nǐ wèishénme hái zài gōngsī?

Why are you still at the company?

Breakdown of nǐ wèishénme hái zài gōngsī?

• 你nǐ: you
• 在zài: to be at
• 公司gōngsī: company
• 还hái: still

Questions & Answers about nǐ wèishénme hái zài gōngsī?

What exactly does 还 mean here? Is it "still" or "also"?

It means "still/yet": continuation of a state. In 你为什么还在公司？, 还 modifies 在, giving "still be (at)". If you meant "also", you'd typically use 也: 你也在公司吗？

Why is there no 是? Why not 你为什么是还在公司? or 你为什么是在公司?

In Chinese, location is expressed with the verb 在 ("to be located at"), not with 是. So the predicate is 在公司. 是 can appear only for special contrastive focus, e.g., 他不是在家，他是在公司 (He is not at home; it's at the office that he is), but it's not needed in the neutral question.

Can I put 吗 at the end: 你为什么还在公司吗？

No. You don't use 吗 with wh-questions like 为什么. Use 吗 only for yes–no questions, e.g., 你还在公司吗？ (Are you still at the office?).

Where does 还 go in the sentence?

Place 还 before the verb or adjective it modifies. Here it goes before 在: 还在. With other verbs: 你为什么还没走？, 他还工作呢. You wouldn’t put 还 after 在 or before the subject.

Why use 为什么 and not 怎么? What's the difference between 为什么还在公司？ and 怎么还在公司？