Question Words — Mandarin Grammar

Mandarin question words stay in place — no word order change needed. The main ones are (shén·meㄕㄣˊ·˙ㄇㄜshên2·mê) — what, (shéiㄕㄟˊshei2) — who, (nǎ·liㄋㄚˇ·˙ㄌㄧna3·li) — where, (zěn·meㄗㄣˇ·˙ㄇㄜtsên3·mê) — how, (wèi·shén·meㄨㄟˋ·ㄕㄣˊ·˙ㄇㄜwei4·shên2·mê) — why, (jǐㄐㄧˇchi3) — how many (small numbers), and (duō·shǎoㄉㄨㄛ·ㄕㄠˇto1·shao3) — how much.

Simply swap the unknown for the question word: (nǐ jiào shén·meㄋㄧˇ ㄐㄧㄠˋ ㄕㄣˊ·˙ㄇㄜni3 chiao4 shên2·mê) — what are you called?, (nǐ qù nǎ·liㄋㄧˇ ㄑㄩˋ ㄋㄚˇ·˙ㄌㄧni3 ch'ü4 na3·li) — where are you going?

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Mandarin course

57 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 4. A few of them, with the words “Question Words” is about in bold:

女儿在哪里？ - 她在学校。
nǚ·ér zài nǎ·li? - tā zài xué·xiào.ㄋㄩˇ·ㄦˊ ㄗㄞˋ ㄋㄚˇ·˙ㄌㄧ? - ㄊㄚㄗㄞˋ ㄒㄩㄝˊ·ㄒㄧㄠˋ.nü3·êrh2 tsai4 na3·li? - t'a1 tsai4 shüeh2·shiao4.
Where is our daughter? - She's at school.
Lesson 242

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Sentences from Lingora’s Mandarin course

More Mandarin grammar

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