Question words: 什么, 谁, 哪儿, 几, 多少
A question word simply takes the slot where the answer will go — nothing is moved to the front, and 吗 is never added.
Structure
主语 + 动词 + 疑问词？（疑问词占答语中信息的位置）
Explanation
Chinese words in this text can be activated to show a dictionary gloss.
This is the friendliest rule in beginner Chinese: ask the question in the same word order as the answer. ？ is answered — sat exactly where goes. Nothing is fronted the way English moves “what” to the start. The core set is (what), (who), / (where), (how many, small numbers), (how many / how much, larger or unknown quantities) and + measure word (which). Two usage details are worth memorising. is followed by a measure word — , — while may skip it: . And is what you use for phone numbers, prices and anything you expect to be large: ？ Because the sentence is already a question, never add at the end. These question words appear constantly in beginner listening and reading practice, so drilling the word order early pays off.
Correct
Say each one out loud before moving on. The audio is a reference pronunciation, not a model to imitate exactly — match the tone contour, not the voice.
你叫什么名字？你叫什麼名字？
Nǐ (third tone, dipping) jiào (fourth tone, falling) shénme (second tone, rising) míngzi? (second tone, rising)···
What’s your name?
你住在哪儿？你住在哪兒？
Nǐ (third tone, dipping) zhù (fourth tone, falling) zài (fourth tone, falling) nǎr? (third tone, dipping)···
Where do you live?
你家有几口人？你家有幾口人？
Nǐ (third tone, dipping) jiā (first tone, high and level) yǒu (third tone, dipping) jǐ (third tone, dipping) kǒu (third tone, dipping) rén? (second tone, rising)···
How many people are there in your family?
Incorrect — Common mistakes
These sentences are wrong. They are printed here on purpose, each one paired with the repair and the reason, because the error you can recognise is the error you stop making.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 什么你想喝？
Correct
Correct sentence: 你想喝什么？
Why: The question word stays in the answer’s position. Chinese does not move 什么 to the front the way English moves “what”.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 你的电话号码是几？
Correct
Correct sentence: 你的电话号码是多少？
Why: 几 expects a small countable number and normally comes with a measure word. Phone numbers, prices and large amounts take 多少.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 你是谁吗？
Correct
Correct sentence: 你是谁？
Why: 谁 already makes it a question, so 吗 must go. Keeping both is one of the most common beginner slips.
Compared with
Most errors with this pattern are not errors about this pattern — they are a neighbouring pattern arriving at the wrong moment. Read these side by side.
Both patterns make questions, and beginners routinely blend them into 你去哪儿吗？. The test is what answer you want. If a 是 or 不是 would satisfy you, use 吗. If you need a piece of information back — a name, a place, a number — use a question word and drop 吗 entirely.
Yes/no questions with 吗 →Mini quiz
Question 1 / 3Total score: 0
Choose the question word that fits.
你的电话号码是 ___ ？