谁

Learning Chinese: How to Say "Who" in Chinese

Chinese Characters: 谁
Pinyin: shéi
Pronunciation: shei2
English Translation: Who

Usage:

"谁 (shéi)" is used to ask "who" in Chinese. It can be used in both questions and relative clauses.

Example:

Chinese: 这是谁的书？
Pinyin: Zhè shì shéi de shū?
English: Whose book is this?

Chinese: 我不知道他是谁。
Pinyin: Wǒ bù zhīdào tā shì shéi.
English: I don't know who he is.

Variations:

There are a few variations of "谁 (shéi)" that you may hear:

哪个 (nǎ ge): Can also be used to mean "who" or "which one."
例句：哪个是你最好的朋友？(Nǎ ge shì nǐ zuì hǎo de péngyou?) - Which one is your best friend?

什么人 (shén me rén): Literally means "what person," but can also be used to mean "who."
例句：是什么人偷了我的钱包？（Shì shén me rén tōu le wǒ de qiánbāo?）- Who stole my wallet?

Tips for Learning:

Practice saying "谁 (shéi)" out loud to improve your pronunciation.
Listen to native Chinese speakers saying "who" to get a sense of the natural rhythm and intonation.
Use "谁 (shéi)" in your daily conversations to practice using it in context.

Additional Notes:

"谁 (shéi)" is typically used to refer to people.
To ask "who" in a more general sense, you can use "什么 (shén me)", which means "what."
For example, to ask "Who is coming?" you would say "谁来了？(Shéi lái le?)", but to ask "What is coming?" you would say "什么来了？(Shén me lái le?)".