Difference between revisions of "Interrogative pronouns"

Latest revision as of 04:03, 25 April 2017

Interrogative pronouns are the pronouns you use to ask questions. The placement of question words is actually a little easier than it is in English, because Chinese doesn't move them around like English does. Instead, the question words stay "in-situ," that is, where the answer to the question will go.

The Pronouns

These are the main interrogative pronouns, often called "WH-words" in English because most of them start with those letters.

Question words
English	Chinese	Pinyin
who	谁	shéi
what	什么	shénme
where	哪里	nǎlǐ
when	什么时候	shénme shíhou
why	为什么	wèishénme
how	怎么	zěnme

The words to ask about quantity are 多少 and 几. 多少 is a versatile interrogative pronoun and can cover any number, but 几 is generally used for numbers 1 - 9. Additionally, 几 requires a measure word, but 多少 doesn't need one. Interrogative pronouns can act as indefinite references meaning "anything," "anyone," "something" or "someone." e.g. 谁都喜欢中国菜.

Sources

A Practical Chinese Grammar For Foreigners (外国人实用汉语语法) (pp. 95-105) →buy
Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 32-4) →buy
Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 46-7)　→buy
New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 135) →buy

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+Interrogative pronouns are the pronouns you use to ask questions. The [[placement of question words]] is actually a little easier than it is in English, because Chinese doesn't move them around like English does. Instead, the question words stay "in-situ," that is, where the answer to the question will go.
-Interrogative pronouns are the pronouns you use to ask questions. This process is actually a little easier than it is in Englsih, because Chinese doesn't move them around like English does. Instead, the question words stay "in-situ", that is, where the answer to the question will go.
@@ Line 19: / Line 17: @@
 | what || 什么 || shénme
 |-
-| where || 哪里 || nǎli
+| where || 哪里 || nǎlǐ
 |-
 | when || 什么时候 || <span class="spaced">shénme shíhou</span>
@@ Line 30: / Line 28: @@
 </div>
-The words to ask about quantity are 多少 and 几. 多少 is a versatile interrogative pronoun and can cover any number, but 几 is generally used for numbers 1 - 9. Additionally, 几 requires a measure word, but 多少 doesn't need one. Interrogative pronouns can act as indefinite references meaning "anything", "anyone", "something" or "someone". e.g. 谁都喜欢中国菜.
+The words to ask about quantity are 多少 and 几. 多少 is a versatile interrogative pronoun and can cover any number, but 几 is generally used for numbers 1 - 9. Additionally, 几 requires a measure word, but 多少 doesn't need one. Interrogative pronouns can act as indefinite references meaning "anything," "anyone," "something" or "someone." e.g. 谁都喜欢中国菜.
 == Sources ==