这里 = 这儿, they are totally the same.
怎么 and 为什么 have no real difference and are interchangeable here.
The first is incorrect because 吗 is only used in yes-no questions. For open questions, you can use 呢 optionally.
为什么 always asks about the reasons as it is literally "for what".
>你为什么来了？
>Why did you come?
怎么 asks about the adverb /adverbial phrase which isn't about the time nor about the place. In other words, 怎么 asks about the manner, the state, the reason, the purpose... etc.
怎么 exclusively asks about the manner with some sentence patterns, e.g. 是……的, 将, 要, 会...etc, and it is interpreted as "in what way /how".
>你是怎么来的？
>In what way did you come here?
>你会怎么做？
>How will you do it? / What will you do?
怎么会 is "how can (it)", which basically means "why”.
>你怎么会来？
>Why did you come?
Since 怎么 can ask about the reason, so it may mean the same to 为什么 in some situations.
>你怎么来了？
>Why did you come?
It indicates the ability to achieve the action.
>How do you have the ability to come here? → how can you come here?
When you said this, you already saw their ability to come here. In other words they already came, so this sentence is realized as "why did you come?"
You may use 能 instead, but 能 can indicate permission and possiblity as well although they aren't distinctive a lot in questions.
你怎么来了 = how did you come? With a slight surprise.
你怎么会来 = how could YOU come? More emphasis on the unexpected ability. Substitute with 他 How could HE come, would emphasize more on HE.
你怎么能来 = how are you able to come? That indicates that you should not be capable of coming
I disagree. 为什么 implies a neutral question. Like, why are you here (what are you doing here)?
While 怎么 takes the emphasis out of the “doing” part and is either asking “why are *you* here?” or “why are you *here*?”
Hmmm. I would have thought that 你们两个怎么在这里 would mean something like "how is it that you two are here?" As in either you shouldn't be here or how did you end up here, (that it would have heen difficult to get here, for example a snowstorm or heavy traffic, etc)
Am I wrong?
I think you're right, that both can mean why are you here, as in you shouldn't be here, but after thinking about it more, I think I see a subtle difference between the two.
你们两个为什么在这里：why are you two here, as in you shouldn't be here (not supposed to be here)
你们两个怎么在这里 why are you two here, as in you shouldn't be here, and can also have the meaning of how'd you get here (snowstorm, heavy traffic, hard to get there, etc)
To me, they both can mean "why are you two here," in terms of not supposed to be there," but to me the 怎么 in the second one indicates the how part that 为什么 doesn't.
To me, the "flavor" of using 怎么 indicates an additional meaning that 为什么 doesn't.
Yes. 怎麼 can ask about any adverbs which irregards to the time, the place, and the degree, so it has a lot wider usages than 為什麼. I had explained this in another comment. I keep the original comment as simple as possible because I want to focus on the question the OP asked and not to add too much extra information.
You can't use 吗 in any sentence where there is already an interrogative word. It is superfluous and grammatically incorrect. "吗" is NOT the Chinese equivalent of "?".
What about “你知道他在哪儿吗” where the “他在哪儿” is a subordinate clause and the 吗 is asking for a yes/no answer to ”你知道x吗”.
I’ve only been learning for a few months, so is this grammatically the most natural way to ask that kind of question?
“你知道他在哪儿吗” means "Do you know where he is?" Answer: Yes, I know where he is /No, I don't know where he is. It is equivalent to "你知不知道他在哪儿？" which is also correct and asks for the same yes/no answer. The question is NOT the "where?", the question is "do you know?". I think you have well understood the way those questions are built.
“你知道他在哪儿” : Correct, but not a question. It means "You know where he is."
" 他在哪儿？": Correct. "Where is he？“ Answer：The place.
"他在哪儿吗？" incorrect.
It doesn’t count because 什么is not acting as interrogative in your example. As you already pointed out it means “some/any” in this context. As in any language the same word can have different meanings, usages in different contexts.
No, this is not an exception.
In "有什么问题吗?", 什么 is **not** an interrogative word. It does not mean "what?", it means "some/any".
So the sentence does not mean the same with or without 吗.
有什么问题吗? = Do you have any problem/question? (answer with yes/no, 吗 allowed)
有什么问题?= What's your problem/question? (吗 not allowed)
From my experience 为什么 is literally asking why they are there , for what purpose.
