Chinese word

吗

Pronunciation

Pinyinma

Meaning

  • particleis it

Example

你要去吗？nǐ yào qù ma

Are you going?

Illustration for 吗 (is it)

More examples

这块蛋糕你要吗？zhè kuài dàn gāo nǐ yào ma

Do you want this piece of cake?

Core concept

A small question sign placed after a whole statement to ask for confirmation.

Common phrases

  • 要吗yào ma

    want it?

  • 吃吗chī ma

    Do you eat?

  • 去吗qù ma

    Are you going?

Similar words

吧ba: Placed at the end of a suggestion to make it gentler and invite agreement.
呢ne: Placed at the end of a question to ask the same question back.

Definition in Chinese

放在句子末尾的语气助词，用于构成一般疑问句，表示请求对方给出是或否的回答，发音多为轻声。fàng zài jù zi mò wěi de yǔ qì zhù cí yòng yú gòu chéng yì bān yí wèn jù biǎo shì qǐng qiú duì fāng gěi chū shì huò fǒu de huí dá fā yīn duō wèi qīng shēng

Word origin

吗 (ma, "question particle") is the simplified form of 嗎 (ma, "question particle"), whose 口 (kǒu, "mouth") component points to speech and whose 馬 (mǎ, "horse") component supplies the sound.

Usage tips

  • A sentence ending with this particle usually expects a yes-or-no reply, while a choice between alternatives is normally expressed with a different question pattern.

Word lists with this word