Wh-Questions: 什么/谁/哪/怎么

Chinese grammar · HSK 1 · 特指问句 · By Carson 木林森

In Chinese, question words stay in the same position as the answer — no inversion!

什么 shén me what? 谁 shéi who 哪 nǎ how 怎么 zěn me how? 疑问代词 yí wèn dài cí

| Word | Meaning | Position | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 什么 | what | object position | 你吃什么？ |
| 谁 | who | subject or object | 谁是老师？ |
| 哪 | which | before noun | 哪个学生？ |
| 怎么 | how | before verb | 你怎么去？ |

Key rule: The sentence structure stays the same. Just swap the answer for the question word.
- 我吃饭。→ 你吃什么？
- 他是老师。→ 谁是老师？

Worked examples

Chinese	Pinyin	English	What it shows
你吃什么？	Nǐ chī shén me?	What do you eat? / What are you eating?	什么 in object position, replacing the answer (饭/菜 etc.).
谁是你的老师？	Shuí shì nǐ de lǎo shī?	Who is your teacher?	谁 in subject position. No inversion — structure is Subject + 是 + Noun.
你怎么去学校？	Nǐ zěn me qù xué xiào?	How do you go to school?	怎么 comes before the verb 去, asking about manner.
哪个是你的书？	Nǎ gè shì nǐ de shū?	Which one is your book?	哪 + measure word 个. Stays in the subject position.

Produce this pattern without stopping to think about it. GraphChinese drills Wh-Questions across 12 exercises and schedules the review that keeps it.

What this opens up

These patterns list Wh-Questions among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.

Wh-Questions 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.

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