Welcome to our new Chinese learning series – Ask Litao. In each video of this new series, we’re going to answer your questions about learning Chinese.

Today’s question is from a student who watched the first lesson of our elementary Chinese course.
In the email he wrote, “Now I know we can use 你是哪国人(Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén) to ask where a person comes from, but I also heard my Chinese friends say 你是哪里人(Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén), are the two questions the same?”

1. 你是哪国人(Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén)？
The literal translation: You are which country person?The real meaning: Which country are you from?

This question can only be used to ask which country somebody comes from. If someone asks you this question, they want to know your nationality, and your answer should be like:
我是美国人。
Wǒ shì Měiguórén.
I’m an American.

2. 你是哪里人(Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén)？
The literal translation: You are where person?
The real meaning: Where are you from?

We also use this question a lot in daily Chinese. 哪里(nǎlǐ) is a question word and means “where”, which we already learned it in lesson 03 of our elementary Chinese course. Actually this question can be used to ask not only which country someone comes from, but also which province or which city a person is from.

And it depends on the context to figure out what the exact meaning of this question is. For example, if you meet a Chinese person at the first time, and he/she doesn’t know which country you are from, in this situation the meaning of the question “你是哪里人(Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén)?” is the same as the meaning of “你是哪国人(Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén)?”. Which country you are from is what he/she wants to know, your answer should be the same, such as “我是美国人(Wǒ shì Měiguórén)”.

Here is another context, let’s say you have a Chinese colleague, of course you already know he/she is Chinese, and you would like to know the specific place he/she comes from, then you can use the question “你是哪里人(Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén)?”.
The answer you expect is like:
我是四川人
Wǒ shì Sìchuānrén.
I’m from Sichuan. (Sichuan is a province in southwestern China)
Or
我是北京人
Wǒ shì Běijīngrén.
I’m from Beijing.

Quick review:
The first question “你是哪国人(Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén)?” can only be used to ask which country someone is from.
The second question “你是哪里人(Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén)?” can be used to ask which country, which province or which city someone is from, but you need the context to find out the accurate meaning.

Welcome to our new Chinese learning series – Ask Litao. In each video of this new series, we’re going to answer your questions about learning Chinese.

Today’s question is from a student who watched the first lesson of our elementary Chinese course.
In the email he wrote, “Now I know we can use 你是哪国人(Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén) to ask where a person comes from, but I also heard my Chinese friends say 你是哪里人(Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén), are the two questions the same?”

1. 你是哪国人(Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén)？
The literal translation: You are which country person?The real meaning: Which country are you from?

This question can only be used to ask which country somebody comes from. If someone asks you this question, they want to know your nationality, and your answer should be like:
我是美国人。
Wǒ shì Měiguórén.
I’m an American.

2. 你是哪里人(Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén)？
The literal translation: You are where person?
The real meaning: Where are you from?

We also use this question a lot in daily Chinese. 哪里(nǎlǐ) is a question word and means “where”, which we already learned it in lesson 03 of our elementary Chinese course. Actually this question can be used to ask not only which country someone comes from, but also which province or which city a person is from.

And it depends on the context to figure out what the exact meaning of this question is. For example, if you meet a Chinese person at the first time, and he/she doesn’t know which country you are from, in this situation the meaning of the question “你是哪里人(Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén)?” is the same as the meaning of “你是哪国人(Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén)?”. Which country you are from is what he/she wants to know, your answer should be the same, such as “我是美国人(Wǒ shì Měiguórén)”.

Here is another context, let’s say you have a Chinese colleague, of course you already know he/she is Chinese, and you would like to know the specific place he/she comes from, then you can use the question “你是哪里人(Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén)?”.
The answer you expect is like:
我是四川人
Wǒ shì Sìchuānrén.
I’m from Sichuan. (Sichuan is a province in southwestern China)
Or
我是北京人
Wǒ shì Běijīngrén.
I’m from Beijing.

Quick review:
The first question “你是哪国人(Nǐ shì nǎ guó rén)?” can only be used to ask which country someone is from.
The second question “你是哪里人(Nǐ shì nǎlǐ rén)?” can be used to ask which country, which province or which city someone is from, but you need the context to find out the accurate meaning.