Marking a topic with "ma"

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. In this pattern, the following comment may or may not be one the speaker feels is obvious.

Structure

Topic + 嘛 ,Statement

Examples

  • 大 熊猫 ,大家 都 喜欢 。Dà xióngmāo ma, dàjiā dōu xǐhuan.Pandas. Everybody likes them.
  • 名牌 ,一定 不 便宜 。Míngpái ma, yīdìng bù piányi.Brandname. It can't be cheap.
  • 第 一 次 ,以后 就 会 了 。Dì-yī cì ma, yǐhòu jiù huì le.First time. You'll learn soon.
  • 孩子 ,不 懂 这些 很 正常 。Háizi ma, bù dǒng zhèxiē hěn zhèngcháng.Kids. It's common that they don't understand these things .
  • 老板 请客 ,当然 要 大方 。Lǎobǎn qǐngkè ma, dāngrán yào dàfang.The boss is buying. Of course I need to be generous.
  • 上海 ,都是 这样 的。Shànghǎi ma, dōu shì zhèyàng de.Shanghai. It's just like that.
  • 比赛 ,不 紧张 是 不 可能 的。Bǐsài ma, bù jǐnzhāng shì bù kěnéng de.Competition. It's not possible to not be nervous.
  • 这 不 是 缘分 ,我们 两 个 都 喜欢 周杰伦。Zhè bùshì yuánfèn ma, wǒmen liǎng gè dōu xǐhuān Zhōu Jiélún.It's fate that we both like Jay Chou.
  • 学生 ,就 应该 有 学生 的样子。Xuéshēng ma, jiù yīnggāi yǒu xuéshēng de yàngzi.Students. They're just like that.
  • 开车 ,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

Sources and further reading

Books

HSK5