Yes-no questions with "ma"

The question particle 吗 (ma) is a very simple way to form questions in Chinese. By placing 吗 (ma) on the end of a statement, you convert it into a "yes/no question," (questions that could be answered with yes or no in English.) They're also known as "polar questions."

Basic Usage

Structure

Any statement can be converted into a yes / no question with 吗 (ma). You could think of 吗 (ma) as being like a question mark you say out loud. So the basic structure is:

statement sentence + 吗 ？

For example:

  • 你 喜欢 咖啡 。 (statement)Nǐ xǐhuan kāfēi.You like coffee.

"You like coffee" can easily be converted into "Do you like coffee?" by adding 吗 (ma):

  • 你 喜欢 咖啡 吗？ (question)Nǐ xǐhuan kāfēi ma?Do you like coffee?

Examples

More examples of statements and their yes/no question forms:

  • 你 去 。 (statement)Nǐ qù. You go.
  • 你 去 吗 ？ (question)Nǐ qù ma?Are you going?
  • 你 喝 茶 。 (statement)Nǐ hē chá.You drink tea.
  • 你 喝 茶 吗 ？ (question)Nǐ hē chá ma?Do you drink tea?
  • 你 学 中文 。 (statement)Nǐ xué Zhōngwén. You study Chinese.
  • 你 学 中文 吗 ？ (question)Nǐ xué Zhōngwén ma? Do you study Chinese?
  • 他 是 老师 。 (statement)Tā shì lǎoshī.He is a teacher.
  • 他 是 老师 吗 ？ (question)Tā shì lǎoshī ma?Is he a teacher?
  • 你 是 学生 。 (statement)Nǐ shì xuéshēng.You are a student.
  • 你 是 学生 吗 ？ (question)Nǐ shì xuéshēng ma?Are you a student?
  • 你 是 医生 。 (statement)Nǐ shì yīshēng.You are a doctor.
  • 你 是 医生 吗 ？ (question)Nǐ shì yīshēng ma?Are you a doctor?
  • 那 是 老虎 。 Nà shì lǎohǔ.(statement)That is a tiger.
  • 那 是 老虎 吗 ？ Nà shì lǎohǔ ma?(question) Is that a tiger?
  • 你 认识 我 (statement) You know me.
  • 你 认识 我 吗？ (question) Do you know me?
  • 你 会 做 饭 (statement) You make food (dinner).
  • 你 会 做 饭 吗？ (question) Are you making food (dinner)?
  • 你 想 家 (statement) You miss home.
  • 你 想 家 吗？ (question) Do you miss home?

It's important to remember that you can not add 吗 (ma) to a sentence that's already a question. For example:

  • 你 是 谁 吗？(谁 is a question word) Are you who?
  • 这 是 不 是 书 吗？(是不是 is a question pattern) Is this a book, is?

These would be something like "Do you who are you?" and "Does is this a book?" in English - obviously wrong. Still if you're not careful, you may find yourself throwing a 吗 (ma) onto the end of a question that doesn't need it. Many learners make this mistake, so don't worry if it happens every once in a while, just catch it and remember it the next time.

More Advanced Usage

However, this doesn't mean that a sentence can't ever have a question word and 吗 (ma). If a sentence contains verbs of understanding such as "知道 (zhīdao),了解 (liǎojié), 明白 (míngbai), 认识 (rènshi)" etc, then "吗" (ma) can still be added at the end of the question.

This is not a necessary pattern for a beginner to know, but you may also wish to read about advanced yes-no questions with "ma".

See also

Sources and further reading

Videos

Books

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