Modal particle "ne"

You may have already learned how to ask questions with 呢 (ne), but did you know that it's also used in statements? In this usage, 呢 (ne) is imparting a certain "mood" (hence the word "modal") or "attitude." It's used when trying to sound more confident and convincing to someone else.

Structure

Statement + 呢

Examples

For each of these examples, just a bit of context is needed to understand what the speaker is trying to convince someone of.

• 我 不 要 回家 。还 早 呢 ！Wǒ bù yào huíjiā. Hái zǎo ne!I don't want to go home. It's still early!
• 太 远 了，坐 火车 要 十 个 小时 呢。Tài yuǎn le, zuò huǒchē yào shí gè xiǎoshí ne.It's too far. By train, it'll take 10 hours.
• 我 找 了 你 很 久 呢，你 去 哪里 了？Wǒ zhǎo le nǐ hěn jiǔ ne, nǐ qù nǎlǐ le?I looked for you for quite a while. Where did you go?
• 雨 还 很 大 呢，我们 不 要 出去 了。Yǔ hái hěn dàne, wǒmen bù yào chūqù le .And it's raining really heavily. Let's just not go out.
• 你 喝 吧，还有 很 多 可乐 呢。Nǐ hē ba, háiyǒu hěn duō kělène.Drink some. There's a lot of cola left.
• 爸爸 在 工作 呢，不 能 和 你 一起 玩。Bàba zài gōngzuò ne, bù néng hé nǐ yīqǐ wán.Daddy's working. He can't play with you.
• 他 还 没 回来 呢。Tā hái méi huílái ne.He hasn't come back yet.
• 我们 的 工作 还 有 很多 呢。Wǒmen de gōngzuò hái yǒu hěn duō ne.We still have a lot of work.
• 我们 一起 吃饭 吧，时间 还 有 很多 呢。Wǒmen yīqǐ chīfàn ba, shíjiān háiyǒu hěn duō ne.Let's eat together. We still have a lot of time.
• 你 怎么 还 在 吃 呢？Nǐ zěnme hái zài chī ne.How is it that you're still eating?

See Also

• Modal particles
• Questions with "ne"
• Expressing actions in progress (full form)
• Softening the tone of questions with "ne" (advanced article)

Sources and further reading

Books

• HSK Standard Course 2 (pp. 52) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

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