The interrogative 呢 ne

The interrogative (question particle) 呢 ne is placed at the end of a sentence or phrase. It is used in the following situations.

1. To bounce a question back to the person you are having a conversation with, as in:
   1. A: 你好吗 ? nĭ hăo ma? how are you?
   2. B: 我很好. 你呢? wǒ hěn hăo. nĭ ne I am very well, and you?
2. To ask the question where? as in

   我的书呢 ?

   wǒ de shū ne

   Where is my book?

呢 ne can also be used to reinforce questions that are formed with question-words such as who, what, which, when, why and where (See below) and to show that the speaker really would like to know the answers. For instance,

他在哪儿呢

tā zài năr ne

Where IS he?

你看的是什么书呢?

nĭ kàn de shì shénme shū ne

What book ARE you reading?

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Assignments

Translate the following sentences into Chinese (2,ne)

1. I am very well, and you?
2. My mother is very busy and yours?
3. Where is my friend?
4. Where is my mother?