Asking questions
Questions with 吗, 呢 and 吧, verb-not-verb questions like 去不去, 还是 for "or", and the question words from 什么 and 谁 to 为什么 and 多少. At Higher, 多远 and 多久, 谁都 and 什么都不, and a question inside a sentence.
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Asking questions, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Turn a statement into a question with 吗
Add 吗 to the end and leave everything else as it was: 你是英国人。 becomes 你是英国人吗？ Chinese has no single word for yes or no, so answer with the verb: 是。 or 不是。, 喜欢。 or 不喜欢。
Ask with the verb, then 不, then the verb again
Saying the verb twice with 不 between makes a question too: 你去不去？ (Are you going?) 好不好？ (Is that OK?) For 有 it is 有没有: 你有没有哥哥？ This kind of question never takes 吗 as well.
Put the question word where the answer will go
Chinese doesn't move question words to the front. 什么 (what), 谁 (who), 哪儿 (where), 哪个 (which), 几 and 多少 (how many) sit where the answer will: 你喜欢什么？ 我喜欢音乐。 你去哪儿？ 我去商店。 Swap in the answer and you have your reply.
Ask when, why and how
什么时候 (when) comes before the verb: 你什么时候去中国？ 为什么 (why) is answered with 因为: 你为什么喜欢汉语？ 怎么 before a verb asks how: 你怎么去学校？ 怎么样 asks what something is like, or how a plan sounds: 你的学校怎么样？ 我们去看电影，怎么样？
Offer a choice with 还是
还是 means or in a question: 你喝茶还是咖啡？ (Are you having tea or coffee?) It makes the question by itself, so it never takes 吗.
End with 呢 or 吧
呢 passes the same question back: 我很好，你呢？ (I'm fine, and you?) After a noun on its own, it asks where something is: 我的手机呢？ 吧 checks something you think is true, or makes a suggestion: 你是王老师吧？ (You're Mr Wang, aren't you?) 我们回家吧。 (Let's go home.)
Ask how far and how long with 多远, 多久 and 多长时间Higher only
多 before an adjective asks how much of it: 你家离学校多远？ (How far is your home from school?) 多久 and 多长时间 ask how long: 你学了多长时间汉语？ 你在中国住了多久？
Use a question word for everyone, nothing or somethingHigher only
With 都 or 也, a question word covers everyone or everything: 谁都喜欢他。 (Everyone likes him.) 我什么都不想吃。 (I don't want to eat anything.) In a 吗 question, 什么 means something: 你想吃点儿什么吗？ A question can also sit inside a statement: 我不知道他住在哪儿。 (I don't know where he lives.)
Asking questions key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- 吗
- Added to the end of a statement to make a yes-or-no question, as in 你好吗, how are you.
- Verb-not-verb question
- A question made by saying the verb, then 不 and the verb again: 你去不去？ It takes no 吗.
- Question word
- A word such as 什么, 谁 or 哪儿 that asks for a piece of information. It sits where the answer will go.
- 还是
- Or, in a question offering a choice: 茶还是咖啡 asks tea or coffee.
- 呢
- Asks the same question back, as in 你呢？ (and you?), or asks where something is.
- 吧
- Checks something you think is true, or makes a suggestion: 我们回家吧 (let's go home).
- 怎么 and 怎么样
- 怎么 before a verb asks how to do something; 怎么样 asks what something is like or how a plan sounds.
- 几 and 多少
- How many: 几 for a small number, with a measure word, and 多少 for any number, prices included.
- Indirect questionHigher only
- A question inside a statement, with no 吗: 我不知道他是谁 (I don't know who he is).
Common mistakes in Asking questions
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Adding 吗 to a question that already has a question word, as in 你叫什么名字吗？
A question word makes the question by itself: 你叫什么名字？ Use 吗 only to turn a statement into a yes-or-no question.
Moving the question word to the front, as in 什么你喜欢？
Leave it where the answer goes, 你喜欢什么, and the answer slots into the same place: 我喜欢音乐.
Answering every 吗 question with 是, as in 是 for 你喜欢喝茶吗？
Answer with the verb the question used: 喜欢 or 不喜欢, 有 or 没有.
Asking 你怎么样去学校？ for how do you get to school.
怎么 before a verb asks how: 你怎么去学校. 怎么样 stands on its own and asks what something is like: 你的学校怎么样.
Adding 吗 to a verb-not-verb or a 还是 question, as in 你去不去吗？
Both kinds are questions already, so they need nothing added: 你去不去, 你喝茶还是咖啡.
Practice
Try a Asking questions question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which question works?
- 你什么时候回家？
- 你什么时候回家吗？
- 你回家什么时候？
- 什么时候回家吗你？
Show the answer and the working
Answer: 你什么时候回家？
The question word sits before the verb, where the time would, and takes no 吗: 你什么时候回家？
- Answer: 我六点回家.
- 什么时候 takes the time's place.
- No 吗.