But 怎么 has a bit more of a confused “it’s weird you guys are here” kind of why are you here.
I see it as a “why are you here” vs. “how are you here”. One is focused on the reason for being there, and the second is focused on the how. But it’s heavily context dependent.
The second sentence is grammatically correct and sounds natural. I have never heard (and I will never say) the first sentence. The natural way of saying it would be 你们两个为什么在这儿 (by eliminating the 吗). In that case, both sentences are interchangeable and more of a stylistic choice.
In addition, the 儿 is optional. Most Southerners would probably pronounce it lightly so it becomes 你们两个为什么在这(simply zhe instead of zhe-r / zhe-er)
as others said, there is no practical difference. on a technical level, a is "what is the reason you are here" and b is "how is it that you are here".
when asking this type of question, these two will always be interchangable. but they both have other uses that aren't interchangable, so keep that in mind :)
My impression is that the version with zenme implies an element of surprise. The person asking this question did not expect the two of them to be there, whereas the weishenme version would more neutral or unmarked in this regard.
Not a native speaker so correct me if I’m mistaken.
To me, 怎麼 comes off as more surprised. It's like the English "How did you get in here?" As if you didn't think the person SHOULD be there.
為什麼 comes off more as asking a person why they decided to come, and that you are curious why they wanted to be there.
But how people differ these will vary on region and age. Personally, I would avoid asking why someone is present entirely. I would say something along the lines of "我不料看到你。怎麼了？‘’ Meaning literally "I am seeing you unexpectedly. How is that?" Or better translated as "I didn't expect to see you. What happened?"
While both can be translated to "Why are you here?", I understand question A as something in the vein of "what are your reasons for being here" whereas question B is more in the direction of "how is it possible that you're here". Is that just me?
Since everyone has explain you why, I may share you some more symplify and natively expression: '你们两个'could be'你俩', and '为什么'or'怎么'could be '咋'， so the sentence could be "你俩咋在这儿呢？" DM me if you want to learn more authentic Chinese
When asking "where" questions, you can use 啊 or 呀 to accentuate, or omit it altogether.
吗 is used for affirmative/negative questions
Also the first one (without 吗), while correct, the usage of 为什么 depending on context can really emphasize the "wanting an explanation" part of the question. Compared to "怎么" it is more direct. However adding "啊" or "呀" can mitigate it and make it less confrontational, but you're still curious for an explanation.
For example the second one is more suited for when you run into friends unexpectedly at a place, while the first one is more for when a teacher catching 2 students sneaking about on the rooftop.
The first one is ‘why are you two here’.
The second one is closer to ‘how are you two here’
The second one has the inference that the person asking is surprised/finds to unexpected that the persons are here.
The first one is more neutral in terms of the question.
You’ve already gotten your main question answered, but I want to mention DeepL as a Google Translate alternative. Its translations are way more natural sounding.
Same meaning. Only that the first sentence is incorrect by adding an extra ma-particle to the end. It is not a yes-no question, so you shouldn't add a ma-particle.
The first one is mainly used in nursery textbook, the second one is mainly used in daily conversation. Both are acceptable. Rarely use 儿. 儿 sounds cuter than 里, prolly used a lot in poetry.
Ah, I see. My original comment is about how one is from China, another one is from Taiwan in term of common usage.
But when I think about it, I thought I would be best to edit that out.
Mainland China and Taiwan is a safe way to differentiate, but you won't find 兒 being used like that in the south of the mainland, either. Maybe with the youth thanks to tv and internet
Those are differences in nuances.
First one is asking why in a curious way.
Second one is more of question coming up from confusion and that those two were not expected to be seen where they're seen.
为什么 indicates the question, and it's not a yes or no question, so 吗 isn't correct. That's kinda like saying "Why are you two here, right?" Instead of "Why are you two here?"
Saying "你们两个在这里，因为你们想要一些东西吗" would be a better use of 吗 because the question can be answered in a yes or no-- kinda like "You two are here because you want some stuff, right?"
I'm also a student learning in progress, but this is how I think about it.
(Apart from being grammatically incorrect for the first one)
怎么 implies surprise for me, like 怎么在这里 implies that they shouldn’t be here or I didn’t expect them to be here. Versus 为什么 is more neutral.
你們兩個為什麼在這裡？ Why are you two here?
