Questions with "le ma"

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

General structure

Subject + Verb + Object + 了吗?

Examples

• 你 去 了 吗？Did you go?
• 你 吃饭 了 吗？Did you eat?
• 你 看 了 吗？Did you see?
• 他走 了 吗？Did he leave?
• 你 喝 酒 了 吗？Did you drink alcohol?
• 你 做 了 吗？Did you make it?
• 她 笑 了 吗？Did she laugh?
• 你 给 我 打 电话 了 吗？Did you call me?
• 你 今天 喝 咖啡 了 吗？Did you drink coffee today?
• 你 吃 水果 了 吗？Did you eat fruit?

Structure with a Topic

Topic + (Subject) + Verb + 了吗?

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

Examples

• 北京 你 去 了 吗？Did you go to Beijing?
• 晚饭 你 吃 了 吗？Did you eat dinner?
• 电影 你 看 了 吗？Did you watch the movie?
• 作业 你 写 了 吗？Did you do homework?
• 这 本 书 你 读 了 吗？Did you read this book?
• 衣服 你 买 了 吗？Did you buy clothes?
• 酒 你 喝 了 吗？Did you drink alcohol?
• 电话 你 给 我 打 了 吗？Did you call me?
• 咖啡 你 今天 喝 了 吗？Did you drink coffee today?
• 水果 你 吃 了 吗？Did you eat fruit?

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