Lessons 4, 7, 12, 13: How to ask questions (2): Interrogative pronouns

Use 谁, 什么, 哪, 哪儿, 怎么样, 几, 多少 to ask; do not add 吗 at the end.

Hanyu textbook · Hanyu 1 · Lesson 4 · Hanyu 1 · Lesson 7 · Hanyu 1 · Lesson 12 · Hanyu 1 · Lesson 13

你学习什么？

Nǐ xuéxí shénme?

What do you study?

Explanation

Use interrogative pronouns such as "谁" (who), "什么" (what), "哪" (which), "哪儿" (哪里) (where), "怎么" (how), "怎么样" (how is it), "几" (how many), and "多少" (how many / how much) to ask about a specific thing or quantity.

Note: apart from the "statement + 吗" pattern, other types of questions must not end with "吗". You can't ask: *你是哪国人吗？

Structure

1
Câu có đại từ nghi vấn (谁 / 什么 / 哪 / 哪儿 / 怎么 / 怎么样 / 几 / 多少) — không thêm 吗
The interrogative pronoun goes in the exact position of the element being asked about. Question-and-answer examples from the textbook:
- 你住哪儿？
  Nǐ zhù nǎr?
  Where do you live?
- 我住语言大学十楼。
  Wǒ zhù Yǔyán Dàxué shí lóu.
  I live in Building 10 of the Language University.
- 你是哪国人？
  Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén?
  What nationality are you?
- 我是加拿大人。
  Wǒ shì Jiānádà rén.
  I'm Canadian.
- 谁叫玛丽？
  Shéi jiào Mǎlì?
  Who is called Mary?
- 你们的老师是谁？
  Nǐmen de lǎoshī shì shuí?
  Who is your teacher?
- 我们的老师是林老师。
  Wǒmen de lǎoshī shì Lín lǎoshī.
  Our teacher is Teacher Lin.
- 你学习什么？
  Nǐ xuéxí shénme?
  What do you study?
- 你觉得这个大学怎么样？
  Nǐ juéde zhège dàxué zěnmeyàng?
  What do you think of this university?
- 我觉得这个大学很好。
  Wǒ juéde zhège dàxué hěn hǎo.
  I think this university is very good.
2
Các câu hỏi trong bài tập (Bài 4, 7, 13)
Asking about place, asking about things, asking which one / which ones.
- 你去哪儿？
  Nǐ qù nǎr?
  Where are you going?
- 这是什么？
  Zhè shì shénme?
  What is this?
- 哪个箱子很重？
  Nǎge xiāngzi hěn zhòng?
  Which suitcase is heavy?
- 哪些是英文书？
  Nǎxiē shì Yīngwén shū?
  Which books are English books?

Common mistakes

~~你是哪国人吗？~~
a sentence with an interrogative pronoun doesn't take 吗 at the end

Practice

29 questions in 3 sets. One at a time, checked instantly, with explanations.

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