Chinese Question Word nǎlǐ

Take what we learned from using “at”, the nǎlǐ structure is exactly the same as “at” structure. We will replace the “location” with nǎlǐ to make it a question.

subject + zài + nǎlǐ + action?

A: Nǐ zài nǎlǐ？——>You at where? 你在哪里？ B: Wǒ zài jiā. ——> I (am) at home. 我在家。

A: Tā zài nǎlǐ xué zhōngwén？——> He at where learn Chinese? (”Where does he learn Chinese) 他在哪里学中文? B: Tā zài zhōngguó xué zhōngwén. ——> He at China learns Chinese. (”He learns Chinese in China.”) 他在中国学中文。

Note that in Chinese, we put location first and then verb after.

nǎlǐ can also be used to ask where someone is from.            Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén？——> You are where people? (Where are you from?)         你是哪里人？