Question words are another way to ask questions in Chinese. They are simple to use and don’t change the sentence structure at all.
Structure
You simply replace the element you want to ask about by the right question word and you’ve formed a question!
Example
If you want to ask who with 谁
他 是谁？
Who is he?
他 是我 爸爸。
He is my dad.
If you want to ask where with 哪儿
学校 在|哪儿？
Where is the school ?
学校 在北京。
The school is in Beijing.
If you want to ask when with 什么时候
你 什么时候 去 中国？
When are you going to China?
我 下个月 去 中国。
I’m going next month.
An overview of the main question words
谁: who
哪: which
哪儿: where
什么: which/what
几: how many (for numbers below 10)
多少: how many (for numbers 10 and above)
怎么: how
怎么样: how
为什么: why
什么时候: when