谁

• Pinyin: shéi
• Hanzi breakdown: 谁 = 讠(speech) + 隹 (short-tailed bird, phonetic component)

Meaning

Who; whom. The interrogative pronoun for asking about a person's identity.

Has two accepted pronunciations: shéi (more common in speech) and shuí (more common in formal or written contexts). Used in questions about identity. Unlike English, Chinese question words stay in place — the sentence structure doesn't change for questions. Can also mean 'anyone' in certain contexts, e.g. 谁都可以 (anyone can).

Examples

1. 你是谁？ Who are you?
2. 谁的书包在这里？ Whose backpack is this?
3. 你在找谁？ Who are you looking for?

Usage Guide

Context: questions, everyday

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 这是谁的手机？(Whose phone is this?)
• 谁想去？(Who wants to go?)

Don't Say

• 谁是你？(Unnatural — say 你是谁 to ask 'who are you,' keeping the natural Chinese word order)

Origin & History

Composed of 讠(speech radical) and 隹 (short-tailed bird, phonetic component), the character asks 'who is speaking.'

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal