Asking questions in Chinese, which words and what to use? Part 1

Somewhere along the line, you'll definitely have to ask something in Chinese, be it something you're looking for, or a question you have.


Now unlike the five Wh's in English, Chinese has a relatively different set of  characters that form the question words.


Unlike in English where you say, "What is this?" in Chinese you say, "This is what?"


In which case the characters are Traditional Chinese: 這是什麼(zhè shì shén mē) or Simplified Chinese         这是什么(zhè shì shén mē)?


So, in a nutshell, the characters for what in Traditional Chinese is 什麼(shén mē)? AND Simplified Chinese 什么(shén mē).


Some example sentences would be:


Traditional: 那個是什麼(nà gē shì shén me)?  Simplified: 那个是什么(nà gē shì shén me)？ Meaning "What is that?" in English.


Traditional: 你/妳要的是什麼?(nǐ yào dè shì shén me)? Simplified 你/妳要的是什么(nǐ yào dè shì shén me)？Meaning "What is it that you want?" in English.


Traditional: 你/妳說什麼?(nǐ shuō shén me) Simplified 你/妳说什么？(nǐ shuō shén me) Meaning "What did you say?" in English.


Interestingly enough, the Traditional Chinese version for the question "Why?" is "為什麼(wèi shén me)?" OR in Simplified Chinese "为什么(wèi shén me)"


In this sense it can be seen there's an extra character which is in Traditional Chinese "為(wèi)" OR in Simplified Chinese "为(wèi)“


This character can be further expanded to include the character "了(le)" which becomes 為了(wèi le)..... OR 为了(wèi le)......


So in Chinese it will be as 為什麼(wèi shén me) OR 为什么(wèi shén me) which literally means "Why?" in Chinese.


Asking about the time would be something like Traditional Chinese 什麼時候(shén me shí hòu) OR in Simplified Chinese 什么时候(shén me shí hòu)


For example: 


A: 馬克已經離開學校了 / 马克已经离开学校了 (mǎ kè yǐ jīng lí kāi xué xiào le)
     Mark has left the school already.


B: 他什麼時候離開的? / 他什么时候离开的？ (tā shén me shí hòu lí kāi de)
     When did he leave?


C: 我不知道, 剛剛吧! / 我不知道，刚刚吧！ (wǒ bù zhī dào, gāng gāng ba!)
     I don't know, I think he left just now!