Questions with ne

The particle 呢 can be used to ask reciprocal questions, also known as "bounce back" questions. 呢 can also be used to ask questions such as "what about" or "how about".

The structure is:

Topic + 呢

And it's as simple as that. Say what you want to ask about, then stick 呢 on the end. A very common way to use this is to return a question after being asked it. The classic example is this exchange:

A: 你好吗？

B: 我很好。你呢？

A: 我也很好。

More 呢 examples (each of these can be translated as a "what about" question):

• 这个东西呢？
• 你妈妈呢？
• 我们呢？
• 地球呢？

(Bonus points if you spotted the Michael Jackson reference in the examples).

Sources and further reading

• Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar (pp. 300 - 307)
• East Asia Student: [How to use 呢 (ne) in Mandarin]