Interrogative Pronouns in Chinese

 

Interrogative Pronouns in Chinese
The main interrogative pronouns in Chinese are:

• 谁 [shéi/shuí] Who/whom
• 谁的 [shéi de/shuí de] Whose
• 哪 [nǎ/něi] Which (singular)
• 哪些 [nǎ xiē/něi xiē] Which (plural)
• 什么 [shénme] What

These interrogative pronouns are used to ask question about people or object that we do not know about.
Examples:

1. 你是谁？
    [Nǐ shì shéi?]
    Who are you?

2. 谁是你的经理？
    [Shéi shì nǐ de jīnglǐ?]
    Who is your manager?

3. 这是谁的本书？
    [Zhè shì shéi de běn shū?]
    Whose note book is this?

4. 这是谁的钱？
    [Zhè shì shéi de qián?]
    Whose money is this?

5. 你喜欢哪个人？
    [Nǐ xǐhuān nǎge rén?]
    Which person do you like?

6. 你买哪个东西？

    [Nǐ mǎi nǎge dōngxī?]
    Which thing do you buy?

7. 你知道哪些字？
    [Nǐ zhīdao nǎxiē zì?]

    Which characters do you know?

8. 你认识哪些人？
    [Nǐ rènshí nǎxiē rén?]
    Which people do you know?

9. 你吃什么？
    [Nǐ chī shénme?]
    What do you eat?

10. 你找什么？
      [Nǐ zhǎo shénme?]
      What are you looking for?

Confusing words: Please be careful with the word 那 [nà] “That” and 哪 [nǎ] “Which” are two different words and different meanings.