How many ways are there to ask “where are you from” in Chinese? LOTS.

by John Pasden in language

As an English speaker, you may be tempted to think that “where are you from?” is a super basic question. Just 4 words, right? How hard could it be? Well, for this particular question, in the particular language of Mandarin Chinese, it can be phrased more than 10 different ways.

Before I get into this, let’s be clear: I’m not trying to say Chinese is super difficult to learn, or that beginners can’t learn it. No no no no. I may personally feel that the language is kinda hard to learn, but Chinese is not bad at all when it comes to sentence structure in particular. BUT, it’s not unreasonable for beginners to assume that the question “where are you from?” is super straightforward, with just one way to express it in Chinese. And it’s that little assumption that I’m destroying here. You may have to put forward just a bit more effort on this one.

The Swappable Words

A big part of the problem is that in the question “where are you from,” pretty much every part of the sentence can be expressed in multiple ways. Let’s break it down:

where: 哪里 , 哪儿 , 什么地方 , 哪个国家

So the first two are the most common and should be learned first, but you will hear the others as well, so you have to learn them sooner or later

, , , So the first two are the most common and should be learned first, but you will hear the others as well, so you have to learn them sooner or later are… from: 从……来 , 来自 , 是……的

There aren’t one-to-one translations, they’re roughly corresponding structure. See below for more clarity here.

, , There aren’t one-to-one translations, they’re roughly corresponding structure. See below for more clarity here. you: 你

OK, this one you don’t have to worry about much, at least!

The Structures

I live in Shanghai, so I’m going to pick 哪里 and stick with it for these examples. Just keep in mind that most of the others probably work as well.

你从哪里来？ (Nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái?)

nǎlǐ lái?) 你来自哪里？ (Nǐ láizì nǎlǐ?)

nǎlǐ?) 你是哪里人？ (Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén ?)

nǎlǐ ?) 你是哪里的？ (Nǐ shì nǎlǐ de ?)

nǎlǐ ?) 你是（从）哪里来的？ (Nǐ shì (cóng) nǎlǐ lái de?)

The Big “Where are you from?” List

OK, now let’s put all these words and structures together and see how many sentences we can come up with!

你从哪里来？ (Nǐ cóng nǎli lái?) 你从哪儿来？ (Nǐ cóng nǎr lái?) 你从什么地方来？ (Nǐ cóng shénme dìfang lái?) 你从哪个国家来？ (Nǐ cóng nǎge guójiā lái?) 你来自哪里？ (Nǐ láizì nǎli?) 你来自哪儿？ (Nǐ láizì nǎr?) 你来自么地方来？ (Nǐ láizì má dìfang lái?) 你来自哪个国家？ (Nǐ láizì nǎge guójiā?) 你是哪里人？ (Nǐ shì nǎli rén?) 你是哪儿人？ (Nǐ shì nǎr rén?) 你是什么地方的人？ (Nǐ shì shénme dìfang de rén?) 你是哪个国家的人？ (Nǐ shì nǎge guójiā de rén?) 你是哪里的？ (Nǐ shì nǎli de?) 你是哪儿的？ (Nǐ shì nǎr de?) 你是什么地方的？ (Nǐ shì shénme dìfang de?) 你是哪个国家的？ (Nǐ shì nǎge guójiā de?) 你是（从）哪里来的？ (Nǐ shì (cóng) nǎli lái de?) 你是（从）哪儿来的？ (Nǐ shì (cóng) nǎr lái de?) 你是（从）什么地方来的？ (Nǐ shì (cóng) shénme dìfang lái de?) 你是（从）哪个国家来的？ (Nǐ shì (cóng) nǎge guójiā lái de?)

Wow, that’s kind of a lot. The good news is that there a few that are used much more often than the others. Different native speakers will have different opinions on which ones are the most common, and it’s also partially dependent on region.

The “Where are you from?” Shortlist

You’ll hear lots of these in China, but after I asked a bunch of Chinese teachers, the most common favorites were:

你是哪里人？ (Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén?) — popular with southerners 你是哪儿人？(Nǐ shì nǎr rén?) — popular with northerners 你是哪个国家的？ (Nǐ shì nǎge guójiā de?)

What might be surprising is that the question which most learners start with is not in the list:

你从哪里来？ (Nǐ cóng nǎlǐ lái?) 你从哪儿来？ (Nǐ cóng nǎr lái?)

When asked, the teachers say that’s because it sounds a bit formal (same with using 来自). That doesn’t mean that a beginner shouldn’t use it, though… it’s still fine.

Learner Shortcuts

So I bet you want to just pick one, memorize it, and use it exclusively, right? That’s fine. You can do that.

BUT, that’s not necessarily going to help you when you talk to random strangers in China. They are going to ask you where you’re from, and that’s when the big “Wheel of ‘where are you from?’” is spun, and the gods determine your fate.

Rather than memorizing 20 “where are you from” question forms, go with your gut. If you just started chatting, and you hear a 哪里 or a 哪儿 (exception: taxi drivers!), and maybe a 国家 or a 地方 or a 的 on the end, just assume they’re asking where you’re from. This usually works.

Pro tip: Also be sure to answer in a complete sentence. Something like: “我是美国人。“. This way if you guessed wrong about what the person was asking, that person won’t be too confused by your answer.

Conclusions

I’m not saying you have to learn 20 ways to ask “where are you from?”

I am saying that if you are feeling frustrated because you’ve been studying for a while, but you still sometimes can’t understand the simple question “where are you from?” that there is actually a good reason, and it’s the fault of the Chinese language, not your fault.

Over time, you will get these. It’s just a little more work than memorizing one sentence.

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