How to Say "Where" in Mandarin

哪里

nǎlǐ

To say where in Mandarin, use 哪里 (nǎlǐ), which asks at or in what place.

哪里 is the everyday question word for asking about a place or location.

Meaning: at or in what place (adv)

Is it said differently in some regions?

In Beijing and much of northern China, speakers often use a form with an r ending instead, while 哪里 is standard in writing and in the south.

哪里 usually comes after the verb or after 在, rather than at the start of the question as in English.

It is romanized as nǎlǐ.

Do not move 哪里 to the front of the sentence as English does with where. Keep it in the place where the answer would go.

If someone praises you, replying with 哪里 (nǎlǐ) is a common way to show modesty. In this context, it does not ask a question but acts like saying 'how could that be' or 'not at all'.
In formal or poetic contexts, you might see 何处 (héchù) used instead of 哪里. This version is rarely spoken in daily life but is frequent in classical literature and song lyrics.
While 哪里 asks for a location, the character 哪 (nǎ) is also used to form the word for 'which'. This means the same root character handles both spatial location and selection of objects.

您住在哪里？
Where do you live?
Here 哪里 comes after the verb 住在, asking where someone lives and 您 makes it polite.
Tatoeba #393584 by GlossaMatik, translation #370708 by saeb
玛丽在哪里？
Where is Mary?
在哪里 is the standard way to ask where a person is.
Tatoeba #1783862 by sadhen, translation #1098723 by cntrational
旅馆在哪里？
Where is the hotel?
The same pattern with 在哪里 asks where a place such as a hotel is.
Tatoeba #2778265 by iMaple, translation #2499505 by CM
195 more sentences on Tatoeba

志强 and 晓雯 are looking for a bookstore in the city.

志强 Zhiqiang

书店在哪里？
Shūdiàn zài nǎlǐ?
Where is the bookstore?
晓雯 Xiaowen

在那个商场里。
Zài nàge shāngchǎng lǐ.
It is in that shopping mall.
志强 Zhiqiang

商场有多远？
Shāngchǎng yǒu duō yuǎn?
How far is the mall?
晓雯 Xiaowen

很近，走路就可以。
Hěn jìn, zǒulù jiù kěyǐ.
It is very close, you can just walk there.

Sources

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