The Multiple Roles of Question Words

  1. 谁 (shéi/shuí) - Who → Someone/Anyone

    • Question:谁**? (Who is he?)

    • Statement: 房间里好像有在说话。 (It seems someone is talking in the room.)

    • Statement (Negative):谁也不认识。 (I don't know anyone.)

  2. 什么 (shénme) - What → Something/Anything

    • Question: 你想吃什么? (What do you want to eat?)

    • Statement: 我想喝点什么。 (I want to drink something.)

    • Statement (Negative):什么也不想吃。 (I don't want to eat anything.)

  3. 哪里/哪儿 (nǎli/nǎr) - Where → Somewhere/Anywhere

    • Question:要去哪里**? (Where are you going?)

    • Statement: 这个周末我们哪里**玩吧。 (Let's go somewhere fun this weekend.)

    • Statement (Negative):哪儿也不去。 (I'm not going anywhere.)

  4. 怎么 (zěnme) - How → Somehow

    • Question: 这个词怎么读? (How do you read this word?)

    • Statement: 我们得想办法怎么解决这个问题。 (We have to think of some way how to solve this problem.)

  5. 多少 (duōshao) - How Much/Many → Some amount

    • Question: 这本书多少钱? (How much is this book?)

    • Statement: 请给我多少留一点。 (Please leave me some.)

Summary: When a question word is not at the end of the sentence and the sentence is not a question, it is likely functioning as an indefinite pronoun.


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