WH-questions in Chinese
If you are a beginner, you may have known some simple ways of asking questions in Chinese. In this tutorial, we will introduce the "WH words" in order to form a question.
In a sentence containing WH-words, the word order is the same for questions and statements. That means no matter what the WH-words are, they stay right at the same place in the sentences without any structural changing. You simply place a question word in the place of the thing you want to ask about.
Now let’s get to know the most commonly used WH-words in mandarin Chinese!
WH-words in Chinese
什么 (shén me) What
In a sentence, 什么 can be either a subject or an object.
E.g.
什么是“剩女”？
What is “leftover lady”?
你的名字是什么？
What’s your name?
为什么 (wèi shénme) Why
为 means “for”. 什么 means “what”. So, literally 为什么 means “for what” or “why”. If people ask you “为什么…?”, you can answer them “因为…”, meaning “because (of) …”.
Dialogue 1
你为什么喜欢学汉语？
Why do you like learning Chinese?
因为汉语很有意思。
Because Chinese is very interesting.
Dialogue 1
你为什么很高兴？
Why you are so happy?
因为我找到工作了。
Because I got a new job!
什么时候 (shénme shíhou) When
In Chinese, we use 什么时候 to ask about time.
E.g.
你的生日是什么时候？
When is your birthday?
你什么时候去北京？
When will you go to Beijing?
哪(里) (nǎlǐ) Where
In Chinese, we use 哪 or 哪里 to ask “where somebody or some place is”.
E.g.
超市在哪？
Where is the supermarket?
哪是你的家乡？
Where is your hometown?
哪个 (nǎ ɡè) Which
In Chinese, we use “哪 + measure word” to express “which”. The most common word is 哪个.
E.g.
你要哪个颜色？
Which color do you want?
哪位是你哥哥？
Which is your elder brother?
谁 (shuí) Who
In Chinese, we use 谁 to express “who” and “ whom”.
E.g.
谁是你的老师？
Who is your teacher?
你看到了谁？
Whom did you see?
怎么 (zěn me) How
怎么 is used to express the meaning “how”.
E.g.
你怎么去学校？
How do you go to school?
这个词怎么读？
How do you read this word?