<p>The examples you gave are all grammatically correct, but they are slightly different in meaning.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Beijing zai nār/nali?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This sentence is asking where is Beijing, the person who will be answering the question will tell you the location of Beijing. If I were to answer the question, I will tell you Beijing is physically in Hebei province, in the east part of China.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Beijing zai na guo?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This question is asking which country is Beijing in, and will be answered by justing telling you Beijing is in China.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Beijing shi nar/nali?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This is a little different with the previous two, it is not only, or, exactly asking the physical location of Beijing, it is asking about Beijing itself. I will answer as the following, Beijing is the captical city of China, its population is 13 millon and it is in the east part of China and so on.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-19T13:36:56.367Z
Thanks a lot :D  (lol last part though)
Isabel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-19T13:40:28.707Z
Like using shi, I am asking what are things like in Beijing? Situation in beijjng?
Isabel
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-20T03:20:31.993Z
@Isabel By the last question, you are asking about Beijing generally, therefore the answer really depends.
zyy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-19T13:13:32.750Z
2018-06-19T13:13:32.750Z
zyy
<p>In Chinese will we say, "Beijing zai nār/nali?". Because I just learned to say, "Lundun zai Ying Guo." Plus, "Where is your home?" is, "Nide jia zai nar?" So using these rules, is it acceptable? </p>

<p>What about, "Beijing shi nar/nali?"</p>

<p>And can we also say "Beijing zai na guo?" (Which country is Beijing in?")</p>

<p>Are these sentences grammatically correct?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-19T08:43:44.173Z
users recommend searching dictionaries or even web as a whole using e.g. "E phrase 中文＂，北京在哪里？is valid, 北京是在哪里？exists esp. with adverbs like 究竟、到底 （after all）北京究竟是在哪里？or  starting with 那么 so, 那么北京是在哪里？ 北京在哪个（什么）国家？ also exists, for including 是 see preceding example
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-19T08:48:07.387Z
All of your sentences are ok, except "Beijing zai na guo". Better say "Beijing zai na ge guo jia".
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-19T16:15:25.843Z
To be honest, although `Běijīng shì nǎr/nǎlǐ?` grammatically correct, it sounds weird to me. Mostly questions containing `shì` usually collocates with `shénme` or `shéi`.
Reynaldi
<word-choice><usage><sentence-structure>
How do you say "Where is Beijing?"
# How do you say "Where is Beijing?"

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-06-19)

In Chinese will we say, "Beijing zai nār/nali?". Because I just learned to say, "Lundun zai Ying Guo." Plus, "Where is your home?" is, "Nide jia zai nar?" So using these rules, is it acceptable?

What about, "Beijing shi nar/nali?"

And can we also say "Beijing zai na guo?" (Which country is Beijing in?")

Are these sentences grammatically correct?

**Tags:** word-choice, usage, sentence-structure

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: users recommend searching dictionaries or even web as a whole using e.g. "E phrase 中文＂，北京在哪里？is valid, 北京是在哪里？exists esp. with adverbs like 究竟、到底 （after all）北京究竟是在哪里？or  starting with 那么 so, 那么北京是在哪里？ 北京在哪个（什么）国家？ also exists, for including 是 see preceding example  
> **username_2**: All of your sentences are ok, except "Beijing zai na guo". Better say "Beijing zai na ge guo jia".  
> **username_3**: To be honest, although `Běijīng shì nǎr/nǎlǐ?` grammatically correct, it sounds weird to me. Mostly questions containing `shì` usually collocates with `shénme` or `shéi`.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-06-19. Score: 1

The examples you gave are all grammatically correct, but they are slightly different in meaning.

> Beijing zai nār/nali?

This sentence is asking where is Beijing, the person who will be answering the question will tell you the location of Beijing. If I were to answer the question, I will tell you Beijing is physically in Hebei province, in the east part of China.

> Beijing zai na guo?

This question is asking which country is Beijing in, and will be answered by justing telling you Beijing is in China.

> Beijing shi nar/nali?

This is a little different with the previous two, it is not only, or, exactly asking the physical location of Beijing, it is asking about Beijing itself. I will answer as the following, Beijing is the captical city of China, its population is 13 millon and it is in the east part of China and so on.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks a lot :D  (lol last part though)  
> **username_0**: Like using shi, I am asking what are things like in Beijing? Situation in beijjng?  
> **username_4**: @username_0 By the last question, you are asking about Beijing generally, therefore the answer really depends.  

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