Questions in Chinese

After this free audio lesson you’ll feel more confident asking and answering questions in Chinese. Let’s say someone asks for personal information - how do you reply? It’s useful to be able to talk about yourself when you’re getting to know new people, speaking to an official person or filling out a form. Whatever the situation, the Rocket Chinese team is here to make it easier for you.

Perhaps you’re booking into a hotel, or going for an interview. You’ll probably be asked some basic personal questions in Chinese like “what is your nationality?” “what is your telephone number?” or “what is your date of birth?” These are all useful things to be able to talk about for everyday conversations as well.

Resources for further reading:

Pronouncing questions in Chinese

Let’s go through some of the most common questions you might be asked, whether you’re filling out a registration form in a hotel or at the consulate getting a new passport. In these situations, you’ll be addressed with “nín (您)” — “you.” So, though you have seen some of these questions before, all the questions below are expressed formally.

Chinese visa - immigration questions

Chinese question words

Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record

Rocket Record lets you perfect your Chinese pronunciation. Just listen to the native speaker audio and then use the microphone icon to record yourself. Once you’re done, you’ll get a score out of 100 on your pronunciation and can listen to your own audio playback. (Use a headset mic for best results.) Problems? Click here!

您叫什么名字?

Nín jiào shénme míngzi?

What's your name?

您从哪儿来?

Nín cóng nǎr lái?

Where are you from?

您 是 哪 国 人?

Nín shì nǎguórén?

What's your nationality?

您多大了?

Nín duódà (duōdà) le?

How old are you?

您的出生日期是几月几号?

Nín de chūshēng rìqī shì jǐyuè jǐhào?

What is your date of birth?

您有兄弟姐妹吗?

Nín yǒu xiōngdìjiěmèi ma?

Do you have siblings?

您有几个兄弟姐妹?

Nín yǒu jǐgè xiōngdìjiěmèi?

How many siblings do you have?

您有孩子吗?

Nín yǒu háizi ma?

Do you have children?

您有几个孩子?

Nín yǒu jǐgè háizi?

How many children do you have?

您有配偶吗?

Nín yǒu pèiǒu ma?

Do you have a spouse?

您结婚了吗?

Nín jiéhūn le ma?

Are you married?

您的地址是什么?

Nínde dìzhǐ shì shénme?

What is your address?

您的电话号码是什么?

Nínde diànhuà hàomǎ shì shénme?

What is your telephone number?

您的手机号码是什么?

Nínde shǒujī hàomǎ shì shénme?

What is your cell phone number?

您的护照号码是什么?

Nínde hùzhào hàomǎ shì shénme?

What is your passport number?

Responding to Chinese questions

When you’re responding, you can follow one of the simple formats below. Just insert the appropriate information in the brackets. When you talk about your date of birth, you have to do so from year to month to date. For example: “wǒ de chū shēng rì qī shì 1984 nián 4 yuè 5 rì (我 的 出 生 日 期 是 1984 年 4 月 5 日 。)” (05.04.1984).

我叫 [your name]。

Wǒ jiào [your name]。

My name is [your name].

我从 [name of place] 来。

Wǒ cóng [name of place] lái。

I'm from [name of place].

我是 [country name] 人。

Wǒshì [nationality] rén。

I'm [nationality].

我 [number] 岁了。

Wǒ [number] suì le。

I am [number] years old.

我的出生日期是 [year] 年 [month] 月 [day] 号。

Wǒde chūshēngrìqī shì [year] nián [month] yuè [day] hào。

My birth date is on the [day] of [month], [year].

我有兄弟姐妹。

Wǒ yǒu xiōng dì jiě mèi。

Yes, I have siblings.

没有兄弟姐妹。

Méi yǒu xiōng dì jiě mèi。

No, I have no siblings.

我有 [number] 个兄弟姐妹。

Wǒ yǒu [number] gè xiōngdìjiěmèi。

I have [number] siblings.

有,我有孩子。

Yǒu,wǒ yǒu háizi。

Yes, I have children.

没有,我没有孩子。

Méiyǒu,wǒ méiyǒu háizi。

No, I do not have children.

我有 [number] 个孩子。

Wǒ yǒu [number] gè háizi

I have [number] children.

有,我有配偶。

Yǒu,wǒ yǒu pèiǒu。

Yes, I have a spouse.

没有,我没有配偶。

Méiyǒu,wǒ méiyǒu pèiǒu。

No, I haven't got a spouse.

我结婚了。

Wǒ jiéhūn le。

Yes, I'm married.

我没有结婚。

Wǒ méiyǒu jiéhūn。

No, I'm not married.

我的地址是 [your address]。

Wǒde dìzhǐ shì [your address]。

My address is [your address].

我的电话号码是 [your number]。

Wǒde diànhuà hàomǎ shì [your number]。

My telephone number is [your number].

我的手机号码是 [your number]。

Wǒde shǒujī hàomǎ shì [your number]。

My cell phone number is [your number].

我的护照号码是 [your number]。

Wǒde hùzhào hàomǎ shì [your number]。

My passport number is [your number].

Filling out forms in Chinese

If you find yourself being asked to fill out forms with your personal details, you won’t get the complete questions that you’ve studied above. Instead, you’ll get short words or phrases.

姓名

xìngmíng

Name

国籍

guójí

Nationality

性别

xìngbié

Gender

年龄

niánlíng

Age

出生日期

chūshēng rìqī

Date of birth

地址

dìzhǐ

Address

电话号码

diànhuà hàomǎ

Telephone number

手机号码

shǒujī hàomǎ

Mobile number

护照号码

hùzhào hàomǎ

Passport number

Find out all about asking Chinese questions in this series of lessons. Make sure you listen to the audio and practice your Chinese pronunciation. And do the Chinese tests at the end of each lesson to reinforce your knowledge of Chinese questions!

回头见!Huítóu jiàn!

Lin Ping: Rocket Chinese

Make It Stick With Rocket Reinforcement

Reinforce your learning from this lesson with the Rocket Reinforcement activities!