The best questions to ask in Chinese as a beginner
The right question for a beginner is not the one that expresses the most. It is the one that produces the most talking from someone who can actually speak Chinese, for the smallest cost to you. These thirty questions are ordered by that ratio: openers first, then the questions that get a long answer, then the one-breath follow-ups that chase a story.
Openers
| Question | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 你叫什么名字？ | Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi? | What is your name? |
| 你是哪国人？ | Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén? | What country are you from? |
| 你是哪里人？ | Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén? | Where are you from? (softer, more local) |
| 最近怎么样？ | Zuìjìn zěnmeyàng? | How have you been lately? |
| 你吃了吗？ | Nǐ chī le ma? | Have you eaten? (a greeting as much as a question) |
Answer the first two with the same shape you heard: 我叫… and 我是…人. Chinese hands you the sentence frame inside the question, which is the single most useful habit a beginner can notice.
Questions that get a long answer
These are the engine. Each costs you one memorized line and buys thirty seconds to two minutes of listening practice, delivered by someone who wants you to understand.
| Question | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 您是在哪儿长大的？ | Nín shì zài nǎr zhǎng dà de? | Where did you grow up? |
| 您有孙子吗？ | Nín yǒu sūnzi ma? | Do you have grandchildren? |
| 你家有几口人？ | Nǐ jiā yǒu jǐ kǒu rén? | How many people are in your family? |
| 你是做什么工作的？ | Nǐ shì zuò shénme gōngzuò de? | What do you do for work? |
| 你平时喜欢做什么？ | Nǐ píngshí xǐhuan zuò shénme? | What do you usually like to do? |
| 你在这儿多久了？ | Nǐ zài zhèr duōjiǔ le? | How long have you been here? |
| 这儿有什么好吃的？ | Zhèr yǒu shénme hǎochī de? | What is good to eat around here? |
| 你去过哪些地方？ | Nǐ qùguo nǎxiē dìfang? | Which places have you been to? |
| 你觉得这儿怎么样？ | Nǐ juéde zhèr zěnmeyàng? | What do you think of this place? |
| 你为什么学英语？ | Nǐ wèishénme xué Yīngyǔ? | Why are you learning English? |
Use 您 (nín) rather than 你 with someone older than you. It costs nothing and it is heard.
The one-breath follow-ups
Follow-ups do not have to be sentences. These are what native speakers actually say, and each one hands the floor straight back:
| Follow-up | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 什么时候？ | Shénme shíhou? | When? |
| 跟谁？ | Gēn shéi? | With who? |
| 在哪儿？ | Zài nǎr? | Where? |
| 为什么？ | Wèishénme? | Why? |
| 后来呢？ | Hòulái ne? | And then? |
| 真的吗？ | Zhēn de ma? | Really? |
| 比如说呢？ | Bǐrú shuō ne? | For example? |
| 你呢？ | Nǐ ne? | And you? |
你呢 deserves its own line. It bounces any question you were just asked straight back, which means every question you learn to answer is also a question you can ask.
Questions that make you a student
| Question | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 这是什么？ | Zhè shì shénme? | What is this? |
| 这个用中文怎么说？ | Zhège yòng Zhōngwén zěnme shuō? | How do you say this in Chinese? |
| 什么意思？ | Shénme yìsi? | What does it mean? |
| 这个字怎么写？ | Zhège zì zěnme xiě? | How is this character written? |
| 你能写下来吗？ | Nǐ néng xiě xiàlai ma? | Could you write it down? |
| 我说得对吗？ | Wǒ shuō de duì ma? | Did I say that right? |
| 请再说一遍。 | Qǐng zài shuō yí biàn. | Please say that again. |
What to avoid, and why
- Questions whose answer you cannot survive. "What do you think about the economy" produces two minutes of Chinese at full speed. Ask for a place, a time, a number or a person until your listening is ready for an argument.
- Questions about learning Chinese. They turn the conversation into a lesson about you. Ask about their life instead; you are there to listen.
- Yes-or-no questions, mostly. 你喜欢北京吗 gets you 喜欢. 你觉得北京怎么样 gets you a paragraph.
In GraphChinese: these questions are taught as topics in their own right from the first lessons — the survival kit, the keep-them-talking reactions, and the life questions — because a question you can produce without thinking is worth more than ten words you can recognize. The method behind it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best question to ask a Chinese speaker as a beginner?
您是在哪儿长大的 (nín shì zài nǎr zhǎng dà de, "where did you grow up?"). It costs you one memorized line, it is warm rather than intrusive, and people answer it at length — which is exactly what a beginner needs, because their answer is free listening practice at a level you chose.
How do you ask someone what something is called in Chinese?
这个用中文怎么说 (zhège yòng Zhōngwén zěnme shuō, "how do you say this in Chinese?") or the shorter 这是什么 (zhè shì shénme, "what is this?") when you can point at it. Both turn the person in front of you into a dictionary that explains itself.
What questions should a beginner avoid?
Anything whose answer you cannot survive. Open questions about politics, work processes or opinions produce three minutes of Chinese you will not follow. Ask questions whose answers are short and predictable — a place, a time, a number, a person — until your listening catches up.
Is it rude to ask a Chinese person about their family?
Questions about family, hometown and children are ordinary small talk in Chinese and are frequently warmer than the equivalents in English. Age and salary come up more freely than many learners expect, but you do not have to ask either.
How do you ask a follow-up question in Chinese?
With one or two syllables. 什么时候 (when), 跟谁 (with who), 为什么 (why), 后来呢 (and then?). Follow-ups do not need to be sentences, and short ones keep the other person talking rather than handing you the floor.
Drilled as decisions, not as a list. GraphChinese teaches each of these questions inside a described situation and asks you to pick the move, because choosing the right question under pressure is the skill a phrasebook never trains. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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