<p>Two clarifications, one about the structure, the other about the measure word.</p>
<p><strong>1) The structure</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Subj. + Verb + 哪个 (+ Noun) ?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The above structure cannot be generalized and applied to all contexts. It's just an example. Another example structure can be:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>哪 (+ Noun) + Verb + Object?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As you can see, in the above structure, the interrogative particle 哪+Noun is the subject of the sentence.</p>
<p><strong>2) The measure word</strong></p>
<p>The measure word 个, as well all other measure words, is not related to the interrogative particle 哪, but to the noun. I mean that you could also need to say, for example, 哪位, 哪些, 哪台, 哪本, etc. according to the measure word the following noun needs.</p>
<p><strong>你是哪国人?</strong></p>
<p>You could also say 你是哪个国家的人？But I would prefer the already commonly used shorten form 哪国人.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-09T10:32:40.697Z
2022-03-09T10:32:40.697Z
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
<p>The difference of 哪 and &quot;哪个&quot; is that &quot;哪&quot; means &quot;which&quot;, while &quot;哪个&quot; is shortened from &quot;哪一个&quot; that means &quot;which one&quot;.</p>
<p>Below are two equivalent sentences but the grammatical arrangement:</p>
<p>你是 哪国 人? Or 你是 哪 国人? - Which country do you belong to/come from?</p>
<p>你是 哪个 国家的人? Or 你是 哪个 国家的 人? Which (one) country...? Note, &quot;哪个&quot; was shortened from &quot;哪一个&quot;.</p>
<p>But note, there is a complete phrase after 哪个 instead of a simple noun. So,
it is incorrect to say: &quot;你是 哪个 国人?&quot;.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-09T17:39:30.410Z
2022-03-09T17:39:30.410Z
r13
<p>I've read in the Chinese Grammar Wiki, that if you want to express &quot;which&quot;, you have to use the following sentence structure:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Subj. + Verb + 哪个 (+ Noun) ?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But in the book HSK Standard Course 1, there is the following question:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你是哪国人? (The book translates it to &quot;Which country are you from?&quot;.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Why is in this case the word 个 omitted before 国?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-09T10:09:14.187Z
Okay I have answered it myself. It seems that the sentence structure in the Chinese Grammar Wiki is incomplete. In the HSK1 book it is stated that for the use of the interrogative pronoun 哪, the structure is "哪 + measure word/noun + noun".
HSK1
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-09T11:10:25.773Z
Hi, I read your comment only after I wrote my answer. Sorry for the possible redundancy.
Joe at wearyourchinesename.com
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-09T11:17:00.947Z
No, it wasn't redundant. I didn't know that 你是哪个国家的人 would also be possible to say. Thank you!
HSK1
<measure-word>
Why is the word 个 omitted before 国 in a question like 你是哪国人？
# Why is the word 个 omitted before 国 in a question like 你是哪国人？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-03-09)

I've read in the Chinese Grammar Wiki, that if you want to express "which", you have to use the following sentence structure:

> Subj. + Verb + 哪个 (+ Noun) ?

But in the book HSK Standard Course 1, there is the following question:

> 你是哪国人? (The book translates it to "Which country are you from?".)

Why is in this case the word 个 omitted before 国?

**Tags:** measure-word

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Okay I have answered it myself. It seems that the sentence structure in the Chinese Grammar Wiki is incomplete. In the username_0 book it is stated that for the use of the interrogative pronoun 哪, the structure is "哪 + measure word/noun + noun".  
> **username_1**: Hi, I read your comment only after I wrote my answer. Sorry for the possible redundancy.  
> **username_0**: No, it wasn't redundant. I didn't know that 你是哪个国家的人 would also be possible to say. Thank you!  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-03-09. Score: 1

Two clarifications, one about the structure, the other about the measure word.

**1) The structure**

> Subj. + Verb + 哪个 (+ Noun) ?

The above structure cannot be generalized and applied to all contexts. It's just an example. Another example structure can be:

> 哪 (+ Noun) + Verb + Object?

As you can see, in the above structure, the interrogative particle 哪+Noun is the subject of the sentence.

**2) The measure word**

The measure word 个, as well all other measure words, is not related to the interrogative particle 哪, but to the noun. I mean that you could also need to say, for example, 哪位, 哪些, 哪台, 哪本, etc. according to the measure word the following noun needs.

**你是哪国人?**

You could also say 你是哪个国家的人？But I would prefer the already commonly used shorten form 哪国人.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-03-09. Score: 0

The difference of 哪 and "哪个" is that "哪" means "which", while "哪个" is shortened from "哪一个" that means "which one".

Below are two equivalent sentences but the grammatical arrangement:

你是 哪国 人? Or 你是 哪 国人? - Which country do you belong to/come from?

你是 哪个 国家的人? Or 你是 哪个 国家的 人? Which (one) country...? Note, "哪个" was shortened from "哪一个".

But note, there is a complete phrase after 哪个 instead of a simple noun. So,
it is incorrect to say: "你是 哪个 国人?".


---

