"Is the bathroom here?"
Translation:洗手间在这儿吗？
20 Comments
You can also write it as "这里有没有洗手间" and "这里有洗手间吗". For bathroom, you can also say "厕所."
For those who can't read the 汉字(Hán zì), here is the PīnYīn.
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这里有没有洗手间 -- (Zhè lǐ yǒu méi yǒu xǐ shǒu jiān). "Here have/not have bathroom?"
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这里有洗手间吗 -- (Zhè lǐ yǒu xǐ shǒu jiān ma). “Here have bathroom (Question particle)"
Also, I read online that there is no difference between "这里" and "这儿"
Apparently, Northern Chinese usually say "哪儿，这儿" and Southern Chinese often say "哪里，这里"
Yes, I can attest to this. My Chinese tutor here in Shanghai has taught me 这里. I knew about the 儿, but I didn't think it was used in Mandarin. I just thought it was part of the northern dialect.
What if I simply type 这 without either 儿 or 里, would the sentence still be correct?
26
Actually, it's more of the fact that it originated from the north but now a lot of people use it colloquially, formally it is usually 这里 and so on.
In my understanding 这里有没有洗手间 and 这里有洗手间吗 mean 'Is there a bathroom here?' or 'Does this place have a bathroom?', whereas 洗手间在这里吗 means 'Is the bathroom here?' (as in 'is it here or is it somewhere else?). Native speakers, please correct me if I'm wrong!
I disagree! "Is the bathroom here?" and "Is there a bathroom here" are different questions! For this question I imagine you're pointing at some door you're not sure you should enter so you ask someone "洗手间在这儿吗"! I'm not sure if your suggestion would be a good choice for this situation!
There are so many alternatives to 洗手间, why aren't they allowed?
Examples:
厕所 Cè Suǒ
卫生间 Wèi Shēng Jiān
Hey just a quick question, is the 吗 necessary? I thought you didn't need it if there is already a question word (in this case 这儿) present in the sentence. :)
Isn't the 儿 in 在这儿 from the Beijing dialect? (That's what a former teacher told me anyway.) The way I understand it, it's there to make sentences sound softer, nicer. It doesn't really mean anything.
Why is the comment structured as 这儿在洗手间 and marked incorrect if reversed (洗手间在这儿） but the question is frased as 洗手间在这儿吗？
What you have written is translated as 'Where is the bathroom?' If you write 那 instead of 哪 it would be 'Is the bathroom there?' (i.e. over there) whereas the English in the original phrase uses 'here' which translates to 这儿 or 这里.
