"Who's behind me?"

Translation: 谁在我的后面？

[Shi119783]

When in casual use, 的 does not necessarily need to be used.

[dawaltconley]

very normal question that i ask all the time

[RainerThom1]

我的后面在谁？isn't it correct too? If not, why?

[Lomochibi]

It isn't, because word order is very strict in Chinese, and the subject of the sentcence (in this case 谁/who) must always come before the predicate (in this case 在/to be somewhere). It's true that 在 has several different meanings / uses in Chinese, but here it indicates existence at a certain place (with the structure: 在+place), and that place cannot be 'who'.

[LuigiLinguine]

Very lucid explanation. Thank you.

[JustinRobe399002]

I thought the same thing

[czynastka]

I tend to think of 在 as "is in"; and "Who is in my behind?" sounds less weird to me than "My behind is in whom?". Though maybe it's not the best sentence to use as an example... But "Restaurant is in whom?" also sounds pretty absurd to me.

[Joseph_TTL]

teleports behind you

[GS_no.934]

"Nothing personal, kid."

[WynstonTac]

Now I can star as an extra in a Chinese horror movie, thanks Duo!

[MarceloGal474512]

You really don't need 的 in this situation

[MargaretBr689808]

where does the 面 come from?

[Milthorpe]

Would 我的后面是谁 also be acceptable?

[Jeff414459]

的 does not need to be used

[KitLee20]

Shei, not shui

[GayRoyal]

I was wondering about that too. It says "shei" but it reads "shui"

[Nico661531]

Why don't we need 吗 at the end of this question? I'm a bit confused about when it is needed and when not.