Expressing the self-evident with "ma"

Revision as of 07:01, 30 January 2012 by JiaBeixi (talk | contribs) (→‎Books)

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).

The structure is:

Statement + 嘛

Some examples:

  • 你的 妹妹 很 漂亮
  • 中国 人口 很 多
  • 美国人 很 开放

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.

Some examples:

  • 女孩子 ,害怕。
  • 男人 ,总是要喝啤酒。

See also

Sources and further reading

Books