疑问词的位置【yíwèncí de wèizhì】

A question word stays in the position the answer would occupy. Nothing moves to the front.

shén me什幺 stands exactly where 面条 stands. English moves "what" to the start of the sentence; the Chinese sentence leaves it in place.

Questions about the subject

When the question is about the subject, the question word comes first, because that is where the subject sits.

nǐ你de的lǎo shī老师shì是shéi谁？ is also correct. The two differ only in which noun is the topic.

The rest of the sentence is untouched

A time word stays before the verb, a place stays with 在 before the verb, and there is no "do" to add.

Building the answer from the question

Because the slot does not move, the answer is the question with the answer substituted in.

Common mistakes

The English order, with the question word pulled to the front, is wrong. So is 吗 on top of a question word, which already makes the sentence a question.

• × 哪儿你工作？ → 你在哪儿工作？
• × 你叫什么名字吗？ → 你叫什么名字？

With 吗, 什么 stops asking and means "anything".