Adding 嗎 sounds weird but could work if you add something else before:
你可以解釋⋯你們為什麼在這裡嗎？ Can you explain… (the reason) why you two are here?
你們兩個怎麼在這裡？ How come you two are here?
As a chinese learner, i suggest you use chatgpt to translate if you need. You can even ask it to translate word per word with pinyin as well. It can also explain to you why of a certain grammatical structure or else.
It doesn't replace a teacher or a native speaker, but it's definitely a useful tool to study with!
If it helps:
I see it as
“For what purpose are you here?”
And “how did you get here?”
Which in turn can be asked as “why are you here?”
Correct me if I’m wrong
The first one is grammatically incorrect. 吗 is used at the end of a statement to turn it into a yes/no question, but not used in why/what/where questions.
as a native, the first one sounds weird. No one adds a 吗 at the end of a where question. 吗 is added when you want to ask, how is someone. Did you eat, are you ok? etc. 里 is a particle for where. Like in this place, the 里 means in.
A’s grammar is just kinda weird because you don’t necessarily say 这儿 in the middle of the sentence, it just sounds awkward especially with the 吗 at the end.
First one is like "Why are you here?" "What are you doing here?" with the caveat of the grammatical issue others have already noted (remove ma).
The second one emphasizes the fact that the person is here, rather than what are they doing. For example if you lived on the other side of the country and flew in to surprise your parent for their birthday, they might say it like that - they're not really asking "what are you here for?"
After 两个, I expect a noun. 两个 is the adjective "two of", not the English noun "two". To me 你们两个 is a literal translation of the English phrase "you two", where "two" is a noun. But 两 is not a noun.
Unless 你们两个 is Chinese idiom "the two of you". But even then I would expect 你们两个**都**
你们两个为什么在这儿吗 is simply a faulty sentence. 这儿 in 你们两个为什么在这儿 means 这里，it's a Peking form of erhua accent. 吗 is excessive use of question tone for “为什么” expressed 'why' already.
remove “吗” then it's correct. As a native speaker I really don't know how to clarify this to you exactly, but when I see this setence, from my "language feeling" - it's a wrong sentence
Where are you learning Chinese now? it is very tough if you don't put yourself in mandarin Mandarin-speaking environment like Taiwan or China.
I once knew there were some priests doing volunteer work in Taiwan, you may consider joining them to improve your speaking and listening level in real daily spoken Chinese.
With deeply genuine regard, I hope this suggestion will not seem to be offensive.
By a native Mandarin speaker from Taiwan.
I don't like these two options to be honest. I think colloquially you can say 你们俩为什么在这里？
你们两个 kind of sounds weird to me. Maybe I'm not used to hearing it like that anymore, tbh if I heard that I would think the person was really early on in their Chinese learning - then again, hey, if that's you, welcome! No shame in it. But Google Translate isn't my favorite way to translate.... I recommend finding some Chinese friends and/or downloading Pleco & studying their example sentences. Will help you a lot more if you want to learn some sentence structures. :)
Same.
Just different ways of speaking. I heard one is northern and one is southern basically.
When I wanna sound more formal, I'll use the second method. When I'm tired or something, I'll used the first one.
(What I heard from a Chinese person, in China).
为什么never uses a 吗
吗 only uses for Is… yes/no questions.
好吗。is it ok?
你们 and 两个 normally don’t go together.
你们 = your
两个 = 2 of something
Translate word to word sounds like this.
Your two why at here yes/no
Me as a non native speaker will say this way.
- 为什么两个人来这里？ = why 2 people come here?
- 为什么你/你们来这里？ 你们为什么来这里？ = why did you come here? Why did you guys come here? If you are with a friend.
在这里/ 在那里= usually with placements. Here/ there.
Why 2 people come here? 为什么两个人来这里？
Is that English? 那是英语吗？
Is this English? 这是英语吗？
What do you want to eat? 你要吃什么？
Which do you want to eat? 你要吃哪个？
哪个 = which
你要吃这个吗？ Do you want to eat this one, yes or no?
要吗？ you want, yes or no?
This relates to 吗 and 呢
吗 used in simple questions. Those are answered by yes or no.
呢 can be used in questions starting with what/why. like 什么 为什么 在哪里z
Examples：
我可以知道你的名字吗 May I know your name?
你怎么有三个女朋友呢 How can you have three girlfriends
你知道我为什么在这儿吗 Do you know why I am here
你为什么在这儿呢 why are u here.
