Questions
When you
are asking a question in Chinese you do not change the order of the
sentence. This is very different from other western languages.
Therefore,
the structure of a sentence with a question and the structure of an
affirmative statement are the same.
Questions
are expressed with interrogative particles.
Interrogative
particle (ma5)
吗
Interrogative
particle (ne5)
呢
吗 (ma5)
is put at the end of the sentence and the answer should be Yes or No.
For
example:
Ta1
shi4 ni3de5 lao3shi1 ma5 ?
Shi4
他 是 你的 老师
吗 ? 是
Is
he your teacher? Yes
Ni3 xiang3
he1shui3 ma5 ? Shi4, wo3 xiang3.
你 想 喝水 吗
? 是，我想。
Do you want
to drink water? Yes I do.
呢 (ne5)
is put at the end of the question and the answer to the question has
to be specific.
For example:
wo3 bu2hui4
shuo1 han4yu3, ni3 ne5? Wo3 ye3 bu2hui4.
我 不会 说 汉语，
你 呢
? 我也不会。
I don't
know how to speak chinese, do you? I don't know how to speak chinese
either. (specific answer)
------ ooo O ooo ------
Shui2 shi4
ni3de5 lao3shi1 (ne5) ? Wo3de5 lao3shi1
shi4 Carlos.
谁 是 你的 老师
( 呢 ) ?
我的 老师 是
卡洛斯。
Who is your teacher? My teacher
is Charles (specific answer)
Note:
you can omit the question particle
