Marking a topic with "ma"

The particle 嘛 (ma) can be used for topic marking. It basically allows the speaker to state the topic, then gather his thoughts before making a comment on it. Unlike the sentence-final 嘛 pattern you may know, the following comment may or may not be one the speaker feels is obvious.

Structure

Topic + 嘛 ，Statement

Examples

Translations for this pattern are going to be a bit looser than for many other grammar patterns.

• 大 熊猫 嘛 ，大家 都 喜欢 。Dà xióngmāo ma, dàjiā dōu xǐhuan.Pandas. Everybody likes them.
• 名牌 嘛 ，一定 不 便宜 。Míngpái ma, yīdìng bù piányi.Well, it's a name brand. It can't be cheap.
• 第 一 次 嘛 ，以后 就 会 了 。Dì-yī cì ma, yǐhòu jiù huì le.First time. You'll get the hang of it soon.
• 孩子 嘛 ，不 懂 这些 很 正常 。Háizi ma, bù dǒng zhèxiē hěn zhèngcháng.Kids. It's not unusual that they don't understand these things.
• 老板 请客 嘛 ，随便 点 。Lǎobǎn qǐngkè ma, suíbiàn diǎn.The boss is buying. Order whatever you want.
• 上海 嘛 ，菜 都 是 这样 的。Shànghǎi ma, cài dōu shì zhèyàng de.It's Shanghai. All the food here is like this.
• 比赛 嘛 ，不 紧张 是 不 可能 的。Bǐsài ma, bù jǐnzhāng shì bù kěnéng de.It's a competition. It's not possible to not be nervous.
• 缘分 嘛 ，我们 两 个 都 喜欢 周杰伦。Yuánfèn ma, wǒmen liǎng gè dōu xǐhuān Zhōu Jiélún.It's fate: we both like Jay Chou.
• 学生 嘛 ，就 应该 有 学生 的 样子。Xuéshēng ma, jiù yīnggāi yǒu xuéshēng de yàngzi.Students should act like students.
• 开车 嘛 ，最 重要 的 是 安全。Kāichē ma, zuì zhòngyào de shì ānquán.When it comes to driving, the most important thing is safety.

See also

• Expressing the self-evident with "ma"

Sources and further reading

Books

HSK5