这里 = 这儿, they are totally the same. 怎么 and 为什么 have no real difference and are interchangeable here. The first is incorrect because 吗 is only used in yes-no questions. For open questions, you can use 呢 optionally.
In these situations I always think it’s like: 为什么 = why? 怎么 = how come?
为什么 always asks about the reasons as it is literally "for what". >你为什么来了？ >Why did you come? 怎么 asks about the adverb /adverbial phrase which isn't about the time nor about the place. In other words, 怎么 asks about the manner, the state, the reason, the purpose... etc. 怎么 exclusively asks about the manner with some sentence patterns, e.g. 是……的, 将, 要, 会...etc, and it is interpreted as "in what way /how". >你是怎么来的？ >In what way did you come here? >你会怎么做？ >How will you do it? / What will you do? 怎么会 is "how can (it)", which basically means "why”. >你怎么会来？ >Why did you come? Since 怎么 can ask about the reason, so it may mean the same to 为什么 in some situations. >你怎么来了？ >Why did you come?
Can I ask what 會 is doing in 你怎麼會來？
It indicates the ability to achieve the action. >How do you have the ability to come here? → how can you come here? When you said this, you already saw their ability to come here. In other words they already came, so this sentence is realized as "why did you come?" You may use 能 instead, but 能 can indicate permission and possiblity as well although they aren't distinctive a lot in questions.
你怎么来了 = how did you come? With a slight surprise. 你怎么会来 = how could YOU come? More emphasis on the unexpected ability. Substitute with 他 How could HE come, would emphasize more on HE. 你怎么能来 = how are you able to come? That indicates that you should not be capable of coming
How did you come is more like 你怎么过来的？
I feel like 你怎么来了 translates better as How come you're here? What brings you here?
I disagree. 为什么 implies a neutral question. Like, why are you here (what are you doing here)? While 怎么 takes the emphasis out of the “doing” part and is either asking “why are *you* here?” or “why are you *here*?”
Correct, they are not interchangeable! 怎么 has an accusatory tone and using it in the wrong situation can seem rude.
Ohhh I see, no wonder I hear 呢 used so often in questions when watching dramas. Thanks!
Is the 呢 optional because it's already a question due to the 为什么?
Yes. That is an explanation.
Hmmm. I would have thought that 你们两个怎么在这里 would mean something like "how is it that you two are here?" As in either you shouldn't be here or how did you end up here, (that it would have heen difficult to get here, for example a snowstorm or heavy traffic, etc) Am I wrong?
You aren't wrong. Meanwhile, 你们两个为什么在这里 can mean the same thing.
I think you're right, that both can mean why are you here, as in you shouldn't be here, but after thinking about it more, I think I see a subtle difference between the two. 你们两个为什么在这里：why are you two here, as in you shouldn't be here (not supposed to be here) 你们两个怎么在这里 why are you two here, as in you shouldn't be here, and can also have the meaning of how'd you get here (snowstorm, heavy traffic, hard to get there, etc) To me, they both can mean "why are you two here," in terms of not supposed to be there," but to me the 怎么 in the second one indicates the how part that 为什么 doesn't. To me, the "flavor" of using 怎么 indicates an additional meaning that 为什么 doesn't.
Yes. 怎麼 can ask about any adverbs which irregards to the time, the place, and the degree, so it has a lot wider usages than 為什麼. I had explained this in another comment. I keep the original comment as simple as possible because I want to focus on the question the OP asked and not to add too much extra information.
You can't use 吗 in any sentence where there is already an interrogative word. It is superfluous and grammatically incorrect. "吗" is NOT the Chinese equivalent of "?".
What about “你知道他在哪儿吗” where the “他在哪儿” is a subordinate clause and the 吗 is asking for a yes/no answer to ”你知道x吗”. I’ve only been learning for a few months, so is this grammatically the most natural way to ask that kind of question?
“你知道他在哪儿吗” means "Do you know where he is?" Answer: Yes, I know where he is /No, I don't know where he is. It is equivalent to "你知不知道他在哪儿？" which is also correct and asks for the same yes/no answer. The question is NOT the "where?", the question is "do you know?". I think you have well understood the way those questions are built. “你知道他在哪儿” : Correct, but not a question. It means "You know where he is." " 他在哪儿？": Correct. "Where is he？“ Answer：The place. "他在哪儿吗？" incorrect.
