How to Say "What do you mean" in Chinese
The everyday way to say it is 你什么意思？ (nǐ shénme yìsi). It's perfectly normal with friends and colleagues, but because it's so direct it can sound like a challenge, so soften it with 啊 or switch to 您 in polite settings.
The most common way
？
nǐ shénme yìsi?
What do you mean? / What are you getting at? — the standard, neutral way to ask someone to clarify.
How to say it: Keep 意思 light: yì is a sharp falling tone, but 思 drops to a neutral tone, almost "ee-suh". Don't give it a full first tone or it sounds like two separate words.
Other ways to say it
- polite / formal
？
nín shì shénme yìsi?
What do you mean, sir/madam? — same question with 您 and 是, which softens the bluntness.
When to use it: Say it to a client, a senior colleague, an interviewer or anyone you'd address with 您.
- casual, softened
？
nǐ shénme yìsi a?
So what exactly do you mean? — the sentence-final 啊 takes the edge off and sounds more like genuine puzzlement than an accusation.
When to use it: Use it with friends, partners or close coworkers when you're confused rather than annoyed.
- clarifying a specific point
？
nǐ zhǐ de shì shénme?
What exactly are you referring to? — asks which thing or part they mean, not what their intent is.
When to use it: Best when someone has said something vague and you need them to point at the specific item or detail.
- polite hedge
。
wǒ bú tài míngbai nǐ de yìsi.
I don't quite follow what you mean — puts the confusion on yourself instead of demanding an explanation.
When to use it: Use it in meetings, with superiors or with strangers when you want clarification without sounding confrontational.
- very casual / northern
？
shá yìsi?
What's that supposed to mean? — clipped and colloquial; the bare 啥 replaces 什么.
When to use it: Only with people you're close to, in relaxed spoken Chinese or texting; it sounds curt in formal contexts.
- confrontational
？
nǐ zhè huà shì shénme yìsi?
What do you mean by that? — carries clear displeasure, said when you think someone has insulted or implied something.
When to use it: Use it when someone's remark has upset you and you want them to explain or take it back; it usually escalates the exchange.
In a conversation
- A
。
zhège fāng'àn wǒ juéde hái děi zài gǎigǎi.
I think this proposal still needs a bit more work.
- B
？？
nǐ shénme yìsi? shì shuō wǒ zuò de bù hǎo ma?
What do you mean? Are you saying I did a bad job?
- A
，。
bú shì bú shì, wǒ shì shuō xìjié shang hái néng zài wánshàn yíxià.
No, no — I just mean the details could be polished a little more.
Common mistakes
什么是你的意思？→ 你什么意思？Chinese puts the question word exactly where the answer would go, so it's 你 + 什么意思, never a word-for-word copy of "what is your meaning".
你什么意思吗？→ 你什么意思？A sentence that already contains a question word like 什么 doesn't take the particle 吗 at the end.
我不明白你的意思吗。→ 我不明白你的意思。吗 turns a statement into a yes/no question, so adding it here makes you ask whether you understand rather than state that you don't.