Asking questions in Chinese, Part 2

Today, I'm going to bring about the question words Traditional Chinese 哪些(nǎ xiē) Simplified Chinese 哪些(nǎ xiē) which means "Which ones?" in English and Traditional Chinese 哪裡(nǎ lǐ) Simplified Chinese 哪里(nǎ lǐ) which means "Where?" in English.


An example of 哪些(nǎ lǐ) can be, Traditional Chinese: 這座城市裡有哪些學校有開華語課程(zhè zuò chéng shì lǐ yǒu nǎ xiē xué xiào yǒu kāi huá yǔ kè chéng)?


Simplified Chinese: 这座城市里有哪些学校有开华语课程(zhè zuò chéng shì lǐ yǒu nǎ xiē xué xiào yǒu kāi huá yǔ kè chéng)？


In English: Which schools in this city has a Chinese course?


An example of 哪裡 can be , Traditional Chinese: 請問一下附近最近的公車站在哪裡(qǐng wèn yí xià fù jìn zuì jìn de gōng chē zhàn zài nǎ lǐ)?


Simplified Chinese: 请问一下附近最近的公车站在哪里(qǐng wèn yí xià fù jìn zuì jìn de gōng chē zhàn zài nǎ lǐ)？


In English: Could you please tell me where the nearest bus station is?


The character for "Who" in Traditional Chinese is 誰(shéi), and in Simplified Chinese is 谁(shéi).


So a few examples would be: 我是誰/我是谁(wǒ shì shéi)？


In English this translates into: Who am I?


A few more: 你是誰/妳是誰(nǐ shì shéi)?
Note: In Chinese there is a gender difference for the character you, as you can see from the above characters, there's a "女(Nǚ)" radical in the character which depicts female.

                                                                     你是誰/妳是誰?


Therefore 你是誰/妳是誰(nǐ shì shéi) translated into first one Who are you(male)? and the second one Who are you(female)?


Likewise the following: 他是誰/她是誰(tā shì shéi)?


This translates into "Who is he?" or "Who is she" in English.


The character for "a few" roughly translates into Traditional Chinese 幾個(jǐ ge) and Simplified Chinese 几个(jǐ ge)


幾個 is usually used in sentences of units under ten.


An example sentence would be Traditional Chinese 你家裡有幾個小孩(ni3 jia1 li3 you3 ji3 ge5 xiao3 hai2)? and Simplified Chinese 你家里有几个小孩(ni3 jia1 li3 you3 ji3 ge5 xiao3 hai2)?


In English: How many kids are there in your family?


Another example: Traditional Chinese桌上有幾個杯子(zhuo1 shang4 you3 ji3 ge5 bei1 zi5)? Simplified Chinese 桌上有几个杯子(zhuo1 shang4 you3 ji3 ge5 bei1 zi5)？


In English: How many glasses are there on the table?


Another question word/phrase worth noting is 怎麼了/怎么了(zěn me le)?


This means "What's the matter?" or "What's wrong?" in English.


An example sentence could be Traditional Chinese 安迪怎麼了(ān dí zěn me le)? Simplified Chinese 安迪怎么了(ān dí zěn me le)？


In English: What's wrong with Andy?