Placement of question words
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\r\nHow does one ask questions in Chinese? This article will tell you how questions are formed and where the questions words are supposed to go. After all, one of the best ways to learn is to ask questions!\r\n== Common question words list ==\r\nQuestion words are one way to form questions in Chinese. In English, question words are also known as wh-words, as the majority of them begin with wh:\r\n
- 哪里 (nǎli) where
- 哪儿 (nǎr)where
- 什么时候 (shénme shíhou) when
- 为什么 (wèishénme) why
- 怎么 (zěnme) how\r\n
\r\n=== Rules ===\r\nIn English, question words have to be placed at the beginning of the sentence. This involves changing the word order to allow this rearrangement. In Chinese, using question words is a lot simpler. You simply place a question word in the place of the thing you want to ask about. Nothing needs to be rearranged.\r\nSo if the statement is\r\n
\r\nthe question form - "who are you?" - has the same word order:\r\n
\r\nThis works for whatever it is you want to ask about. The question form has the same word order as the statement form.\r\n=== Examples ===\r\nAn example for asking and telling what:\r\n
\r\nAn example for asking and telling where:\r\n
\r\nAn example for asking and telling when (to keep things simple, we'll just include questions about the future; asking questions about the past is slightly more complicated and involves the "Shi... de" construction):\r\n
\r\nAn example for asking and telling why:\r\n
\r\nAn example for asking and telling how:\r\n
\r\n==See also==\r\n*Word order
