How to say “excuse me” in Chinese
excuse me, may I ask
“Excuse me” in Chinese is 请问, qǐng wèn: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
请问 is read qǐng wèn: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the left, 讠 “speech”: you ask with words.
A 门 “door” with a 口 “mouth” in it.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “请问”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 请问. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 请问您叫什么名字qǐngwèn,nínjiàoshénmemíngziExcuse me, what is your name?
- 请问，书店在哪儿？qǐngwèn,shūdiànzàinǎrExcuse me, where's the bookstore?
- 请问，电影院怎么去？qǐngwèn,diànyǐngyuànzěnmeqùExcuse me, how do I get to the movie theater?
- 请问，医院在哪儿？qǐngwèn,yīyuànzàinǎrExcuse me, where's the hospital?
- 喂，请问，安娜在吗？wéi,qǐngwèn,ĀnnàzàimaHello, excuse me, is Anna there?
- 请问，去医院怎么走？qǐngwèn,qùyīyuànzěnmezǒuExcuse me, how do I get to the hospital?
More words from the lesson “Sorry — no problem”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “excuse me” in Chinese?
“Excuse me” in Chinese is 请问, pinyin qǐngwèn.
What does 请问 mean?
请问 (qǐngwèn) means “excuse me, may I ask”.
How do you write 请问?
请问 is 2 characters: 请 (qǐng) — ask; please; 问 (wèn) — ask. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 请问?
请问 is read qǐngwèn. Tones: qǐng — third tone, wèn — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“excuse me” in the lesson “Sorry — no problem”
This word is from the topic “Meeting people” of HSK 1. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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