LESSON 7

ASKING QUESTIONS IN
MANDARIN
Who?
? - Shu?
Shi?
What?
? - Shn me?
Where?
? - N l?
When?
? - Shn
me sh hu?
Why?
? - Wi shn
me?
How?
? - Zn me?
 Who? ? Shu? or ? Shi?
Two sentence patterns include:
Subject + (sh) + (shu) ? or
(shu) + Verb?
For example: ? t sh shu?
(Who is he?) can be answered by
. t sh losh. (He is the
teacher.) and ? Shu xing
ch q? (Who wants to go out?)
 What? ? Shn me?
The sentence structure for this is:
Subject + Verb + (shn me) +
Noun?
For example, ? n sh shn
me? (Literal translation: That is what?
but it means What is that?), you can
answer it by saying ! N sh
xio nio! (That is a little bird!)
 Where? ? N l?
The sentence structure for this is:
Subject + Verb + (n l) ?
You could say: ? N zi n
l? (Literal translation: You at
where? but means Where are
you?), and an answer would be
. W zi ji. (Im at home.)
 When? ? Shn me sh
hu?
This literally translates to What
time? The sentence structure for this
is : Subject + (shn me sh
hu) + Predicate?
For example: ? N shn
me sh hu zu? (Literal translation
is: You what time go? but means
When do you go?)
 Why? ? Wi shn me?
Literally translates to For what? but
means Why? Similar to When?, the
sentence pattern here is: Subject +
(wi shn me) + Predicate?
You could say: ? T
wi shn me b go xng? (Why is he
not happy?)
 How? ? Zn me?
The structure to express How?
questions is: Subject + (zn
me?) + Verb + Object?
For example: ? N zn
me q bi jng? (Literal translation
is You how go Beijing? but means
How do you go to Beijing?)
Yes and No Questions in
Mandarin
There are two ways to ask yes /
no questions in Mandarin: with
the ma particle, or by using a
positive / negative sentence
structure.
 Ma
The particle ma can be added to the end
of any sentence to make it into a question.
For example, if you want to ask, Have you
eaten? (which is a standard greeting),
you would say, ch bo le ma?
?
The answer to this question could be, ch
bo le (I have eaten) , or hi
mi (not yet) .
 Postive / Negative
An alternate way to ask questions is to
include both the positive and negative
forms of the verb.
Negative verbs are usually formed with
b as in b ho (not good),
but occasionally the particle mi is
used, as in mi yu (dont have).
Note that both b and mi are used in
front of the verb.
 Examples
N yo bu yo q Bijng? (Do
you or dont you want to go to
Beijing?)
?
or
N yo q Bijng ma?
?
 T yu mi yu b j
bn? (Does he or doesnt he
have a notebook?)
?
or
T yu b j bn ma?
?
 N zh b zh do t de mng
zi? (Do you or dont you
know his name?)
?
or
N zh do t de mng zi ma?
?
 In the examples above, the verbs
are yo (want); yu (have);
and zh do(know).
When the positive / negative
form is used with two-character
verbs (like zh do), the verb is
split after the first character, as
in zh b zh do.
 Answering Mandarin Questions
The positive form of the verb is simply the
verb repeated:
Q: N xhuan fn ma?
Do you like rice?
?
A: Xhuan.
(I) like.

If you want to say you dont like rice, you
would say b xhuan.
 The Mandarin No
To answer no to a question,
the negative form of the question verb is
formed using the particle (b). The only
irregular verb is (yu - to have),
which uses (mi) for its negative form.
Mi is also used for negating action verbs
when talking about past actions. In this
situation, mi is a short form for mi yu
and either form can be used.
 Q: N yu b ma?
Do you have a pen?
?

A: Mi yu.
No (dont have).

 Q: N yo b yo mi?
Do you want to buy (it)?
?

A: Yo.
Yes (want).

 Q: Jntin sh xng q y ma?
Is today Monday?
?

A: Sh.
Yes (is).