A good answer to a follow-up question has four parts: a view, a reason, an example and a balancing point. This frame lets you speak for several sentences on a topic you have never prepared. It builds on expressing a comparison and belongs to Mandarin listening and speaking.
All speakers and answers below are invented.
What does the frame look like?
Each part has a few connecting phrases you can reuse on any topic.
| Part | Useful phrases | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| View | 我觉得…… / 在我看来…… | wǒ juéde / zài wǒ kàn lái |
| Reason | 主要是因为…… | zhǔyào shì yīnwèi |
| Example | 比如说…… | bǐrú shuō |
| Balance | 不过…… / 另一方面…… | bùguò / lìng yì fāngmiàn |
How do you build an answer in the moment?
- Buy a second. Say 嗯，这个问题很有意思 (ń, zhège wèntí hěn yǒu yìsi) while you think.
- Give a view in one short sentence.
- Add a reason with 因为.
- Add an example from your own life, because it is easy to say and hard to run out of.
- Close with a balance or a plan.
Worked example
Invented exchange. The examiner-style question is 你周末喜欢做什么? and the student says 我周末喜欢踢足球。 Then comes the follow-up the student did not expect:
你觉得为什么现在的年轻人越来越喜欢在网上交朋友？
(Nǐ juéde wèishénme xiànzài de niánqīngrén yuèláiyuè xǐhuan zài wǎngshàng jiāo péngyou?)
A developed answer:
嗯，这个问题很有意思。我觉得主要是因为方便。比如说，我有一个朋友住在别的城市，我们每天都可以在网上聊天。另外，在网上认识新朋友也比较容易。不过，我觉得见面聊天更真实，所以我周末也喜欢和朋友一起踢足球。
(Ń, zhège wèntí hěn yǒu yìsi. Wǒ juéde zhǔyào shì yīnwèi fāngbiàn.)
(Bǐrú shuō, wǒ yǒu yí ge péngyou zhù zài bié de chéngshì, wǒmen měi tiān dōu kěyǐ zài wǎngshàng liáotiān. Lìngwài, zài wǎngshàng rènshi xīn péngyou yě bǐjiào róngyì. Bùguò, wǒ juéde jiànmiàn liáotiān gèng zhēnshí, suǒyǐ wǒ zhōumò yě xǐhuan hé péngyou yìqǐ tī zúqiú.)
Notice the last sentence returns to the student’s own life, so the answer feels connected to the first question.
The mistake to watch for
A common slip is to answer with one reason and then stop.
Mistaken answer: 因为方便。
The reason is correct, but the answer gives the listener nothing else to understand.
The correction is to add an example straight away with 比如说, then a balance with 不过. A second slip is reciting a memorised paragraph about a different topic. A prepared answer that does not match the question communicates less than a simple answer that does.
Check yourself
For each follow-up, write or say a four-part answer. The answers below are samples, and any answer with the four parts is fine.
1. 你觉得学校应该几点开始上课？
Show answer
Sample: 我觉得应该八点开始。因为早上的时候我们比较清醒。比如说，我早上学数学比下午学得快。不过，有的同学住得很远，所以八点可能太早。
2. 你为什么学华语？
Show answer
Sample: 我觉得华语很有用。主要是因为我可以和更多人交流。比如说，我可以和朋友的奶奶聊天。不过，写汉字对我来说还是比较难，所以我每天练习。
3. You forget the word 雨伞. How can you keep speaking?
Show answer
Describe it: 就是下雨的时候用的东西，可以挡雨，你可以拿在手里。This keeps the sentence going and lets the listener supply the word.
Where this leads next
Record one of your developed answers and review it with local playback without accent shaming. Then try the speaking questions in the mixed practice set.
Teachers in online one-to-one Chinese tuition can ask you follow-ups you have not rehearsed, which is hard to do alone.