In Mandarin Chinese, there are “wh-” question words for “what,” “where,” “which,” “who,” “when,” and “why” questions, such as 什么 transcribed shénmemeaning what, 哪里 transcribed nǎlǐ / 哪儿 transcribed nǎrmeaning where, 哪个 transcribed nǎgemeaning which, 谁 transcribed shéimeaning who, 谁 transcribed shéidemeaning whose, 什么时候 transcribed shénme shíhou,meaning when, and 为什么 transcribed wèishénmemeaning why. There are also “how” question words, such as 怎么 transcribed zěnmemeaning how, 几 transcribed jǐmeaning how many (<10), and 多少 transcribed duōshǎomeaning how many/how much, 多大 transcribed duōdàmeaning how big, how old….
The above question words can be placed before a verb (which is an action word, e.g. “run”) or after it, depending on what you are asking about. For example,
In the first sentence, the question word 谁 transcribed shéimeaning who is before the verb 来 transcribed láimeaning come. In the second sentence, the same question word is after the verb. When you ask, “Who has come?”, “who” should be put before the verb, but when you ask, “Who are you calling?”, “who” should be put after the verb.
Sometimes, the question words may also be placed before a noun (a person or an item, e.g. “teacher”). In the following sentence, 谁的 transcribed shéidemeaning whose is used before a noun (“book”):
Are you curious to know where to place “wh-” and “how” question words in Mandarin and which they are? Let’s dive in for more!
Where to place “wh-” and “how” question words in Mandarin Chinese sentences?
I bet you want to know the golden rule about where to place “wh-” and “how” question words in a sentence. Well, your wish is granted. There is indeed a golden rule: question words should be placed in the position you are asking about.
| Statement | Statement |
|---|---|
他是老师。 Transcription: Tā shì lǎoshī. Translation: He is the teacher. | 他是谁? Transcription: Tā shì shéi? Translation: Who is he? |
八点上课。 Transcription: Bādiǎn shàngkè. Translation: Class is at 8 o’clock. Literally: At 8 o’clock is class. | 什么时候上课？ Transcription: Shénme shíhou shàngkè? Translation: When is the class? |
As the above examples show, “who” and “when” in the questions replace “teacher” and “8 o’clock” in the statements. The questions have the same word order as the statements. To make a “wh-” question, you simply replace the part of the statement where you're seeking information with a question word. For example, the statement is “He is the teacher” and if you want to ask about “the teacher,” you place “who” where the phrase “the teacher” is in the statement: “He is who?” This is the word order in the Mandarin question! This is not like English, where you need to change the word order to turn a statement into a question.
What are the “wh-” question words in Mandarin Chinese?
There are six common “wh-” question words in Mandarin Chinese.
| Question words | Examples |
|---|---|
什么 transcribed shénmemeaning what | 什么是音乐？ Transcription: Shénme shì yīnyuè? Translation: What is music? 你喜欢什么音乐？ Transcription: Nǐ xǐhuan shénme yīnyuè? Translation: What music do you like? |
哪里 transcribed nǎlǐmeaning where / 哪儿 transcribed nǎrmeaning where | 哪儿能买到这本书 Transcription: Nǎr néng mǎi dào zhè běn shū? Translation: Where can I buy this book? 你家在哪里？ Transcription: Nǐ jiā zài nǎlǐ? Translation: Where is your home? |
哪个 transcribed nǎgemeaning which | 哪个是你的？ Transcription: Nǎge shì nǐ de? Translation: Which is yours? 你要哪个？ Transcription: Nǐ yào nǎge? Translation: Which do you want? |
谁 transcribed shéimeaning who | 谁在楼上？ Transcription: Shéi zài lóushàng? Translation: Who is upstairs? 楼上是谁的房间？ Transcription: Lóushàng shì shéi de fángjiān? Translation: Whose room is upstairs? |
什么时候 transcribed shénme shíhoumeaning when | 飞机什么时候起飞？ Transcription: Fēijī shénme shíhou qǐfēi? Translation: When does the plane take off? 你喜欢什么音乐？ Transcription: Nǐ xǐhuan shénme yīnyuè? Translation: What music do you like? |
为什么 transcribed wèishénmemeaning why | 你为什么学习中文？ Transcription: Nǐ wèishénme xuéxí Zhōngwén? Translation: Why are you studying Chinese? 你喜欢什么音乐？ Transcription: Nǐ xǐhuan shénme yīnyuè? Translation: What music do you like? |
How to use the “wh-” question words in Mandarin Chinese?
When using “wh-” question words in Mandarin Chinese, remember that:
哪里 transcribed nǎlǐmeaning where and 哪儿 transcribed nǎrmeaning where are interchangeable. 哪里 transcribed nǎlǐ is used mostly in southern China and 哪儿 transcribed nǎr in northern China.
In Mandarin, time phrases such as “when,” can be used at the beginning or after the subject and before the verb.
To say “whose” in Mandarin, you use the word 谁 transcribed shéimeaning who and the particle 的 that is used to express possession.
Here are some more examples with “wh-” questions. Remember that the word order is different in Mandarin from in English:
What are the “how” questions in Mandarin Chinese?
The “how” questions in Mandarin Chinese follow the same pattern as the “wh-” questions. That is, questions have the same word order as statements. Check out the examples in the following table:
| Question word | Example |
|---|---|
怎么 transcribed zěnmemeaning how | 这个字怎么写？ Transcription: Zhège zì zěnme xiě? Translation: How do you write this word? |
几 transcribed jǐmeaning how many (<10) | 来了几个人？ Transcription: Lái le jǐ ge rén? Translation: How many people are here? |
多少 transcribed duōshǎomeaning how many/how much | 你挣多少钱？ Transcription: Nǐ zhèng duōshǎo qián? Translation: How much do you earn? |
多大 transcribed duōdàmeaning how big, how old… | 你多大了 Transcription: Nǐ duōdà le? Translation: How old are you? |
To sum up
In Mandarin, we add 吗 transcribed ma at the end of a statement to form a yes/no question, and for “wh-” and “how” questions, we simply replace what we want to ask in a statement with a “wh-” word or “how.” In other words, we don't change the word order to make a “wh” question in Mandarin. “Wh-” and “how” words in questions tend to be placed at the beginning of a sentence in English, for example, “How are you?” This is not the case in Chinese. All you need to do is replace what you want to ask with a “wh-” word or “how” word.
Up for a challenge? We have created some exercises for you, and it is time to put your knowledge of how to ask “wh-” and “how” questions into practice!
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