The extended uses of interrogative pronouns

The extended uses of interrogative pronouns

谁 / 什么 / 什么时候 / 几 / 多少 / 怎么 / 哪儿 / 哪

We have learned that these pronouns can be used in interrogative sentences.

General denotation

These interrogative pronouns can also refer to an arbitrary element, indicating “anyone” or “all of them.” In this case, it doesn’t indicate a question. It can be any person, anything, any place, any manner, etc.

（无论 / 不管）+ Interrogative pronoun + 都

e.g.

谁都喜欢这本书。(Shéi dōu xǐhuān zhè běn shū.) Everyone likes this book.

我无论吃什么都可以。(Wǒ wúlùn chī shénme dōu kěyǐ.) It’s okay for me to eat whatever.

你什么时候来看我都行。(Nǐ shénme shíhòu lái kàn wǒ dōu xíng.) You can come to see me anytime.

明天我们不管几点起床都可以。(Míngtiān wǒmen bùguǎn jǐ diǎn qǐchuáng dōu kěyǐ.) We can get up tomorrow no matter what time.

我哪儿都不想去。(Wǒ nǎr dōu bùxiǎng qù.) I don’t want to go anywhere.

这件事你想怎么对他说都没问题。(Zhè jiàn shì nǐ xiǎng zěnme duì tā shuō dōu méi wèntí.) It doesn’t matter how you want to tell him about it.

Interrogative pronoun + Interrogative pronoun

Here in this pattern, two interrogative pronouns have to be the same one.

e.g.

我请客，你们想吃什么吃什么。(Wǒ qǐngkè, nǐmen xiǎng chī shénme chī shénme.) It’s my treat. Eat whatever you want.

谁想吃火锅谁就得去买菜。(Shéi xiǎng chī huǒguō shéi jiù děi qù mǎi cài.) Whoever wants to eat hot pot has to go shopping.

今天有多少人来吃饭就准备多少个碗。(Jīntiān yǒu duōshǎo rén lái chīfàn jiù zhǔnbèi duōshǎo gè wǎn.) Prepare as many bowls as there are people coming to eat today.

你想几点去超市就几点去。(Nǐ xiǎng jǐ diǎn qù chāoshì jiù jǐ diǎn qù.) You can go to the supermarket whenever you want.

这个字，老师怎么读，你们就怎么读。(Zhège zì, lǎoshī zěnme dú, nǐmen jiù zěnme dú.) You can read this word as the teacher reads it.

我自己去旅游，想去哪儿就去哪儿。(Wǒ zìjǐ qù lǚyóu, xiǎng qù nǎr jiù qù nǎr.) I travel by myself and I can go wherever I want.

谁 + …… Verb + 谁

Here in this pattern, these two “谁” can be the same person, or they can be different persons.

e.g.

The same person:

我不喜欢面条。谁想吃谁去做。(Wǒ bù xǐhuān miàntiáo. Shéi xiǎng chī shéi qù zuò.) I don’t like noodles. Whoever wants to eat should make it themselves.

谁要请假谁去跟老板说。(Shéi yào qǐngjià shéi qù gēn lǎobǎn shuō.) Whoever wants to take a leave of absence should tell the boss themselves.

The different persons:

他们自己做自己的工作，谁也不帮谁。(Tāmen zìjǐ zuò zìjǐ de gōngzuò, shéi yě bù bāng shéi.) They do their own work and don’t help each other.

这对夫妻吵架了，谁也不理谁。(Zhè duì fūqī chǎojiàle, shéi yě bù lǐ shéi.) The couple quarreled, and neither of them paid any attention to the other.

Non-Identifiable reference

These interrogative pronouns can be used as a functional reference to things that the speaker doesn’t want to specify or cannot identify.

e.g.

我们什么时候去公园玩吧。(Wǒmen shénme shíhòu qù gōngyuán wán ba.) Let’s go to the park sometime.

>> We are going to the park, but the time is not sure.

 

时间不够了，我随便吃点儿什么吧。(Shíjiān búgòule, wǒ suíbiàn chī diǎnr shénme ba.) Time is running out, let me have something to eat.

>> I will eat something, but what I’m gonna eat is not sure.

 

我不知道怎么这些字全部写错了。(Wǒ bù zhīdào zěnme zhèxiē zì quánbù xiě cuòle.) I don’t know why these words are all wrong.

>> It emphasizes the result that the characters are written wrongly.

 

这个人我在哪儿见到过。(Zhège rén wǒ zài nǎr jiàn dào guò.) I met this person somewhere.

>> It emphasizes that I met this person before, but not sure about the location.