Question words — ask by swapping, not by moving
Chinese question words sit exactly where the answer would sit. To ask "What are you eating?", take 你吃面条 and swap the answer for the question word: 你吃什么？ Nothing moves to the front, and you never add 吗.
Structure
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Statement with the answer → swap in the question word
你吃面条 → 你吃什么？
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几 + measure word + noun
How many (expecting a small number).
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多少 + noun
How many/much (any number, no measure word needed).
How it works
English drags question words to the front ("What are you eating?"). Chinese leaves them exactly where the answer belongs. Say the answer sentence first, then replace the answer: 你吃面条 → 你吃什么？ 他是老师 → 他是谁？
The core set: 什么 (what), 谁 (who), 哪儿/哪里 (where), 什么时候 (when), 为什么 (why), 怎么 (how), 哪个 (which), 几 and 多少 (how many).
几 vs 多少: use 几 when you expect a small number (under about ten) and always with a measure word — 几个人？ Use 多少 for any quantity, and the measure word is optional — 多少钱？ (How much money?)
Because the question word carries the question, 吗 is forbidden. 你去哪儿吗？ is wrong; 你去哪儿？ is right.
Examples
Quick drill — 5 questions
Five fill-in-the-gap questions built from the example sentences above. No sign-up, no score kept — just a check that the pattern has actually landed.
Choose the word that belongs in the gap:
Common mistakes
| ✗ Wrong | ✓ Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 什么你吃？ | 你吃什么？ | Do not front the question word. It stays in the answer's slot. |
| 你去哪儿吗？ | 你去哪儿？ | One question marker per sentence — the question word already did the work. |
| 你有多少个哥哥？ | 你有几个哥哥？ | Small, countable numbers take 几. 多少 sounds like you expect dozens. |
Question words stay in place — frequently asked questions
How do you ask "what" in Chinese?
什么 (shénme), placed exactly where the answer would go: 你吃什么？ (What are you eating?), 这是什么？ (What is this?). Never move it to the front of the sentence the way English does.
What is the difference between 几 and 多少?
几 (jǐ) asks about a small number, usually under ten, and always takes a measure word: 几个人？ (how many people?). 多少 (duōshao) asks about any quantity and does not need one: 多少钱？ (how much money?), 多少学生？ (how many students?).
Do Chinese questions with question words need 吗?
No — and adding it is an error. 什么, 谁, 哪儿 and the rest already mark the sentence as a question, so 你去哪儿吗？ is ungrammatical. Use 你去哪儿？
How do you ask "why" and "how" in Chinese?
为什么 (wèishénme) for why — 你为什么不来？ (Why aren't you coming?). 怎么 (zěnme) for how — 这个字怎么写？ (How do you write this character?). 怎么样 (zěnmeyàng) asks "how is it?" as an opinion — 中国菜怎么样？
Next, learn
Put it to work
Drill the vocabulary for this level on the HSK 1 word list, rebuild scrambled sentences in the Sentence Builder, read graded stories that use this pattern in the story library, or follow a step-by-step route through the whole site in Guided Learning Paths.