# Reply to someone knocking on the door



## cheshire

Someone is knocking on the door. Can I say "你是誰?" without being impolite?


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## Delzac

"你是誰?" By itself is already impolite.

the polite version is 

" 请问你是谁 ? "


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## GEmatt

Hi,
If you can't see the other person (you haven't opened the door yet), would you use "请问你是谁?", colloquially? How about "喂?"


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## Delzac

If i haven't seen the person yet(or haven't opened the door), using "请问你是谁" is acceptable.

i don't think " 喂? " is acceptable whether you have opened or yet to open the door.

It doesn't really mean anything if you use " 喂? " for this context. The usually way of using " 喂? " is when you are answering the phone.


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## eastlife

haha.

The only occation "喂" is used is on the phone. 

If someone knocks the door, I will say "谁?" or "谁啊?" It is not that polite, but it's short, simple and fairly acceptable.People won't think you are implolite.

Only foreigners say " 请问你是谁 ? "

Hongkong people say "边個?"


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## l10ner

cheshire said:


> Someone is knocking on the door. Can I say "你是誰?" without being impolite?


 
In simplified Chinese:
If you are at home, someone knocking at the door, you can always ask "谁？(shei2)" or "谁啊？". I't ok if you say loudly, but you should in a tempered tone. Here, there's no problem about polite or impolite. Actually, this is almost the only way to answer knocking.

It's always not polite if you are in a strong tone.
 
If you are at office, someone knocking at the door, you can ask "哪位？"(na3 wei4),  or "请问哪位？". Here, "你是誰?" really sounds not polite.


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## GEmatt

eastlife said:


> The only occation "喂" is used is on the phone.
> If someone knocks the door, I will say "谁?" or "谁啊?" It is not that polite, but it's short, simple and fairly acceptable.People won't think you are implolite.
> 
> Only foreigners say " 请问你是谁 ? "


Thanks eastlife! So "喂" for the phone is more or less equal to "谁?" or "谁啊?" at the door.

So why do you say only foreigners would say "请问你是谁?" Is Delzac a foreigner?


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## cheshire

I don't know what you say 華僑 in Chinese, but are you one of them, Delsac?

Is 你是什么人 out of the question?

Thanks, everybody!


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## GEmatt

I was told that 你是什么人 is beyond rude.. but let's wait for the experts..


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## l10ner

Yes, 你是什么人 is rude. If you and your friend are talking, when someone join in. Now, you say "你是什么人", it will mean like "I don't know you. Move away and keep your own bussiness". Even if you know the third people, you can use "你是什么人" to express he/she is not welcome.

If you say it when someone is knocking the door, it will sound weird.


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## eastlife

Delsac is from Singapore, I guess.

To Cheshire: 
"你是什么人?" sounds way too tough and offensive. Literally, it says "what people you are"? But it may mean "who the hell are you?" or imply "I don't know you!" For example, someone on the street asks you to show your passport, but apparently he is not a policeman. In this case, you can say "你是什么人?"

To Gematt:
"喂" equals to "hello, hey, hi". it does not mean anything specially. But it has to be the first word you say when you pick up the phone.

To go back to the topic:
In the real world,
If you are at home, you say in a casual way: "谁shei2?", or "谁啊?"
If you are in the office, you probably need to say: "哪位?" This is more formal,and polite.
If you are on the toilet, you just shout: "有人!!!"
The bottom line is you have to keep this short and simple.Being polite is a good thing, but being too polite is kind of making distance from you and people.


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## cheshire

boardslide315, you can start it again in a new question.



> If you are on the toilet, you just shout: "有人!!!"


　Can  I say in that case "我叫cheshire!"? Kidding!


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