請問grammar point · tier 1 · 請問 — may I ask (the polite question opener)
A fixed opener set in front of a question to a stranger: it marks the asker as deferring before asking, and leaves the question's own structure untouched.
字源 FORM what the parts do
請 is speech (言) with 青 for sound — words spoken deferentially. 問 is a mouth (口) asking, 門 for sound, the picture of a mouth at the gate coming free. Set together they put a deferring word before the asking: ask, with a bow first.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
At a stranger's gate the words bow, then a mouth opens through it and asks.
字源記憶法
框 · Frame
請問，[full question] ？
觸 · Trigger
You are about to ask a stranger for something you don't know, and you want to soften the approach before the question lands.
序 · The move
1Build the question on its own first — keep its word order and its own question word (什麼, 哪裡, 嗎).Does the question already stand as a full question without 請問?
2Set 請問 in front of that whole question.Did 請問 stay at the head, not wedge into the middle?
3Confirm you are seeking information, not asking someone to do something.Are you the one who wants to know? Then 請問. Are you inviting them to act (sit, come in)? Then plain 請, not 請問.
例 · Examples
1請問may I ask (polite opener)你you叫be called什麼what (slot for the thing)名字name？
請問 opens a question you are asking; 請 alone invites the other person to do something. 請問 means I want to know; 請坐 invites you to sit. The 問 is what turns the bow toward a question.
a bare question with no opener
你叫什麼名字 is the same question; 請問你叫什麼名字 prefixes deference for a stranger. 請問 adds the bow without changing the question behind it.
treating 請問 as a verb the question hangs off: 請問什麼是你的名字？ → 請問你叫什麼名字？ (the question keeps its own order; 請問 only sits in front)
請坐 where a question is meant: 請坐你叫什麼名字？ → 請問你叫什麼名字？ (asking takes 問, not the invitation 請坐)
wedging it inside: 你請問叫什麼名字？ → 請問你叫什麼名字？ (請問 heads the whole question)
English "may I ask" / "excuse me" can land mid-sentence or trail off; 請問 sits cleanly at the head of the whole question and nowhere else.