{"id":11887,"date":"2019-07-16T02:01:49","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T02:01:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blog.thatsmandarin.com\/?p=11887"},"modified":"2021-05-05T10:33:52","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T10:33:52","slug":"5-ways-to-ask-a-special-question-in-chinese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/api.thatsmandarin.com\/blog\/5-ways-to-ask-a-special-question-in-chinese\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Ask a Special Question in Chinese"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tIn our previous article, we have explained how to ask a general question in Chinese. However, that\u2019s not enough to get by when it comes to studying or living in China, therefore this time let\u2019s take a step further and learn 5 ways to ask a special question in Chinese like \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d, \u201cWhen will you go to Beijing?\u201d, etc.<\/p>\n

1. \u4ec0\u4e48 (sh\u00e9nme)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u4ec0\u4e48(sh\u00e9nme) means \u201cwhat\u201d, and the use of this word is pretty straight-forward. Here are some examples.<\/p>\n

Example 1: <\/strong>\u4f60\u5728\u505a\u4ec0\u4e48?\u00a0 (N\u01d0 z\u00e0i zu\u00f2 sh\u00e9nme?)= What are you doing?<\/p>\n

Example 2: <\/strong>\u4f60\u60f3\u5403\u4ec0\u4e48? (N\u01d0 xi\u01ceng ch\u012b sh\u00e9nme?) = What would you like to eat?<\/p>\n

Example 3:\u00a0 <\/strong>\u4f60\u559c\u6b22\u4ec0\u4e48\u8fd0\u52a8? (N\u01d0 x\u01d0hu\u0101n sh\u00e9nme y\u00f9nd\u00f2ng?) = What kind of sports do you like?<\/p>\n

Please keep in mind that \u4ec0\u4e48(sh\u00e9nme) usually comes after the verb in a question. For instance,<\/p>\n

\u8fd9\u662f\u4ec0\u4e48? = What is this?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. \u4ec0\u4e48\u65f6\u5019(sh\u00e9nme sh\u00edh\u00f2u) VS <\/strong>\u51e0\u70b9(j\u01d0 di\u01cen)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u4ec0\u4e48\u65f6\u5019(sh\u00e9n me sh\u00ed h\u00f2u) means \u201cwhen\u201d, whereas \u51e0\u70b9(j\u01d0 di\u01cen) means \u201cwhat time\u201d. Compared with \u51e0\u70b9(j\u01d0 di\u01cen), a specialquestion starting with \u4ec0\u4e48\u65f6\u5019(sh\u00e9n me sh\u00ed h\u00f2u) has a wider range of choices in terms of possible answers because an answer to a question starting with \u51e0\u70b9(j\u01d0 di\u01cen) can only be an exact time such as \u201cfive o\u2019clock\u201d.<\/p>\n

Example 1:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: \u4f60\u4ec0\u4e48\u65f6\u5019\u53bb\u5317\u4eac? = When will you go to Beijing?<\/p>\n

B: \u4e0b\u4e2a\u661f\u671f\u3002= Next week.<\/p>\n

Example 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: \u4f60\u51e0\u70b9\u5403\u5348\u996d? (N\u01d0 j\u01d0 di\u01cen ch\u012b w\u01d4f\u00e0n?) = When are you going to have lunch?<\/p>\n

B: \u5341\u4e8c\u70b9\u3002(Sh\u00ed’\u00e8r di\u01cen.) = Twelve o\u2019clock.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. \u54ea\u91cc (n\u01celi) VS <\/strong>\u54ea\u513f (n\u01cer)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Both words mean \u201cwhere\u201d. However, \u54ea\u91cc (n\u01ce li) is more often used in South China, whereas \u54ea\u513f (n\u01cer) turns out to be more popular among people from the North. When asking a question like \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d, \u54ea\u91cc(n\u01ce li) or \u54ea\u513f (n\u01cer) comes after the verb.<\/p>\n

Example 1: <\/strong>\u4f60\u73b0\u5728\u53bb\u54ea\u91cc? (N\u01d0 xi\u00e0nz\u00e0i q\u00f9 n\u01cel\u01d0?) = Where are you going now?<\/p>\n

Example 2:\u00a0 <\/strong>\u4f60\u5728\u54ea\u513f? (N\u01d0 z\u00e0i n\u01ce’er?) = Where are you?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. \u8c01 (shu\u00ed)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"ask<\/p>\n

\u8c01 (shu\u00ed) means \u201cwho\u201d. The standard pronunciation of \u8c01 is \u201cshu\u00ed\u201d, however, it\u2019s often pronounced as \u201csh\u00e9i\u201d in people\u2019s daily life in China.<\/p>\n

Example 1: <\/strong>\u4f60\u627e\u8c01? (N\u01d0 zh\u01ceo sh\u00e9i?) = Who are you looking for?<\/p>\n

Example 2:\u00a0 <\/strong>\u8c01\u559c\u6b22\u5496\u5561? (Sh\u00e9i x\u01d0hu\u0101n k\u0101f\u0113i?) = Who likes coffee?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. \u54ea (n\u01ce) + measure word<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"ask<\/p>\n

\u54ea (n\u01ce) means \u201cwhich\u201d. When asking a question with \u54ea (n\u01ce), the word itself is usually followed by a measure word. The measure word is subject to change depending on what noun comes after.<\/p>\n

Example 1: <\/strong>\u4f60\u559c\u6b22\u54ea\u672c\u4e66? (N\u01d0 x\u01d0hu\u0101n n\u01ce b\u011bn sh\u016b?) = Which book do you like?<\/p>\n

Example 2:\u00a0 <\/strong>\u4f60\u60f3\u53bb\u54ea\u4e2a\u516c\u56ed? (N\u01d0 xi\u01ceng q\u00f9 n\u01cege g\u014dngyu\u00e1n?) = Which park do you want to go?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Which of these 5 ways to ask a special question in Chinese do you use most often?<\/em><\/p>\n

Can you make more examples with each type?<\/em><\/p>\n

[If you like this post, check out our previous article about 3 ways of asking a general question in Chinese<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Leave a comment with your answer below – or tweet us at @thatsmandarin<\/a>!<\/em>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our previous article, we have explained how to ask a general question in Chinese. However, that\u2019s not enough to get by when it comes to studying or living in China, therefore this time let\u2019s take a step further and learn 5 ways to ask a special question in Chinese like \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11923,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[244,275],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Ways to Ask a Special Question in Chinese | That's Mandarin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Grammar is not that easy sometimes. 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