Chinese grammar/ interrogative words

Interrogative words

Interrogative adjectives and pronouns

English

Chinese

For persons

subject

who(pronoun)

谁 (shuí)

object

whom, who (pronoun)

谁 (shuí)

possessive

whose (pronoun and adjective)

谁的 (shuí de )

For things

subject/object

what (pronoun and adjective)

什么 (shén me)，怎么样 ( zěn me yàng )，怎样(zěn yàng )

For persons or things when the choice is testricted:

subject/object

which (pronoun and adjective)

哪，哪个 (nǎ gè)

For examples:

谁拿走了我的书？（shuí ná zǒu le wǒ de shū ) Who took my book?

你看见谁了？（ nǐ kàn jiàn shuí le) Who(Whom) did you see?

谁的车抛锚了？(shuí de chē pāo máo le) Whose car broke down?

你借了谁的伞？ (nǐ jiè le shuí de sǎn ) Whose unbrella did you borrow?

那是什么鸟？（nà shì shén me niǎo ) What bird is that?

她说了什么？（tā shuō le shén me ) What did she say?

天气怎么样？（tiān qì zěn me yàng) What was the weather like?

哪只狗最先到达? (nǎ zhī gǒu zuì xiān dào dá ) Which dog arrived first?

他们中谁（哪个人）最年长？（tā men zhōng shuí zuì nián zhǎng) which of them is the eldest? [ Note that if "哪“ refers to person then it can be replaced by " 谁“. And " 谁“ is used more often than "哪“ under such circumstance.]

Interrogative adverbs

English	Chinese	English	Chinese
why	为什么(wèi shén me)	where	什么地方(shén me dì fāng)
when	什么时候(shén me shí hòu )	how	怎么(zen me)

For examples:

他为什么晚了? (tā wèi shén me wǎn le) Why was he late?

你什么时候起床？（nǐ shén me shí hòu qǐ chuáng) When do you get up?

你住在什么地方？（nǐ zhù zài shén me dì fāng ) Where do you live?

你怎么来的？（ nǐ zen me lái de) How did you come?

Others

When how with adjectives it should be translated into "多(duō) " .

For example: How important is this letter? 这封信有多重要？

How many or how much should be translated into "多少"(duō shǎo )

For example: How much (money) do you want? 你要多少？

When how with adverbs it should also be translated into "多(duō) " .

For example: How fast does he drive? 他开车有多快？