Questions with "le ma"

Asking questions about completed actions will involve using both 了 (le) and 吗 (ma). These are simply added to the end of a sentence or statement. This means you might see questions with 了 (le) and 吗 (ma) in different structures.

General Usage

Structure

Subj. + Verb + Obj. + 了吗?

Examples

• 你 吃 饭 了 吗 ？ Nǐ chī fàn le ma? Did you eat?
• 老板 走 了 吗 ？ Lǎobǎn zǒu le ma? Did the boss leave?
• 你男朋友 找到 新 工作 了 吗 ？ Nǐ nánpéngyǒu zhǎodào xīn gōngzuò le ma? Has your boyfriend found a new job yet?
• 妈妈，你 昨天 给 我 打电话 了 吗 ？ Māma, nǐ zuótiān gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà le ma? Mom, did you call me yesterday?
• 你 今天 去 上班 了 吗 ？ Nǐ jīntiān qù shàngbān le ma? Did you go to work today?

With a Topic

Structure

Topic + (Subj.) + Verb + 了吗?

NOTE: in this structure, the topic is also the object for the Verb.

Examples

• 晚饭 你 吃 了 吗？ Wǎnfàn nǐ chī le ma? Did you eat dinner?
• 衣服 你 洗 好 了 吗？ Yīfu nǐ xǐ hǎo le ma? Have you finished washing clothes?
• 作业 你 写 完 了 吗？ Zuòyè nǐ xiě wánle ma? Have you finishing doing homework?
• 这 个 电影 你 看 了 吗？ Zhè gè diànyǐng nǐ kàn le ma? Have you seen this movie?
• 我 的 邮件 你 收到 了 吗？ Wǒ de yóujiàn nǐ shōudào le ma? Have you received my message?

Notice that in these examples the object is introduced first as a topic.

Finally, please notice that this pattern is nothing more than the combination of the Expressing completion with le pattern and the Yes - no questions with ma pattern.

See also

• Yes - no questions with ma
• Expressing completion with le
• Rhetorical Questions with "nandao"

Sources and further reading

Books

• Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (p. 229) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (p. 17) →buy
• A Practical Chinese Grammar For Foreigners (外国人实用汉语语法) (p. 429) →buy