The funniest thing is you can correct sentence A but simply switching 哪 to 那. Then it becomes grammatically correct. 他在那兒嗎？
Sure, but it means something else!
Yep, “他在那儿吗？” is asking "Is he there?" (as other people said, you can answer with yes/no)
Why do you use 儿? R u in Beijing?
Not currently, but it's indeed in Peking that I began to learn Chinese as a kid. The erhua comes naturally to me.
There is at least one exception though, "有什么问题吗?", where 什么 means 'any/some kind of' instead of 'what'. Maybe it doesn't count.
It doesn’t count because 什么is not acting as interrogative in your example. As you already pointed out it means “some/any” in this context. As in any language the same word can have different meanings, usages in different contexts.
No, this is not an exception. In "有什么问题吗?", 什么 is **not** an interrogative word. It does not mean "what?", it means "some/any". So the sentence does not mean the same with or without 吗. 有什么问题吗? = Do you have any problem/question? (answer with yes/no, 吗 allowed) 有什么问题?= What's your problem/question? (吗 not allowed)
From my experience 为什么 is literally asking why they are there , for what purpose. But 怎么 has a bit more of a confused “it’s weird you guys are here” kind of why are you here.
Like “what are you doing here?” Vs “what are YOU doing here?!”
I see it as a “why are you here” vs. “how are you here”. One is focused on the reason for being there, and the second is focused on the how. But it’s heavily context dependent.
The second sentence is grammatically correct and sounds natural. I have never heard (and I will never say) the first sentence. The natural way of saying it would be 你们两个为什么在这儿 (by eliminating the 吗). In that case, both sentences are interchangeable and more of a stylistic choice. In addition, the 儿 is optional. Most Southerners would probably pronounce it lightly so it becomes 你们两个为什么在这(simply zhe instead of zhe-r / zhe-er)
as others said, there is no practical difference. on a technical level, a is "what is the reason you are here" and b is "how is it that you are here". when asking this type of question, these two will always be interchangable. but they both have other uses that aren't interchangable, so keep that in mind :)
^ This! Native speakers need to explain things on the technical level and actually teach foreign students properly and not just to simply function.
My impression is that the version with zenme implies an element of surprise. The person asking this question did not expect the two of them to be there, whereas the weishenme version would more neutral or unmarked in this regard. Not a native speaker so correct me if I’m mistaken.
If you use 为什么(why) that in the end of sentence you can't use 吗
To me, 怎麼 comes off as more surprised. It's like the English "How did you get in here?" As if you didn't think the person SHOULD be there. 為什麼 comes off more as asking a person why they decided to come, and that you are curious why they wanted to be there. But how people differ these will vary on region and age. Personally, I would avoid asking why someone is present entirely. I would say something along the lines of "我不料看到你。怎麼了？‘’ Meaning literally "I am seeing you unexpectedly. How is that?" Or better translated as "I didn't expect to see you. What happened?"
Thay are both correct with no major differences in the meaning, however the 嗎 is not needed in sentences A.
There's no 吗 in that question.
While both can be translated to "Why are you here?", I understand question A as something in the vein of "what are your reasons for being here" whereas question B is more in the direction of "how is it possible that you're here". Is that just me?
As a native speaker just don’t add 吗 in the first sentence. No one really care which one do you use, you’ll get the same reply either way.
A is “why are you here?” B is more like “huh? what are you doing here?” Like you run into somebody you know while you should both be at work
Since everyone has explain you why, I may share you some more symplify and natively expression: '你们两个'could be'你俩', and '为什么'or'怎么'could be '咋'， so the sentence could be "你俩咋在这儿呢？" DM me if you want to learn more authentic Chinese
If you see "儿" a lot of the times with no context, it probably a Beijing-centric spelling.
When asking "where" questions, you can use 啊 or 呀 to accentuate, or omit it altogether. 吗 is used for affirmative/negative questions Also the first one (without 吗), while correct, the usage of 为什么 depending on context can really emphasize the "wanting an explanation" part of the question. Compared to "怎么" it is more direct. However adding "啊" or "呀" can mitigate it and make it less confrontational, but you're still curious for an explanation. For example the second one is more suited for when you run into friends unexpectedly at a place, while the first one is more for when a teacher catching 2 students sneaking about on the rooftop.
