Stack Exchange network consists of 178 Q&A communities includingStack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.
Visit Stack Exchange

your communities

Chinese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Chinese language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
Anybody can ask a question
Anybody can answer
The best answers are voted up and rise to the top
Asked3 years, 7 months ago
Viewed 2k times
I saw one of my friends used "你是哪个人" to ask where you are from in China. I thought it is the valid expression to date.
However, I just used it to a Chinese people and she didn't understand it. So I wonder whether it is a correct way to ask where she is from in China.
My question:
Is 你是哪个人 the valid sentence?
If it is not, what is the correct way of asking "Where are you from (in China)?"? I know 你是哪国人 is what you use to ask where she is from, country-wise. Maybe 你是哪里人 is close to it but is it correct? Otherwise what is the best way to ask where a person is from within a country, without a chance of getting an answer as "中国"?
Follow
askedDec 16 '17 at 23:58
5,20333 gold badges1818 silver badges6363 bronze badges
1

3 Answers

No, "你是哪个人" doesn't make much sense here. It translates into "Which one you are?".
Instead, you shall say "你是哪里人" as you have put.
If you are looking at the picture and you cannot recognize which one is your friend. You will probably ask "哪个人是你" literally means "Which one (in the picture) is you?"
58822 silver badges1010 bronze badges
answeredDec 17 '17 at 0:22
55122 silver badges1010 bronze badges
5
Native speaker here.
Is 你是哪个人 the valid sentence?
Grammatically, yes, but it doesn't make much sense, as the other answer says. It can be used, however, casually when you start talking over the phone with someone you don't recognize. Formally used as 你是哪位 or "Who am I speaking with", etc.
If it is not, what is the correct way of asking "Where are you from (in China)?"?
"你是哪里人" is absolutely correct and commonly used. Variants including "你是哪里的", "你是哪儿的" sounds more natural and less formal.
Follow
answeredDec 17 '17 at 4:03
2111 bronze badge
First of all, "你是哪个人" is a wrong sentence in any way, not a valid sentence.
If you want to ask people come from which city or province, you can ask
你是哪里人?,Where you come from?, People will answercountry/province/citydepends on what he/she wants to answer.你来自中国哪里?,Where you come from in China?, People will answerprovince/citydepends on what he/she wants to answer.你来自哪个省?,Which province you come from?, People will only answerprovince.你来自哪个城市?,Which city you come from?, People will only answercity.
You can make the sentence:Subject+是+哪里/哪国/哪个省/哪个城市+(with or without“的”)+人?,Subject+来自+“country/province/city”+哪里?
All the question above for asking people‘sbornlocation or Where theygrow upor even Where theyadmit.
5,20333 gold badges1818 silver badges6363 bronze badges
answeredDec 17 '17 at 8:36
2111 bronze badge
4

Your Answer

Thanks for contributing an answer to Chinese Language Stack Exchange!
Please be sure toanswer the question. Provide details and share your research!
Butavoid …
Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Submit

Post as a guest

Name
Email
Required, but never shown
Post Your AnswerDiscard
Featured on Meta
Planned maintenance scheduled for Wednesday, July 28 at 12:00am UTC (Tuesday…
Related
23
What is the exact meaning of 吃豆腐, and where does the expression come from?
4
What phrases in Cantonese are thought to be colloquial but are actually used in Mandarin?
5
How do you say “You mean …?” to respond to what you don't understand enough?
How does iPhone still recognize Airpods even with turned off bluetooth?
Subscribe to RSS
Question feedTo subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader.
Your privacy
By clicking “Accept all cookies”, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with ourCookie Policy.
Customize settings