疑问代词
Interrogatives

从第一级起你就在问“你叫什么名字？”“他是谁？”“你是哪国人？”，第四级又学了“你怎么去？”。你大概早就发现了：汉语问问题的时候，词不往前跑，句子的样子跟回答一模一样。这就是第三类代词——疑问代词。

Since level 1 you have been asking 你叫什么名字, 他是谁, 你是哪国人, and since level 4 你怎么去. You have probably noticed the pattern: when Chinese asks a question, nothing moves to the front — the question looks exactly like its answer. That is the third class of pronoun.

“谁”口语读 shéi，正式的读音是 shuí，两个都对。要分清楚“怎么”和“怎么样”：“怎么”问方式——“你怎么去？”“坐地铁。”“怎么样”问情况和看法——“这本书怎么样？”“很有意思。”“怎么”还常常带一点惊讶的意思：“你怎么没来？”另外，“哪”跟“这”“那”一样，后面要有量词：哪本书、哪个人。

谁 is shéi in speech and shuí in formal reading; both are correct. Keep 怎么 and 怎么样 apart: 怎么 asks by what means (你怎么去 — 坐地铁), 怎么样 asks what something is like (这本书怎么样 — 很有意思). 怎么 also carries surprise: 你怎么没来 is 'how come you didn't come?'. And 哪 behaves like 这 and 那 — it needs a measure word.

英语的问句要把疑问词提到最前面，还要换语序（Where are you going?）。汉语什么都不动：不知道的是宾语，疑问代词就留在宾语的位置；不知道的是主语，它就留在主语的位置——“谁是你的老师？”所以，学汉语的问句，其实就是学会把一个词换成另一个词。

English drags the question word to the front and reshuffles the rest (Where are you going?). Chinese moves nothing. If the unknown is the object, the interrogative sits in the object's place; if it is the subject, it sits in the subject's place — 谁是你的老师. Learning Chinese questions is learning to swap one word for another.

“吗”问的是“是不是”，回答只有两个：去，或者不去。疑问代词问的是内容，回答是一个词、一个地方、一个人。两种问法各做各的事，放在一起就错了：不能说“你去哪儿吗”。

吗 asks yes or no, and the answer is 去 or 不去. An interrogative asks for content, and the answer is a word, a place, a person. Each does its own job; putting both in one sentence is simply wrong.

这是汉语很省力的一个办法：不用另造“anything”“everyone”“nowhere”这些词，把疑问代词放在动词前面，加上“都”或者“也”就行了。句子是肯定的，意思是“全部”；句子是否定的，意思是“一个也没有”。注意位置：这时候“什么”“哪儿”都要走到动词前面去。

This is one of the language's economies: instead of coining anything, everyone, nowhere, Chinese moves the question word in front of the verb and adds 都 or 也. In a positive sentence it means 'all'; in a negative one, 'not a single one'. Mind the position — 什么 and 哪儿 come before the verb here, not after it.