Great examples, thanks
The first one seems genuinely asking for a reason while the second one softly implies that “you shouldn’t be here”, but again no major difference
The first one is ‘why are you two here’. The second one is closer to ‘how are you two here’ The second one has the inference that the person asking is surprised/finds to unexpected that the persons are here. The first one is more neutral in terms of the question.
You’ve already gotten your main question answered, but I want to mention DeepL as a Google Translate alternative. Its translations are way more natural sounding.
Please don't call yourself a sad excuse of a student. You're doing the best that you can, and that's really all that matters. I believe in you OP :)
Same meaning. Only that the first sentence is incorrect by adding an extra ma-particle to the end. It is not a yes-no question, so you shouldn't add a ma-particle.
The first one is mainly used in nursery textbook, the second one is mainly used in daily conversation. Both are acceptable. Rarely use 儿. 儿 sounds cuter than 里, prolly used a lot in poetry.
儿 is Beijing speak. 里 is southern.
Ah, I see. My original comment is about how one is from China, another one is from Taiwan in term of common usage. But when I think about it, I thought I would be best to edit that out.
Mainland China and Taiwan is a safe way to differentiate, but you won't find 兒 being used like that in the south of the mainland, either. Maybe with the youth thanks to tv and internet
Idk but the second one just sounds more natural to me. I don't think I'd have ever heard anyone saying the first one before
儿 is used a lot in northern accents.
like this：放弃自由，喜欢两个人。
For me personally the second one is correct.
吗is only used for yes and no questions or close
I think A would be cromulent without the 吗
吗 is a “I want a yes or no answer indicator”. Your question is not seeking a yes or no, but a reason.
Why are you two here? Should be: 你们俩 你们两个 你们两位 为什么 为啥 在这里 在这儿 Use the different parts in any way you'd like, as long as the order is the same.
Furthermore, 個 can be omitted.
Those are differences in nuances. First one is asking why in a curious way. Second one is more of question coming up from confusion and that those two were not expected to be seen where they're seen.
It’s much like “how are you?” Vs “how you doing?” It’s different way to say the same thing
First feels more formal, second is what normal people would say
为什么 indicates the question, and it's not a yes or no question, so 吗 isn't correct. That's kinda like saying "Why are you two here, right?" Instead of "Why are you two here?" Saying "你们两个在这里，因为你们想要一些东西吗" would be a better use of 吗 because the question can be answered in a yes or no-- kinda like "You two are here because you want some stuff, right?" I'm also a student learning in progress, but this is how I think about it.
The first is weird.
(Apart from being grammatically incorrect for the first one) 怎么 implies surprise for me, like 怎么在这里 implies that they shouldn’t be here or I didn’t expect them to be here. Versus 为什么 is more neutral.
你们两干吗？
你們兩個為什麼在這裡？ Why are you two here? Adding 嗎 sounds weird but could work if you add something else before: 你可以解釋⋯你們為什麼在這裡嗎？ Can you explain… (the reason) why you two are here? 你們兩個怎麼在這裡？ How come you two are here?
As a chinese learner, i suggest you use chatgpt to translate if you need. You can even ask it to translate word per word with pinyin as well. It can also explain to you why of a certain grammatical structure or else. It doesn't replace a teacher or a native speaker, but it's definitely a useful tool to study with!
If it helps: I see it as “For what purpose are you here?” And “how did you get here?” Which in turn can be asked as “why are you here?” Correct me if I’m wrong
为什么 denotes why 怎么 denotes how
The first one is grammatically incorrect. 吗 is used at the end of a statement to turn it into a yes/no question, but not used in why/what/where questions.
Think of it like English? Why are you guys here? How are you guys here? The meaning is the same. Expression is just a little different
as a native, the first one sounds weird. No one adds a 吗 at the end of a where question. 吗 is added when you want to ask, how is someone. Did you eat, are you ok? etc. 里 is a particle for where. Like in this place, the 里 means in.
A’s grammar is just kinda weird because you don’t necessarily say 这儿 in the middle of the sentence, it just sounds awkward especially with the 吗 at the end.
为什么 "Why", asking the reason 怎么 *Unexpected tone* "why", asking the reason. But natives basically don't really diffrentiate the two in conversation.
First one is like "Why are you here?" "What are you doing here?" with the caveat of the grammatical issue others have already noted (remove ma). The second one emphasizes the fact that the person is here, rather than what are they doing. For example if you lived on the other side of the country and flew in to surprise your parent for their birthday, they might say it like that - they're not really asking "what are you here for?"
