Using 呢 for “what about…?”

Q: How to pronounce 呢?

呢 is pronounced ‘ne’, with a neutral tone .

Q: What are some examples with 呢?

今天我不累，你呢？ jīntiān wǒ bù lèi, nǐ ne? | I’m not tired today, how about you? 我的手机呢？ wǒ de shǒujī ne? | Where is my phone? 你要哪个呢？ nǐ yào nǎge ne? | Which one do you want? 我没时间玩，忙着呢。 wǒ méi shíjiān wán, máng zhene. | I don’t have time to play, I’m busy.

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HOW TO USE 呢?

呢 (ne) i is often used as an interrogative particle at the end of interrogative sentences with the three most important usages:

Asking “what about” questions
Asking whereabouts of someone or something
Expressing curiosity

It can also be used at the end or middle of a statement as a modal particle.

“WHAT ABOUT…?” WITH 呢

Using 呢 is a simple way to return the question that you’ve just been asked. It can be translated as “and you?“ or ”what about you?”.

PATTERN

(answer) + 你 (nǐ) / 你们 (nǐmen) + 呢 (ne)

^{nǐ hǎo ma?}

你好吗？

_{How are you?}

^{wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?}

我很好，你呢?

_{I am great, what about you?}

View More Phrases

今天你累吗？	jīntiān nǐ lèi ma?	Are you tired today?
不累，你呢?	bù lèi, nǐ ne?	Not tired, how about you?

你想喝什么？	nǐ xiǎng hē shénme?	What do you want to drink?
我想喝咖啡，你们呢？	wǒ xiǎng hē kāfēi, nǐmen ne?	I want to drink coffee, how about you?

呢 (ne) can also be used in more general contexts, as an equivalent to the English “what about…?” or “how about…?”.

It is usually used when the speakers have already asked a similar question and don’t want to repeat the question all over again.

PATTERN

Subject + 呢 (ne)?

^{xīngqí’èr nǐ yǒu kòng ma?}

星期二你有空吗?

_{Are you free on Tuesday?}

^méiyǒu.

没有。

_{I am not.}

^{xīngqísān ne?}

星期三呢？

_{How about Wednesday?}

WHEREABOUTS OF SOMEONE/SOMEBODY

When you hear people seemingly use the 呢 (ne) without any context, they are usually asking where someone or something is, and they expect that the person or thing to be there somewhere.

For example, you are meeting with two of your friends, John and Peter, by the school gate, and when you go there only John shows up…

You can just ask John “彼得（Peter）呢?” It is used to express “How come the person or the thing is not here? Where did the person or the thing go?”

PATTERN

Person/thing + 呢 (ne)?

^{māmā ne?}

妈妈呢？

_{Where’s mom?
(who is supposed to be around here)}

^{wǒ de shǒujī ne?}

我的手机呢？

_{Where’s my mobile phone?
(which is supposed to be around here)}

EXPRESSING CURIOSITY WITH 呢

呢 (ne) can be used in a multiple-choice question or open question to produce a casual, relaxed, and friendly tone, which emphasise that people are curious, interested, happy, or eager to find out the answer.

呢 (ne) can be translated as “I am wondering” or “I am interested to know”.

PATTERN

Choice questions + 呢 (ne)?

^{míngtiān wǒmen shàng bù shàng shùxué kè ne?}

明天我们上不上数学课呢？

_{Will we have math class tomorrow?}

^{zhège hǎobù hào chī ne?}

这个好不好吃呢？

_{Is this delicious?}

PATTERN

Open questions + 呢 (ne)?

^{nǐmen qù nǎ’er ne?}

你们去哪儿呢？

_{Where are you going?}

^{wǒmen zěnme qù yīyuàn ne?}

我们怎么去医院呢？

_{How do we get to the hospital?}

All these questions are grammatically correct without 呢 (ne), but by adding 呢 (ne) at the end, the speakers imply that they are curious about the answer and are eager to find it out.

NOTE || Do not use 呢 (ne) and 吗 (ma) together and do not replace 吗 (ma) with 呢 (ne)。

他明天去吗？✅
他明天去吗呢？❌

You can use a choice question+ 呢 (ne) or an open question + 呢 (ne) to substitute：

他明天去不去呢？✅
他什么时候去呢？✅

ALTERNATIVE QUESTIONS WITH 还是 (háishi)

When 呢 is used in an alternative question, it will be placed after the two options provided, which are commonly connected by “还是 (háishi)”.

“呢” after the latter option can be omitted.

