HSK 1 · Question Words

哪儿 nǎr “where” in Chinese

Traditional 哪兒

What 哪儿 means

  1. where
  2. where?
  3. wherever
  4. anywhere
  5. somewhere
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • (used in rhetorical questions) how can …?
  • how could …?

How to say 哪儿

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale哪nǎ3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own儿rneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

哪儿 in a sentence

  1. 你的手表在哪儿？

    Nǐ de shǒubiǎo zài nǎr?

    Where’s your watch?

    Sentence #1216071 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 没人知道他住在哪儿。

    Méi rén zhīdao tā zhù zài nǎr.

    No one knows where he lives.

    Sentence #717195 from Tatoeba

  3. 你喜欢去哪儿就可以去哪儿。

    Nǐ xǐhuan qù nǎr jiù kěyǐ qù nǎr.

    You may go anywhere you like.

    Sentence #471298 from Tatoeba

How 哪儿 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 哪 (nǎ) with each of its parts in a different colour
哪nǎhow
  • 口mouth · kǒuMeaning part
  • 那that · nàSound part

口 hints at the meaning (mouth); 那 (nà) hints at the sound. Compare it with nǎ.

Memory aidA mouth 口 added to 那 (nà) “that” makes a question: which? where?

The character 儿 (ér) with each of its parts in a different colour
儿rnon-syllabic diminutive suffix
  • 丿slash · piě
  • 乚second (cyclical) form of 乙 · yǐ

Memory aidSimplified from 兒, a child drawn with a big head. Only the legs 儿 are left today.

How to write 哪儿

哪 9 strokes · 儿 2 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

哪儿 (nǎr) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 哪儿 (nǎr). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 哪儿

Words with 哪

哪nǎ · which哪些nǎxiē · which ones?哪里nǎlǐ · where?哪个nǎge · which one?哪怕nǎpà · even

Words with 儿

儿子érzi · son女儿nǚ'ér · daughter这儿zhèr · here那儿nàr · there一点儿yìdiǎnr · a little面条儿miàntiáor · noodles好玩儿hǎowánr · amusing有点儿yǒudiǎnr · slightly男孩儿nánháir · boy女孩儿nǚháir · girl

More words: Question Words

谁shéi · who什么shénme · what哪nǎ · which怎么zěnme · how怎么样zěnmeyàng · how is it几jǐ · how many (small)多少duōshǎo · how many哪个nǎge · which one?

FAQs

哪儿 (nǎr) means “where” or “where?”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it nǎr: nǎ with a 3rd tone, then r with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 哪儿 is written 哪兒. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type nar with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 哪儿 from the suggestions. Typing nar into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
哪儿 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.