How to Use Question Words (Who, What, Where…)
Chinese question words — 什么 (what), 谁 (who), 哪儿 (where), 什么时候 (when), 为什么 (why), 怎么 (how), 多少 (how many) — stay exactly where the answer would go. No fronting, no rearranging.
Why this trips learners up
English makes question words (what, who, where, when, why, how) do gymnastics: they leap to the front and the sentence rearranges around them — “You are who?” becomes “Who are you?”. Chinese refuses all of that, and the result is one of the easiest rules in the language.
The rule: put the question word exactly where the answer would go, and change nothing else. 你是小李 (“You are Xiao Li”) → 你是谁？(“Who are you?”) — literally “you are who?”. 你想喝茶 → 你想喝什么？(“what?”). 他去公园 → 他去哪儿？(“where?”). Whatever you're asking about, the question keeps the statement's word order. Learn this once and every who / what / where / when / why / how question falls into place.
The structure
Colour key
Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.
Examples in context
Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.
Tap a word to see its grammatical role.
nǐ 你 Subject jiào 叫 Verb shénme 什么 Pattern míngzi 名字 Object
What's your name?
tā 他 Subject shì 是 Verb shéi 谁 Pattern
Who is he?
nǐ 你 Subject zhù 住 Verb zài 在 Verb nǎr 哪儿 Pattern
Where do you live?
nǐ 你 Subject xiǎng 想 Function word kàn 看 Verb nǎge 哪个 Pattern
Which one do you want to watch?
nǐmen 你们 Subject shénme shíhou 什么时候 Pattern chūfā 出发 Verb
When are you setting off?
nǐ 你 Subject wèishénme 为什么 Pattern bù 不 Negation kāixīn 开心 Adjective
Why aren't you happy?
yígòng 一共 Adverb duōshǎo 多少 Pattern qián 钱 Object
How much is it altogether?
zhège ruǎnjiàn 这个软件 Subject zěnme 怎么 Pattern xiàzài 下载 Verb
How do you download this app?
Common mistakes
Why it happens: This is the one rule to burn in: don't move the question word to the front. English does (“What do you want?”); Chinese leaves it in the answer's slot — 你想吃什么 (“you want eat what”). 什么你想吃 sounds backwards to a native ear.
Why it happens: A question word already turns the sentence into a question, so it never takes 吗 as well. It's 你是谁？, not 你是谁吗？ — the same rule as choice questions with 还是.
Why it happens: 谁 is for people, 什么 is for things. 他是谁？asks WHO he is; 他是什么？asks WHAT he is (his job, or his species!). Use 谁 when you mean a person.
Compare & contrast
| Statement | Question — same word order! | The difference |
|---|---|---|
| 你是小李。nǐ shì Xiǎo Lǐ. | 你是谁？nǐ shì shéi? | Swap the name (小李) for 谁, in the very same slot. Nothing else moves. |
| 我想喝茶。wǒ xiǎng hē chá. | 你想喝什么？nǐ xiǎng hē shénme? | The thing wanted (茶) becomes 什么, right where 茶 was. |
| 他去公园。tā qù gōngyuán. | 他去哪儿？tā qù nǎr? | The destination (公园) becomes 哪儿 — same position, same order. |
Try it yourself
Ask “Where do you want to go?” — tap the words into order.
Related patterns
Quick reference card
How to Use Question Words (Who, What, Where…) grammar.merrymandarin.com A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.