PATTERN

Option 1 + 呢，还是 + Option 2 (+ 呢)

^{wǒmen jīntiān zàijiā chīfàn ne, háishì qù fàndiàn chīfàn (ne)?}

我们今天在家吃饭呢，还是去饭店吃饭（呢）？

_{Shall we have dinner at home today, or go to the restaurant for dinner?}

^{wǒ dōu kěyǐ.}

我都可以。

_{I can do both}

View More Phrases

^{nǐ shénme shíhòu chūguó liúxué? Míngnián ne, háishì hòu nián (ne)?}

你什么时候出国留学？明年呢，还是后年（呢）？

_{When will you study abroad? Next year, or the year after?}

^{wǒ hái méiyǒu xiǎng hǎo.}

我还没有想好。

_{I haven’t figured it out yet.}

呢 IN RHETORICAL QUESTIONS

“呢” can also be used in rhetorical questions to soften the tone.

You can remove “呢” can be removed without changing the meaning, but it will make the tone of the question tougher.

PATTERN

Rhetorical questions + 呢？

^{kǎoshì zhème jiǎndān, nǐ zěnme huì bù jígé ní?}

考试这么简单，你怎么会不及格呢？

_{The exam is so simple, how can you fail?}

^{wǒ nǎ li yǒu qián mǎi fángzi ní?}

我哪里有钱买房子呢？

_{Where can I have money to buy a house?}

呢 AT THE END OF A STATEMENT

呢 at the end of the statement can express the meaning of convincing someone of something, which conveys a tone of affirmation and slight exaggeration.

^{wǒ děi huí jiāle.}

我得回家了。
I have to go home.

^{zài zuò huì er, xiànzài hái hěn zǎo ne.}

再坐会儿，现在还很早呢。

_{Sit for a while, it’s still early.}

呢 at the end of a statement can also indicate a continuous state, suggesting to pay attention.

PATTERN

正(zhèng)……呢、V+着 (zhe)……呢、……着 (zhe) 呢

^{bié qù zhǎo bàba, tā zhèng shēngqì ne.}

别去找爸爸，他正生气呢。

_{Don’t go to Dad, he is angry.}

^{wǒ méi shíjiān wán, máng zhene.}

我没时间玩，忙着呢。

_{I don’t have time to play, I’m busy.}

呢 IN THE MIDDLE OF A STATEMENT

When 呢 is used in the middle of a sentence, it usually denotes a pause and draws the listener’s attention to what is said after the pause.

It sometimes has a comparative meaning.

小王喜欢安静，小李呢，喜欢热闹。	xiǎo wáng xǐhuān ānjìng, xiǎo lǐ ne, xǐhuān rènào.	Xiao Wang likes peace, and Xiao Li likes lively.
我在学校当老师，姐姐呢，在公司做职员。	wǒ zài xuéxiào dāng lǎoshī, jiějiě ne, zài gōngsī zuò zhíyuán.	I work as a teacher at school, and my sister works as a clerk in the company.

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FAQs

What is 呢?

呢 is one of the most common particles in Mandarin Chinese and has a wide range of uses.

How to use 呢?

It is often used as an interrogative particle at the end of interrogative sentences with three most important usages: asking “what about” questions, asking whereabouts of someone or something, and expressing curiosity.

Some common sentence structures are:

(answer) + 你 (nǐ) / 你们 (nǐmen) + 呢 (ne) ?

person/thing + 呢 (ne)?

Choice questions + 呢 (ne)?

Option 1 + 呢，还是 + Option 2 (+ 呢)?

How to pronounce 呢?

呢 is pronounced ‘ne’, with a neutral tone.

What are some examples with 呢?

今天我不累，你呢？jīntiān wǒ bù lèi, nǐ ne? | I’m not tired today, how about you?

我的手机呢？wǒ de shǒujī ne? | Where is my phone?

你要哪个呢？ nǐ yào nǎge ne? | Which one do you want?

我没时间玩，忙着呢。wǒ méi shíjiān wán, máng zhene. | I don’t have time to play, I’m busy.

What are some other particles I should learn?

You should definitely learn about the particle 的 since it is very often used (and is the most common character of the language!).

吧 is another common particle to learn.

Other very useful grammar to master is the difference between 不 and 没 as well as 还是 and 或者.

You can find more Chinese grammar lessons for multiple levels here.

Is learning Chinese difficult?

As with any foreign languages learning Chinese comes with a few challenges, however if your interest in the language is genuine and you are determined to study it, you’ll overcome the difficult parts more easily.

The Chinese language follows a Subject + Verb + Object pattern, just like many European languages, and do not conjugate verbs, so that’s a good start!

Chinese Grammar Bank

HOW TO USE 呢?

“WHAT ABOUT…?” WITH 呢

PATTERN

PATTERN

WHEREABOUTS OF SOMEONE/SOMEBODY

PATTERN

EXPRESSING CURIOSITY WITH 呢

PATTERN

PATTERN

ALTERNATIVE QUESTIONS WITH 还是 (háishi)

PATTERN

呢 IN RHETORICAL QUESTIONS

PATTERN

呢 AT THE END OF A STATEMENT

PATTERN

呢 IN THE MIDDLE OF A STATEMENT

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FAQs

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