Expressing the self-evident with "ma"

The particle 嘛 (ma) is a sentence-final particle identical in pronunciation to the simple "yes/no question" particle 吗 (ma) you learned back in the day, but with a rather different function. It can be used when the speaker feels what he is saying is obvious (from his point of view).

Sentence-Final Structure

Statement + 嘛

Examples

• 你的 妹妹 很 漂亮 嘛。Nǐ de mèimei hěn piàoliang ma.Your sister is pretty.
• 中国 人口 很 多 嘛。Zhōngguó rénkǒu hěn duō ma.The Chinese population is huge.
• 美国人 很 开放 嘛。Měiguó rén hěn kāifàng ma.Americans are very open-minded.

Topic-Marking Structure

An alternate form is:

Topic + 嘛, + Statement

This basically allows the speaker to state the topic, then gather his thoughts before making a comment on it. In this pattern, the following comment may or may not be one the speaker feels is obvious.

Examples

• 大熊猫嘛，孩子们都很喜欢。Dà xióngmāo ma, háizimen dōu hěn xǐhuan.Pandas.Children all like them.
• 男人 嘛，总是要喝点酒，抽点烟。Nánrén ma, zǒng shì yào hē diǎn jiǔ, chōu diǎn yān.Men. They're always going to drink and smoke.

See also

• Yes-no questions with "ma"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Common Chinese Patterns 330 (汉语常用格式330例) (pp. 225) →buy →买
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 19) →buy
• Intermediate Chinese - A Grammar and Workbook (Unit 23) →buy

Websites

• Three Simple Uses of the Other “Ma” on a Bag