什么 / 谁 / 哪儿
shén me / shéi / nǎr
Placement of question words
Chinese question words stay in the slot the answer belongs in — nothing moves to the front.
Question word sits where the answer would
How it works
你是谁? and 你在哪儿? have exactly the word order of the answers 我是学生 and 我在家. Where English hauls the question word to the front and flips the verb, Chinese leaves everything alone.
This applies to all of them: 什么 (what), 谁 (who), 哪儿 (where), 什么时候 (when), 为什么 (why), 怎么 (how), 几 / 多少 (how many).
Because the sentence is already a question, 吗 must not be added.
Examples
nǐ shì shéi?
你是谁？
Who are you?
nǐ zài nǎr?
你在哪儿？
Where are you?
nǐ shén me shí hou lái?
你什么时候来？
When are you coming?
Common mistakes
- 什么你想吃? is wrong — it's 你想吃什么?