How to Use ne 呢 (HSK 1)
June 30, 2021
ne 呢 is one of the few HSK 1 grammar points that you must master when preparing for your HSK.
ne 呢 is a Chinese question word that has no meaning on its own (this is also called a modal particle).
Though it has many different uses in Chinese, this article will focus on how to use ne 呢 at the HSK 1 level, including using ne 呢 to ask follow-up questions, and using ne 呢 to ask about something or someone's whereabouts.
How to use ne 呢 to ask "what about X?" in Chinese?
The first use of ne 呢 is to create a “bounce-back” question by adding ne 呢 to the end of a sentence. In other words, ne 呢 can mean, “How about X?” or “What about X?”
The grammatical structure for using ne 呢 to ask about "How about X?" or "What about X" is:
Topic + 呢
For example:
A: 你好吗？
Nǐ hǎo ma?
How are you?
B: 我很好。你呢 ？
Wǒ hěn hǎo. Nǐ ne?
I am fine. How about you?
Here is another example of a sentence using ne 呢 to ask “What about X?” in Chinese:
北京很冷。上海呢？
Běijīng hěn lěng. Shànghǎi ne?
Beijing is very cold. What about Shanghai?
How to use ne 呢 to ask about location in Chinese?
ne 呢 can also be used to inquire about the location of someone or something. In this case, ne 呢 can also mean, “Where is X?” added to the end of the sentence.
Be careful: ne 呢 here is not used for asking directions. Instead, this ne 呢 structure is used to express surprise, implying that the object should be here, but it is not. The meaning of ne 呢 in these sentences is similar to asking “Where did it go?” or “Why is it not here?”
The grammatical structure for using ne 呢 to ask about the location of something someone missing is:
Missing person or thing + 呢
For example:
我的手机呢？
Wǒ de shǒujī ne?
Where is my cellphone?
(My cellphone should be here, where did it go?)
张老师呢？
Zhāng lǎoshī ne?
Where is Teacher Zhang?
(Teacher Zhang should be here, where are they?)
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About the Author
Eden has been learning Chinese since 2008. She fell in love with the language, food, and culture and never looked back! Eden lived in China for six years, including in Harbin, Beijing, and Dali.
