Search from various English teachers...
Nicaragua flagajuzadolfo
Where? in Mandarin I have been learning Mandaring by listening some MP3s. In one of the lessons they talked about the word "Where", for example: Where would you like to go to eat? My problem is that the Where in pinyin is writen nǎlǐ, but when I check the pronunciation in Google Translator it doesn't sound equal what I have been listening. I wonder if there is a problem with google transalator or with the persons speaking mandarin in my course. The sounds is like: Naar (English, not pinyin) Thank you for your help

Answers · 8

4
Both are correct. Hopefully I can break it down for you. 哪儿 = Na (er) (sounds like Naar)= Where. This is what you are hearing in your text, presumably with a BeiJing or northern accent. 哪里 = Na Li = (sounds like Gnarly) =Where. This is what you are referring to in PinYin of the word translated. The BeiJing dialect from which Mandarin is based has an accent often referred to as 儿化 = Er hua. This is because the use of the 儿 at the end of many words. Basically both are correct however 哪儿 is less formal than 哪里 and if you are referring to an object that may exist inside something then 哪里 would be more accurate. Hope I have helped to give guidance. Just remember that as in English, there is always more then one way to express something and both can be correct.
1
"where", commonly 哪里="nǎlǐ " is formal saying. 哪儿=“nǎ er”is very oral saying. and in the south of China,they pronunce"nǎlǐ "or "na", in the north,pronunce"na er"
1
Where in Mandarin is 哪里(nǎlǐ).But you refer to the prounaciation like: Naar (English, not pinyin) ,I think that 's 哪儿(nǎer)or 哪啊(nǎa)They are both ok.A way of oral language.
1
the pronunciation of where in mandarine is nali/na(哪里、哪).you speak correctly.. there is another expression for where is naar as you checked in google..these r two words..na er(哪儿)。。people like adding er when they speak ....so hope you can understand
1
hi, ajuzadolfo,nǎlǐ is right.just now i also check "where"translation from google.it's wrong,it translates "where"to"qizhong",it's wrong. but in oral,people always say:na er.

Still haven’t found your answers?

Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!

Start Learning Today