Question Words

谁 (shéi / shuí)

who

什么 (shénme)

what

哪 (nǎ)

which

哪个 (nǎge)

which one

哪里 (nǎlǐ)

where

为什么 (wèishénme)

why

怎么 (zěnme)

how / how come

怎么样 (zěnmeyàng)

how is it? / what is it like?

几 (jǐ)

how many (small numbers, usually under 10)

多少 (duōshao)

how many / how much

什么时候 (shénme shíhou)

when

谁的 (shéi de)

whose

怎么了 (zěnme le)

what happened? / what’s wrong?

是不是 (shì bu shì)

is it or not? (yes/no question form)

有没有 (yǒu méi yǒu)

have or not have? / is there or not?

能不能 (néng bu néng)

can or can’t?

可以吗 (kěyǐ ma)

may I? / is it okay?

好吗 (hǎo ma)

okay? / alright?

对吗 (duì ma)

right? / correct?

真的吗 (zhēn de ma)

really?

几点 (jǐ diǎn)

what time? (hour)

几号 (jǐ hào)

what date?

星期几 (xīngqī jǐ)

what day of the week?

多大 (duō dà)

how old? / how big?

多高 (duō gāo)

how tall?

多少钱 (duōshao qián)

how much money? / how much does it cost?

多久 (duō jiǔ)

how long? (duration)

多远 (duō yuǎn)

how far?

怎么说 (zěnme shuō)

how do you say it?

什么意思 (shénme yìsi)

what does it mean?

为什么不 (wèishénme bù)

why not?

哪一个 (nǎ yí ge)

which one (full form)

怎么回事 (zěnme huíshì)

what’s going on? / what happened?