Hi, I’m Grace, welcome to my channel.
Today we’re going to learn several question words.
And they’re related to each other, so it’ll be easy to remember.
Before we start, let’s take a look at what we’ll learn today:
OK, without further ado. Let’s start!
Before we get to learn how to use these words,
there is one thing you need to know.
That is in English when you ask a question,
you'll put the question word first.
But in Chinese, we remain in the same word order.
We just replace the word we want to ask into the question word.
If you don't understand yet,
it’s totally fine.
Let’s see how it works!
Number 1: 什麼 what
For example:
你 喜歡 什麼 What do you like?
你 You
喜歡 To like
什麼 What
你 喜歡 什麼 What do you like?
The answer could be like:
我 喜歡 水餃 I like dumplings.
我 I
喜歡 To like
水餃 Dumplings
我 喜歡 水餃 I like dumplings.
As you can see here
the S V O word order didn’t change.
We just replaced the object “水餃 dumplings”
with a question word “什麼 what”.
Another example could be like:
Someone might tell you that:
這個蛋糕很好吃。 this cake is very delicious.
這個 This
蛋糕 Cake
很 Very
好吃 Delicious
這個蛋糕很好吃。 this cake is very delicious.
And you might not hear it very clearly,
so you want to ask “ What is delicious? ”
Then, you just change 這個蛋糕 “This cake”
into 什麼 “What” and then a question is formed.
什麼很好吃？ What is delicious?
什麼 What
很 very
好吃 Delicious
什麼很好吃？ What is delicious?
Ok, Number 2:
「什麼 what」 plus 「時候 time」
and it will become 「什麼時候 when」
Like, I would like to ask you:
你 什麼時候 開始 學中文？ When did you start learning Chinese?
你 You
什麼時候 When
開始 To start
學中文 Learning Chinese
你 什麼時候 開始 學中文？ When did you start learning Chinese?
We usually put the time word
after a subject and before a verb.
Here you can see that 什麼時候 “When”
is put after the subject and before the verb.
According to this question,
an answer could be like:
我 去年 開始 學中文 I started learning Chinese last year.
我 I
去年 last year
開始 To start
學中文 Learning Chinese
我 去年 開始 學中文 I started learning Chinese last year.
another example
這個 活動 什麼時候 結束？When will this activity end?
這個 This
活動 Activity
什麼時候 when
結束 to end
這個 活動 什麼時候 結束？ When will this activity end?
這個 活動 六點 結束 This activity will end at six.
六點 six o’clock
這個 活動 六點 結束 This activity will end at six.
Number 3:
「什麼 what」 plus 「地方 Place」
and it will become 「什麼地方 or 哪裡 where」
Let’s take a look at some examples:
I’ll give you an answer first,
and we could think about how to
make it into a question together.
So the answer is
我 今天 去 學校。 I went to school today.
我 I
今天 Today
去 To go
學校 School
我 今天 去 學校。 I went to school today.
To form a question,
now you know that the word order is the same,
we just change the subject from 我 “I” to 你 “You”
and turn the place word into the question word.
so here it is:
你 今天 去 什麼地方?
or
你 今天 去 哪裡？
Where did you go today?
Another example:
When you go to see a doctor,
the doctor usually asks you:
你 什麼地方 不舒服？
Or
你 哪裡 不舒服？
Where do you feel sick?
你 You
什麼地方 Where
哪裡 Where
不 not
舒服 feeling good, Comfortable
你 什麼地方 不舒服？
你 哪裡 不舒服？
Where do you feel sick?
An answer could be:
我 胃 不舒服 My stomach hurts.
我 I
胃 stomach
我 胃 不舒服 My stomach hurts.
Last one:
「為 For 」 plus 「什麼 What 」
will become 「為什麼 why」
「為什麼 why」can appear before a subject or after a subject.
Let me give you two examples:
the first question is what I’m truly curious about:
你 為什麼 想 學中文？ Why do you want to learn Chinese?
你 You
為什麼 Why
想 to want
學中文 Learning Chinese
你 為什麼 想 學中文？ Why do you want to learn Chinese?
or you can put 「為什麼」 “why”
before the subject, like this:
為什麼 你 想 學中文？ Why do you want to learn Chinese?
If you want to tell me,
just leave a comment below.
I’d like to know.
Let’s see another example:
If your friend told you
我 不 吃 早餐 I don’t eat breakfast.
我 I
不 Not
吃 To eat
早餐 Breakfast
我 不 吃 早餐 I don’t eat breakfast.
then you can ask:
why don’t you eat breakfast?
為什麼 你 不 吃 早餐？
為什麼 Why
你 You
不 Not
吃 To eat
早餐 Breakfast
為什麼 你 不 吃 早餐？ why don’t you eat breakfast?
or you can put 「為什麼」 “why” after the subject:
你 為什麼 不 吃 早餐？ why don’t you eat breakfast?
什麼
什麼時候
什麼地方 / 哪裡
為什麼
OK, These are the question words we’ve learned today.
hope you know a bit more of how to use them now.
And if you want to get the handout for this lesson,
you can go to my Instagram and find the file.
I'll see you next time,
Bye