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Grammar Topic

Questions in Chinese Grammar

Choose the question form by the answer you expect: yes or no, one of two options, or a missing piece of information.

Choose the structure by meaning

Chinese usually keeps the normal sentence order. The question marker or question word does the work.

Turn a statement into a yes/no question

你知道吗？

Nǐ zhīdào ma?

Do you know?

你知道...吗？

Nǐ zhīdào... ma?

Ask yes/no without 吗

你去不去？

Nǐ qù bu qù?

Are you going?

A不A

[V/ADJ] bù [V/ADJ]

Ask someone to choose A or B

你喝茶还是咖啡？

Nǐ hē chá háishì kāfēi?

Do you drink tea or coffee?

A 还是 B

A háishì B?

Ask for missing information

你想吃什么？

Nǐ xiǎng chī shénme?

What do you want to eat?

到底 + Question Word

dàodǐ + question word

Common mix-ups

吗 vs A-not-A

ma vs A-bù-A

Both ask yes/no. Do not use them together in the same question.

你去吗？ and 你去不去？ are alternatives.

nǐ qù ma; nǐ qù bu qù

还是 vs 或者

háishì vs huòzhě

还是 asks a choice question. 或者 usually offers alternatives inside a statement.

茶还是咖啡？ = tea or coffee?; 茶或者咖啡都可以 = tea or coffee are both fine.

chá háishì kāfēi; chá huòzhě kāfēi dōu kěyǐ

Question words stay in normal position

Chinese does not move question words to the front the way English often does.

你想吃什么？ literally keeps 什么 where the answer would appear.

nǐ xiǎng chī shénme

Looking for a specific question form?

Open the complete reference when you need the exact question pattern.

Browse all question patterns (27)

Yes/no questions

0 patterns

A-not-A questions

2 patterns
A不A[V/ADJ] bù [V/ADJ]HSK 1
Reach for this when you want to ask a yes/no question without the 吗 at the end.
要不要 / 有没有yào bù yào / yǒu méi yǒuHSK 1
Reach for this when you want to ask a yes/no question by stacking the positive and negative forms of the verb back-to-back — 要不要 ('want or not want?'), 有没有 ('have or not have?').

Alternative questions

4 patterns
A 还是 BA háishì B?HSK 1
Use 还是 to ask 'A or B?' — a choice question.
是...还是...shì... háishì...?HSK 5-6
Reach for this when you're offering two options and asking the listener to pick — 'is it A or B?' It's the standard A-or-B question pattern in Chinese, and also works in indirect questions ('I don't know whether A or B').
不只是 ... 还是 / 也是 ...bùzhǐ shì... háishì / yěshì...HSK 3-4
Reach for this when you want to escalate a description — 'X isn't only Y, it's also Z' — with Z carrying more weight or broader scope than Y.
即使……还是……jíshǐ... háishi...HSK 3-4
Reach for this when you want to say a result holds even if some condition were true — 'even if X, Y still happens.' The 即使 clause names a hypothetical or extreme scenario; the 还是 clause insists the outcome doesn't change.

Question-word questions

21 patterns
为什么...？因为...wèishénme...? yīnwèi...HSK 2
Reach for this self-Q&A structure when you want to grab attention, then immediately deliver the answer.
为什么？wèishénme?HSK 1
The standalone 'Why?' Reach for this when someone has just said something and you want them to explain — a one-word follow-up.
到底 + Question Worddàodǐ + question wordHSK 2
Reach for 到底 when you want to push for a real, definitive answer — 'on earth', 'after all', 'actually'.
...了多少？... le duōshao?HSK 1
Reach for this when you want to ask how much of something happened — usually after a change.
...怎么做到的？... zěnme zuòdào de?HSK 3-4
Reach for this when something impressive (or shocking) just happened and you want to know HOW it was pulled off.
...意味着什么...yìwèi zhe shénmeHSK 5-6
Use this when you want to dramatize the stakes of something — 'what does X mean?' — usually rhetorically, with no actual question.
...是什么意思？[WORD] shì shénme yìsi?HSK 1
The go-to question for 'What does ___ mean?' Reach for this any time you hear or read a word, phrase, or symbol you don't understand and you want a definition.
A + 怎么 + B?[SUBJECT] zěnme [VERB/STATE]?HSK 1
Reach for this when something doesn't match what you expected and you want to demand an explanation.
X 不是 ... 不是 ... 不是 ...... bú shì ..., bú shì ..., bú shì ...HSK 2
Use this when you want to rule out a list of options before naming the real thing — or before admitting you don't know.
X 跟 Y + 有 / 没有关系[X] gēn [Y] yǒu / méiyǒu / yǒu shénme guānxiHSK 5-6
Reach for this when you want to say something is or isn't relevant to someone or something — 'this has (nothing) to do with X.' It's the everyday relevance check in spoken Chinese.
什么是...？shénme shì...?HSK 1
Reach for this when you want to ask 'what is X?' — a definitional question about a word, concept, or category.
你知道...吗？Nǐ zhīdào... ma?HSK 1
Reach for this when you want to ask whether someone knows about a thing, a person, or a piece of information.
听过吗？tīng guò maHSK 2
Reach for this when you want to check if your listener has heard of something — a brand, a person, an event.
怎么 + Verbzěnme + VHSK 1
Reach for this when you want to ask HOW someone does something — the method, the means, the way.
想 + Question Word + 就 + Verb + Question Wordxiǎng... jiù...HSK 2
Reach for this when you want to express total freedom of choice — 'do whatever/whenever/wherever/however you want.' It's the Chinese way to say 'go nuts, you're free.' Common with question words like 什么 (what), 哪里 (where), 谁 (who), 怎么 (how): 想吃什么就吃什么 (eat whatever you want), 想去哪里就去哪里 (go wherever you want).
既然……，为什么……jìrán..., wèishénme...HSK 3-4
Reach for this when you want to push back on something the other person already accepts as true — 'Since X is the case, why Y?' It's an argumentative move: you take a premise the listener has agreed to and then challenge a contradiction or strange behavior that follows from it.
疑问词+问号+解释结构wèi shénme? yīnwèi... / zěnme bàn? ...HSK 5-6
Reach for this rhetorical move when you want to pose a question and immediately answer it — 'Why?
谁...谁就...shéi... shéi jiù...HSK 1
Reach for this when you want to say 'whoever does X, that same person will be Y.' It expresses an open rule: identity isn't fixed in advance, but whoever fills the first slot automatically fills the second.
谁先...，谁就...；谁继续...，谁就...shéi... shéi jiù... ; shéi... shéi jiù...HSK 5-6
Reach for this when you want to lay out a rule that applies to whoever fits the condition — 'whoever does X, that person Y.' Parallel 谁...谁就...
这...是什么概念zhè... shì shénme gàiniàn?HSK 3-4
Reach for this when you've just dropped a big number or surprising fact and you want the listener to actually FEEL the scale.
这种事，几乎从来没有过...jīhū cónglái méiyǒu guòHSK 3-4
Reach for this when you want to make a strong claim that something is essentially unprecedented.

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