Softening the tone of questions with "ne"

We have seen before that 吧 can be used soften the tone of statements, them commands feel more like suggestions. 呢 works the same, but it is used to modify the tone of a question, making it more indirect and uncertain.

呢 used successively with 还是

V + N + 呢+ 还是 V + N + 呢 +(还是...)

去缅甸呢，还是去越南呢？还是去泰国呢？我真不知道！打电脑游戏呢，还是跟朋友去泡酒吧呢，都不太好！

The example sentences above almost have a tone that the speaker is talking to him/herself, as the question is not directly asked at the listener.

呢 with questions involving interrogative pronouns (哪儿，谁，怎么，什么 etc.)

这是谁的笔呢? (I wonder whose pen this is 这是谁做的呢 (I wonder who did this?)

In the previous example, the speaker has a tone of conjecture, or wondering. Again, as in the first example, the question is not directly asked of the listener, and can be used

呢 with "verb 不 verb" questions

If a "verb 不 verb" question is posed without 呢, it can appear as though the speaker is a bit impatient, or is ordering the listener to do something. This of course depends on the tone of voice used. Adding 呢 can give a tone of uncertainty.

你去不去逛街呢？(Are you going to go shopping?)
你去不去逛街 (Well are you going to go shopping or what??)
牛奶你喝不喝 (Said to a child, with the implication that if the milk isn't drunk, there will be consequences, with emphasis placed on 喝)
牛奶你喝不喝呢 (Perhaps said to a friend, with no implication of coercion)
你周末能不能加班？(Perhaps a manager asking a subordinate. This is not too direct, as 能 has been added. Saying 你加不加班 would seem more like an order)

你周末能不能加班呢？(Quite indirect