Learn Chinese for Free - Lesson 214

Sentence Structure 35
Interrogative Word “哪里”

Here we pay special attention to the word 哪里word: 哪里
pinyin: nǎli
details used as interrogative.

It means "where".

Example

Question: 你character: 你
pinyin: nǐ
details去character: 去
pinyin: qù
details哪里word: 哪里
pinyin: nǎli
details？

Answer: 我character: 我
pinyin: wǒ
details去character: 去
pinyin: qù
details东京word: 东京
pinyin: dōngjīng
details。

Sentence Structure 36
Interrogative Word “几”

Here we pay special attention to the word 几character: 几
pinyin: jǐ
details used as interrogative.

As you already know, an interrogative word is placed where the answer is expected. 几character: 几
pinyin: jǐ
details is no exception.

几character: 几
pinyin: jǐ
details is used to ask about an estimated number under 10.

Exception: 几character: 几
pinyin: jǐ
details is used in asking about the month or day, even if they are numbers greater than 10.

Example 1

明天word: 明天
pinyin: míngtiān
details几character: 几
pinyin: jǐ
details月character: 月
pinyin: yuè
details几character: 几
pinyin: jǐ
details号character: 号
pinyin: hào
details，星期word: 星期
pinyin: xīngqī
details几character: 几
pinyin: jǐ
details？

When 几character: 几
pinyin: jǐ
details precedes a noun, a measure word is required between them.

Example 2

您character: 您
pinyin: nín
details的character: 的
pinyin: de
details几character: 几
pinyin: jǐ
details个character: 个
pinyin: gè
details学生word: 学生
pinyin: xuésheng
details姓character: 姓
pinyin: xìng
details高character: 高
pinyin: gāo
details？

The meaning of: 请问，您哪位？

This is another polite way to ask about the identity of a stranger who has started to speak to us, or call us.

Like what we said about "你character: 你
pinyin: nǐ
details是character: 是
pinyin: shì
details⋯character: ⋯
pinyin:
details⋯character: ⋯
pinyin:
details", the meaning is "Who are you?" and the answer should be the name or social status.