Interrogative Pronouns: 多久、为什么、怎么样
Chinese question words stay in-situ — they occupy the same slot as the answer.
| 词 | 用法 | 位置 |
|---|---|---|
| 多久 | how long (duration) | after verb or at start |
| 为什么 | why (reason) | sentence-initial or before VP |
| 怎么样 | how / what's it like | predicate position |
多久 asks about time spans: 学了多久？
为什么 asks for a reason: 你为什么不吃？
怎么样 invites an opinion or status: 今天怎么样？
No 吗 is needed — the question word itself marks the sentence as a question.
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 你学中文学了多久了？ | Nǐ xué Zhōng wén xué le duō jiǔ le? | How long have you been studying Chinese? | 多久 follows the verb phrase; 了…了 marks ongoing duration |
| 你为什么今天不去学校？ | Nǐ wèi shén me jīn tiān bù qù xué xiào? | Why aren't you going to school today? | 为什么 comes after the subject and before the time word + VP |
| 这家饭馆的菜怎么样？ | Zhè jiā fàn guǎn de cài zěn me yàng? | What is the food at this restaurant like? | 怎么样 acts as the predicate; no copula 是 needed |
What you need first
Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.
Interrogative Pronouns is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
Start at your true level