Marking a topic with "ma"

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The particle 嘛 (ma) can be used for topic marking. It basically allows the speaker to state the topic, then gather his thoughts before making a comment on it. Unlike the sentence-final 嘛 pattern you may know, the following comment may or may not be one the speaker feels is obvious.

Structure

Topic + 嘛 ,Statement

Examples

Translations for this pattern are going to be a bit looser than for many other grammar patterns.

  • 大 熊猫 ,大家 都 喜欢 。Dàxióngmāo ma, dàjiā dōu xǐhuan.Pandas. Everybody likes them.
  • 名牌 ,一定 不 便宜 。Míngpái ma, yīdìng bù piányi.Well, it's a name brand. It can't be cheap.
  • 第一 次 ,以后 就 会 了 。Dì-yī cì ma, yǐhòu jiù huì le.It's your first time. You'll get the hang of it soon.
  • 孩子 ,不 懂 这些 很 正常 。Háizi ma, bù dǒng zhèxiē hěn zhèngcháng.Kids. It's not unusual that they don't understand these things.
  • 老板 请客 ,随便 点 。Lǎobǎn qǐngkè ma, suíbiàn diǎn.The boss is buying. Order whatever you want.
  • 上海 ,菜 都 是 这样 的。Shànghǎi ma, cài dōu shì zhèyàng de.It's Shanghai. All the food here is like this.
  • 比赛 ,不 紧张 是 不 可能 的。Bǐsài ma, bù jǐnzhāng shì bù kěnéng de.It's a competition. It's not possible to not be nervous.
  • 歌手 ,我们 两 个 都 喜欢 周杰伦。Gēshǒu ma, wǒmen liǎng gè dōu xǐhuan Zhōu Jiélún.The singer,we both like Jay Chou.
  • 学生 ,就 应该 有 学生 的 样子。Xuéshēng ma, jiù yīnggāi yǒu xuéshēng de yàngzi.Students should act like students.
  • 开车 ,最 重要 的 是 安全。Kāichē ma, zuì zhòngyào de shì ānquán.When it comes to driving, the most important thing is safety.

See also

HSK5