How to use 究竟
Subject + 究竟 + Question Predicate / Affirmative-Negative Predicate？
究竟 emphasizes the desire to establish the actual answer to a question. It can accompany a question word asking who, what, when, or why, or an affirmative-negative form asking whether something will happen. Its tone is often more formal than comparable uses of 到底, though either can express persistent curiosity or frustration.
The same questioning content can appear inside a statement about knowing, investigating, or discovering. In that case, the entire sentence need not be a direct question, but the unresolved issue remains. Put 究竟 before the relevant predicate or question phrase. Do not assume the word automatically means in the end simply because a search for the answer may eventually resolve something.
Examples with pinyin and English
这个人究竟是谁？
Who on earth is this guy?
你究竟是做什么的？
What exactly is it that you do?
他们究竟什么时候到？
When exactly are they arriving?
我们究竟还要等多久？
How much longer do we still need to wait?
What to remember
- Use 究竟 to stress the actual answer.
- It fits question-word and affirmative-negative forms.
- Embedded questions can retain 究竟.
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Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
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