How To Say “What?” In Chinese.
什么 is one of the earliest and most important Chinese question words because it opens up a huge range of practical conversations. Once learners can ask what something is, what someone wants, or what is happening, their usable Chinese expands quickly.
10-Second Listening Challenge
Our podcasts are designed to teach usable, scenario-based Chinese. Try listening to these sample phrases related to this topic to see how native Chinese sounds in daily conversation:
这是什么？
Zhè shì shénme?
What is this?
你在看什么？
Nǐ zài kàn shénme?
What are you looking at?
你要吃什么？
Nǐ yào chī shénme?
What do you want to eat?
Core Question Block
什么 appears in basic identity questions, preference questions, and many everyday interaction patterns.
Fast Combinational Payoff
It combines well with early verbs and sentence frames, so learners can build many useful questions from one small block.
Great for Audio Learning
Question words work especially well in podcast-style lessons because learners hear the same shape in natural back-and-forth conversation.
Why This Is Such A Strong Beginner Word
Weak Beginner Teaching
- Teaches the word only as a dictionary gloss
- Does not show real question patterns
- Misses the combinational payoff
Useful Beginner Teaching
- Shows real spoken questions immediately
- Connects the word to known phrases and verbs
- Builds listening and speaking together
Start With the Free Lessons
Start with the public units if you want to see how Speak1000 teaches spoken Chinese through listening, transcript support, and reusable sentence building.
Best For
- Beginners learning practical question patterns
- Learners building early conversation ability
- People who want reusable spoken Chinese blocks