.I‘m driving home.
A:你 怎么 买 票 ？Nǐ zěnme mǎi piào?How do you buy
tickets?
B:我 上网 买 票 。Wǒ shàngwǎng mǎi piào.I go online
to buy tickets.
5. 几点? (jǐ diǎn) – what time?
你几点吃早饭？Nǐ jǐ diǎn chī zǎofàn? What time do you eat
breakfast?
我们 6 点 吃早饭。Wǒmen liù diǎn chī zǎofàn.We're eating
breakfast at 6:00.
You can also create some more specific question words by adding
a noun to 什么, for example:
6. 什么时候 (shénme shíhou) – when
A:你 什么时候 来 ？Nǐ shénme shíhou lái?When are
you coming?
B:我 明天 来。Wǒ míngtiān lái.I'm coming tomorrow.
A:你们 什么时候 走？Nǐmen shénme shíhou zǒu?When
are you guys leaving?
B:我们 明年 走。Wǒmen míngnián zǒu.We're leaving
next year.
A:我们 什么时候 吃饭？Wǒmen shénme shíhou
chīfàn?When are we eating?
B:我们 6 点 吃饭。Wǒmen liù diǎn chīfàn.We're eating
at 6:00.
A:你 的 飞机 什么时候 到 上海？Nǐ de fēijī shénme
shíhou dào Shànghǎi?When is your airplane arriving in
Shanghai?
B:晚上 八点。Wǎnshang bā diǎn.Eight o'clock this
evening.
7. 什么名字 (shénme míngzi) – what name
你叫什么名字？Nǐ jiào shénme? What is you name?
我叫李家明。Wǒ jiào Lǐ Jiāmíng. My name is Lǐ Jiāmíng.
8. 多大 (duō dà) – how big
多大 is also used to ask how old is an adult person. But for
children it is better to use an alternative expression of how
much/how many, 几, as in the following question:
9. 你几岁 (Nǐ jǐ suì?) – How old are you? (How many years?)
Grammar point – the difference between 几 and 多少
When combined with nouns and measure words, 几 means “how
many”. It is used for asking about a small number of objects, say
less than 10 as a rule of thumb, while 多少 is for a bigger number.
We use 几 to ask about time:
今天是几月几号？Jīntiān shì jǐ yuè jǐ hào? What's the date today?
今天 jīntiān today 今年 jīnnián this year
昨天 zuótiān yesterday 去年 qùnián last year
明天 mīngtiān tomorrow 明年 míngnián next year
