Expressing the self-evident with "ma"
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Keywords
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).
Contents
Sentence-Final Structure
Statement + 嘛
Examples
- 你的 妹妹 很 漂亮 嘛。Your sister is pretty.
- 中国 人口 很 多 嘛。The Chinese population is huge.
- 美国人 很 开放 嘛。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。Pandas.Children all like them.
- 男人 嘛，总是要喝点酒，抽点烟。Men. They're always going to drink and smoke.
See also
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