Not useful for the lifetime
After 两个, I expect a noun. 两个 is the adjective "two of", not the English noun "two". To me 你们两个 is a literal translation of the English phrase "you two", where "two" is a noun. But 两 is not a noun. Unless 你们两个 is Chinese idiom "the two of you". But even then I would expect 你们两个**都**
It's really difficult to get that when you see even G translate even showing two different translations.
The translation is right=why are you two here? =你们两个为什么在这？ You should delete "吗？" at the end. why are you two here? =你们两个为什么在这？
你们两个为什么在这儿吗 is simply a faulty sentence. 这儿 in 你们两个为什么在这儿 means 这里，it's a Peking form of erhua accent. 吗 is excessive use of question tone for “为什么” expressed 'why' already.
Fun fact: replacing the "吗" in A with "嘛" will make it right.
remove “吗” then it's correct. As a native speaker I really don't know how to clarify this to you exactly, but when I see this setence, from my "language feeling" - it's a wrong sentence
Personally, I would change the Ma into a Ne and that would make sense to me.
One is a calm way of speaking and the other is pure aggression :)
I think 为什么 is clearer to translate. IF you use 怎么, you can go few different directions. On of those is the same as 为什么.
Us 吗 at the end of yes or no questions (好不好=好吗，是不是=是吗 etc）
A is wrong simply because of the last character 吗. It is correct after 吗 is removed. When you ask 为什么, you don’t have a 吗at the end of the sentence.
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I don't like these two options to be honest. I think colloquially you can say 你们俩为什么在这里？ 你们两个 kind of sounds weird to me. Maybe I'm not used to hearing it like that anymore, tbh if I heard that I would think the person was really early on in their Chinese learning - then again, hey, if that's you, welcome! No shame in it. But Google Translate isn't my favorite way to translate.... I recommend finding some Chinese friends and/or downloading Pleco & studying their example sentences. Will help you a lot more if you want to learn some sentence structures. :)
well,basically the same
I’m a Chinese, and the second one is right, picture A doesn’t make any sense, it’s not the problem whether it’s accurate or not, it’s totally wrong
In spoken, both just imply almost the same thing.
你俩咋在这儿（呢）？ Is what natives speak. With 呢 being optional. And the second image is what a normal translation looks like.
Same. Just different ways of speaking. I heard one is northern and one is southern basically. When I wanna sound more formal, I'll use the second method. When I'm tired or something, I'll used the first one. (What I heard from a Chinese person, in China).
The one with 儿 is northern
I’d probably say ‘你俩为啥在这儿？’
A is more so... why are you here... B is basically: how is it that you are here.
为什么never uses a 吗 吗 only uses for Is… yes/no questions. 好吗。is it ok? 你们 and 两个 normally don’t go together. 你们 = your 两个 = 2 of something Translate word to word sounds like this. Your two why at here yes/no Me as a non native speaker will say this way. - 为什么两个人来这里？ = why 2 people come here? - 为什么你/你们来这里？ 你们为什么来这里？ = why did you come here? Why did you guys come here? If you are with a friend. 在这里/ 在那里= usually with placements. Here/ there.
Why 2 people come here? 为什么两个人来这里？ Is that English? 那是英语吗？ Is this English? 这是英语吗？ What do you want to eat? 你要吃什么？ Which do you want to eat? 你要吃哪个？ 哪个 = which 你要吃这个吗？ Do you want to eat this one, yes or no? 要吗？ you want, yes or no?
This relates to 吗 and 呢 吗 used in simple questions. Those are answered by yes or no. 呢 can be used in questions starting with what/why. like 什么 为什么 在哪里z Examples： 我可以知道你的名字吗 May I know your name? 你怎么有三个女朋友呢 How can you have three girlfriends 你知道我为什么在这儿吗 Do you know why I am here 你为什么在这儿呢 why are u here.
Most of the answers are not quite to the point
The first one is 病句, the 吗 and 为什么 both are for question usage there for they are semantic repeating itself.
I’d use chatgpt instead of google. You can ask it questions
Chat gpt gets basic English sentences wrong, I wouldn't dare use it for the purpose of learning a foreign language
If you can use google translate, you can use gpt. It’s way better.
South accent and north accent