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 question words
Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record
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).

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.
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!
- Asking the right questions in Chinese.
- Learn the correct use of When? in Chinese.
- Asking "Where?" in Chinese.
回头见!Huítóu jiàn!
Lin Ping: Rocket Chinese