Asking Questions in Mandarin: 吗, 呢, 什么, 谁 and the A-not-A Pattern

Mandarin questions are refreshingly simple because you don't need to change word order. You add a particle, replace a word, or repeat the verb.

Yes/no questions with 吗

Add 吗 (ma) to the end of a statement:

• 你是学生吗？ (Nǐ shì xuésheng ma?) — Are you a student?
• 你喝咖啡吗？ (Nǐ hē kāfēi ma?) — Do you drink coffee?

Answers repeat the verb: 是 (shì), 不是, 喝, 不喝.

The A-not-A pattern

Repeat the verb with 不 in between:

• 你是不是学生？ (Nǐ shì bu shì xuésheng?) — Are you a student?
• 你喝不喝咖啡？ (Nǐ hē bu hē kāfēi?) — Do you drink coffee?
• 这个贵不贵？ (Zhège guì bu guì?) — Is this expensive?

This is a little more neutral or curious than 吗. Don't use it together with 吗.

Question words

Question words stay in the same place as the answer:

• 什么 (shénme) — what: 你吃什么？
• 谁 (shéi) — who: 他是谁？
• 哪 (nǎ) — which: 你要哪个？
• 哪儿 / 哪里 (nǎr / nǎli) — where: 你去哪儿？
• 什么时候 (shénme shíhou) — when: 你什么时候来？
• 为什么 (wèishénme) — why: 你为什么学中文？
• 怎么 (zěnme) — how: 这个字怎么读？
• 几 (jǐ) — how many (small numbers): 你有几个孩子？
• 多少 (duōshao) — how many or how much: 多少钱？

No word-order change

The answer replaces the question word:

• Q: 你去哪儿？ — A: 我去北京。
• Q: 这是什么？ — A: 这是茶。

Tag questions with 吧 and 好吗

• 我们走吧？ (Wǒmen zǒu ba?) — Shall we go?
• 明天见，好吗？ (Míngtiān jiàn, hǎo ma?) — See you tomorrow, OK?

Follow-up questions with 呢

呢 (ne) asks "and you?" or "what about...?":

• 我很好，你呢？ (Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?) — I'm well, and you?
• 我的书呢？ (Wǒ de shū ne?) — Where's my book?

Choice questions with 还是

还是 (háishi) means "or" in questions:

• 你喝茶还是咖啡？ (Nǐ hē chá háishi kāfēi?) — Tea or coffee?

Useful travel questions

• 洗手间在哪儿？ (Xǐshǒujiān zài nǎr?) — Where is the toilet?
• 多少钱？ (Duōshao qián?) — How much is it?
• 你会说英语吗？ (Nǐ huì shuō Yīngyǔ ma?) — Can you speak English?

Common mistakes

• Moving the question word to the front, as in English.
• Using 吗 with a question word.
• Confusing 几 and 多少.

Practice

1. Turn ten statements into questions using three methods.
2. Ask a friend five questions using question words.
3. Practise answering by repeating the verb.
4. Look up question words in a dictionary.

Look up question words with English Chinese Dictionary →