Introducing 谁 (shéi): Asking "Who?"

1. Deconstructing the Character: 谁 (shéi)

True to your preferred analytical approach, let's start by breaking down the character 谁. This character is a perfect example of a phono-semantic compound, a concept we touched on in Module 4. It's composed of two parts that give clues to its meaning and sound.

To understand its structure, please examine the "Character Structure" section of the following resource.

As you saw, 谁 (shéi) is composed of:

• The semantic (meaning) radical: 讠(yán). This is on the left side and is known as the "speech radical." It is derived from the character 言 (yán), meaning speech or words. Its presence suggests the character has something to do with speaking or asking.
• The phonetic (sound) component: 隹 (zhuī). This component on the right side provides the phonetic clue to the character's pronunciation. While zhuī and shéi aren't identical, you will often find such partial sound clues in phono-semantic characters.

Pronunciation:
The standard pronunciation is shéi, with a rising second tone. You may sometimes hear it pronounced shuí, but shéi is more common and easier to distinguish from the word for water, 水 (shuǐ).

Let's hear a native speaker explain this.

2. Writing 谁 (shéi)

Now that you understand its components, let's practice writing it. Remember the basic stroke order rules: left to right, top to bottom. For 谁, you write the left radical 讠 first, then the right component 隹.

Use the following resource to master the stroke order.

3. Using 谁 (shéi) in Questions

The grammar for using question words like 谁 is straightforward and elegant. In English, you often have to reorder the sentence ("He is John" -> "Who is he?"). In Mandarin, you simply replace the noun you are asking about with the question word. The word order of the statement remains the same.

Let's see this in action. The following video explains this "replace the answer with the question word" rule very clearly.

Here are some examples using vocabulary you already know:

• Statement: 他是学生。(Tā shì xuéshēng.) - He is a student.

• Question: 谁是学生？(Shéi shì xuéshēng?) - Who is a student?

• Statement: 她是我妈妈。(Tā shì wǒ māma.) - She is my mom.

• Question: 她是谁？(Tā shì shéi?) - Who is she?

• Statement: 我想喝茶。(Wǒ xiǎng hē chá.) - I would like to drink tea.

• Question: 谁想喝茶？(Shéi xiǎng hē chá?) - Who would like to drink tea?

4. Answering "Who" Questions

Answering a question with 谁 follows the same logic. You simply replace 谁 with the answer. The structure remains intact. This is sometimes called the "quote and replace" method.

Example:

• Question: 谁是中国人？ (Shéi shì Zhōngguó rén?) - Who is Chinese?
• Answer: 他是中国人。(Tā shì Zhōngguó rén.) - He is Chinese.

5. Practice

Let's put it all together. Try to form the following questions in Chinese.

1. You see a woman and want to ask your friend, "Who is she?"
2. You want to know which person in a group has a book. How do you ask, "Who has a book?"
3. You know someone is a student, and you want to ask your teacher who it is. How do you ask, "Who is the student?"

Answers:

1. 她是谁？(Tā shì shéi?)
2. 谁有书？(Shéi yǒu shū?)
3. 谁是学生？(Shéi shì xuéshēng?)

Conclusion

Excellent work today. You've not only learned a new character but also a fundamental principle of Chinese grammar that will apply to many other question words.

Key Takeaways:

• The character 谁 (shéi) is a phono-semantic compound: the 讠(yán) radical indicates 'speech,' and 隹 (zhuī) provides a phonetic clue.
• It is pronounced shéi (2nd tone).
• To form a "who" question, you simply replace the noun/person in a statement with 谁. The sentence order does not change.
• To answer, you do the reverse: replace 谁 with the noun/person who is the answer.

Preview of the Next Lesson:

We will continue expanding your ability to ask questions. In the next lesson, we will learn two more crucial question words: 哪 (nǎ - which) and 几 (jǐ - how many). This will allow you to ask for specifics, such as "which person?" or "how many students?".