shéi

Shéi is a Mandarin Chinese interrogative pronoun that translates to "who" in English. It is used to ask about the identity of a person. When used alone, shéi typically functions as the subject or object of a sentence. For example, in the sentence "Shéi lái le?" (Who came?), shéi is the subject. In the sentence "Nǐ zhǎo shéi?" (Who are you looking for?), shéi is the object.

The pronoun shéi can also be modified by possessive pronouns or determiners. For instance, "Shéi de shǒu jī?" means "Whose mobile phone?". It can also appear in phrases like "shéi dōu bù zhīdào" which means "nobody knows." The pronunciation of shéi uses the third tone in Mandarin, indicated by the caron (ˇ) above the "e." Understanding shéi is fundamental for forming basic questions in Mandarin Chinese concerning individuals.