Is it preventing you from conversing with your Chinese friend because you can’t think of the right Chinese question words to use? If that’s the case, you should keep reading this blog to learn additional Chinese question terms!
Like English, Chinese contains a set of question terms. If you’ve been studying Chinese for some time, you should have a firm grasp of Chinese grammar and be capable of putting together complete sentences. The next thing to do is to include a proper Chinese question word in your conversation. Many common and helpful Chinese question words are covered in this blog post. In that case, let’s have a look!
Chinese Question Words You Need
Here are all the question words in Chinese you need to know!
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1. Question Mark – 吗 (Ma)
The great truth is that all you have to do to turn any sentence into a question is to add the character (ma) to the end of it. A sentence containing the character 吗 (ma) will automatically become a question. Let’s look at the following examples.
- Is it delicious? – 好吃吗? (hǎo chī ma?)
- How are you? – 你好吗? (nǐ hǎo ma?)
- Do you understand? – 你明白吗? (nǐ míngbái ma?)
- Do you want to drink tea? – 你想喝茶吗? (nǐ xiǎng hē chá ma?)
2. What? – 什么 (Shén Me)
Sentence structure 1: Subject + Verb + 什么
- What do you eat? – 你吃什么？ (nǐ chī shén me？)
Sentence structure 2: Subject + Verb + 什么 + Noun
- What’s your name? – 你叫什么名字？ (nǐ jiào shén me míng zi？)
3. Where? – 哪里 (Nǎ Lǐ)
There are two words that mean “where.” First, 哪里 (nǎ li) is commonly spoken in the Southern region of China. While 哪儿 (nǎr) is used more in the country’s Northern area.
Sentence structure 1: Subject + Verb + 哪里/哪儿
- Where are you? – 你在哪里？ (nǐ zài nǎ lǐ？)
- Where is the toilet? – 洗手间在哪儿？ (xǐ shǒu jiān zài nǎr？)
Sentence structure 2: Subject + Verb + 哪里/哪儿 + Noun
- Where are you from? – 你是哪里人？ (nǐ shì nǎ lǐ rén？)
4. When? – 什么时候 (Shén Me Shí Hou)
Sentence structure 1: Subject + 什么时候 + Verb + Object
- When are you coming home? – 你什么时候回家？ (nǐ shén me shí hou huí jiā？)
Sentence structure 2: Subject + Verb + 什么时候
- When is your birthday? – 你的生日是什么时候？ (nǐ de shēng rì shì shén me shí hou？)
5. Who? – 谁 (Shéi)
Sentence structure: Subject + Verb + 谁
- Who are you? – 你是谁？ (nǐ shì shéi？)
6. Whose? – 谁的 (Shéi De)
Sentence structure: Subject + Verb + 谁的 + Noun
- Whose cup is this? – 这是谁的杯子？ (zhè shì shéi de bēi zi?)
7. Why? – 为什么 (Wèi Shén Me)
Sentence structure 1: Subject + 为什么 + Adjective
- Why are you late? – 你为什么迟到？ (nǐ wèi shén me chí dào？)
Sentence structure 2: Subject + 为什么 + Verb + Noun
- Why are you learning Chinese? – 你为什么学中文？ (nǐ wèi shén me xué zhōng wén？)
8. How Much?/What Number? – 多少 (Duō Shǎo)
Sentence structure 1: Subject + Verb + 多少
- What is your phone number? – 你的电话号码是多少？ (nǐ de diàn huà hào mǎ shì duō shao？)
9. How Much? – 多少钱？ (Duō Shǎo Qián?)
Sentence structure: Subject + 多少钱
- How much is this? – 这个多少钱？ (zhè ge duō shǎo qián?)
- How much is your phone? – 你的手机多少钱？ (nǐ de shǒu jī duō shao qián？)
10. How Many Times? – 多少次 (Duō Shao Cì)
Sentence structure: Subject + Verb + Object + 多少次
- How many times have you been to China? – 你去过中国多少次？ (nǐ qù guò zhōng guó duō shao cì？)
11. How Big?/What Size?/How Old? – 多大 (Duō Dà)
Sentence structure 1: Subject + 多大
- How big is your house? – 你的房子多大？ (nǐ de fáng zi duō dà？)
- How old are you? – 你多大了？ (nǐ duō dà le？)
Sentence structure 2: Subject + Verb + 多大 + Noun
- What size television do you want to buy? – 你要买多大的电视？ (nǐ yào mǎi duō dà de diànshì？)
12. How Long (Time)? – 多久 (Duō Jiǔ)
Sentence structure: Subject + Verb + Object + 多久
- How long have you been studying Chinese? – 你学习中文多久了？ (nǐ xué xí zhōng wén duō jiǔ le？)
13. How Long (Time)? – 多长 (Duō Cháng)
Sentence structure: …~多长 + Noun
- How long does it take to get from here to the airport? – 从这里到飞机场要多长时间？ (cóng zhè lǐ dào fēi jī chǎng yào duō cháng shí jiān？)
14. How Often? – 多久…一次？ (Duō Jiǔ… Yī Cì？)
Sentence structure: Subject + 多久 + Verb + Object + 一次
- How often do you watch movies? – 你多久看电影一次？ (nǐ duō jiǔ kàn diàn yǐng yī cì？)
- How often do you see your boyfriend? – 你多久见男朋友一次？ (nǐ duō jiǔ jiàn nán péng you yī cì？)
15. How Many? – 几 个？ (Jǐ Gè)
Sentence structure: Subject + Verb + 几 个 + Noun
- How many children do you have? 你有 几 个小孩？ (nǐ yǒu jǐ gè xiǎo hái？)
16. How Old? – 几岁？ (Jǐ Suì)
Sentence structure: Subject + 几岁 + (了)
- How old is your child? – 你的小孩几岁了？ (nǐ de xiǎo hái jǐ suì le？)
17. What Time? – 几点 (Jǐ Diǎn)
Sentence structure: Subject + 几点 + Verb + Object
- What time is your Chinese class? – 你几点上中文课？ (nǐ jǐ diǎn shàng zhōng wén kè？)
- What time do you get off work? – 你几点下班？ (nǐ jǐ diǎn xià bān？)
18. How? – 怎么 (Zěn Me)
Sentence structure: Subject + 怎么 + Verb + Object
- How do you learn Chinese? – 你怎么学中文？ (nǐ zěn me xué zhōng wén？)
- How are you going to school tomorrow? – 你明天怎么去学校？ (nǐ míng tiān zěn me qù xué xiào？)
19. How? – 怎么样 (Zěn Me Yàng)
Sentence structure: Subject + 怎么样
- How is your Chinese? – 你的中文怎么样？ (nǐ de zhōng wén zěn me yàng？)
- How is the coffee here? – 这里的咖啡怎么样？ (zhè lǐ de kā fēi zěn me yàng？)
20. Which? – 哪个 (Nǎ Ge)
Sentence structure 1: 哪个 + Noun
- Which person? – 哪个人？ (nǎ ge rén?)
Sentence structure 2: Subject + Verb + 哪个
- Which one do you want to eat? – 你想吃哪个？ (nǐ xiǎng chī nǎ ge?)
In Summary
These words represent typical questions people ask. Once you’ve mastered all Chinese question words, you can ask the locals whatever question you want just by adding the appropriate question word to the sentence. You can better communicate with the locals if you take the time to prepare and practice using actual sentences.
Also, you will need to master question words and other Chinese vocabulary to construct the sentence. In light of this, we recommend you get the best app available for learning Chinese, and we know the answer!
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