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问句 (wèn gōu) — interrogative sentence

Definition

A grammatical term for any sentence that asks a question (with question marks, particles like 吗, or rising intonation).

noun
interrogative sentence

Examples

  • 问句。
    Lǎo shī ràng wǒ men pàn duàn zhè jù huà shì bu shì wèn gōu.
    The teacher asked us to judge whether this sentence is an interrogative sentence.
  • 问句“”。
    Zhōng wén de wèn gōu tōng cháng yǐ "ma" jié wěi.
    Chinese interrogative sentences usually end with 'ma'.
  • 问句。
    Zhè ge wèn gōu de yǔ diào yīng gāi shì shàng shēng de.
    The intonation of this interrogative sentence should be rising.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

问wènask
句jùsentence

问 gives 'ask' and 句 gives 'sentence', so a sentence that asks.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 問; 问 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
門
門mén問wèn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 問 combines 口 (mouth) with 門, which gives the sound; the simplified 问 is a later shorthand and its parts are not the historical components.

Open 问 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
丩丩jiūto entangle
Sound part声符shēngfú
口
口kǒu句jù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

句 pairs 丩, originally two entangled ropes and giving a sense of entangling, with 口 as the sound part.

Open 句 →
Appears in
Language

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