Questions with "le ma"

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Asking questions about completed actions will involve using both 了 (le) and 吗 (ma). These are simply added to the end of a sentence or statement. This means you might see questions with 了 (le) and 吗 (ma) in different structures.

General Usage

Structure

Subject + Verb + Object + 了吗?

Examples

  • 你 去 了 吗Nǐ qù le ma? Did you go?
  • 你 吃 饭 了 吗Nǐ chī fàn le ma? Did you eat?
  • 你 看 了 吗Nǐ kàn le ma? Did you see?
  • 他 走 了 吗Tā zǒu le ma? Did he leave?
  • 你 喝 酒 了 吗Nǐ hē jiǔ le ma? Did you drink alcohol?
  • 你 做 了 吗Nǐ zuò le ma? Did you make it?
  • 她 笑 了 吗Tā xiào le ma? Did she laugh?
  • 你 给 我 打电话 了 吗Nǐ gěi wǒ dǎdiànhuà le ma? Did you call me?
  • 你 今天 喝 咖啡 了 吗Nǐ jīntiān hē kāfēi le ma? Did you drink coffee today?
  • 你 吃 水果 了 吗Nǐ chī shuǐguǒ le ma? Did you eat fruit?

With a Topic

Structure

Topic + (Subject) + Verb + 了吗?

NOTE: in this structure, the topic is also the object for the Verb.

Examples

  • 北京 你 去 了 吗Běijīng nǐ qù le ma? Did you go to Beijing?
  • 晚饭 你 吃 了 吗Wǎnfàn nǐ chī le ma? Did you eat dinner?
  • 电影 你 看 了 吗Diànyǐng nǐ kàn le ma? Did you watch the movie?
  • 作业 你 写 了 吗Zuòyè nǐ xiě le ma? Did you do homework?
  • 这 本 书 你 读 了 吗Zhè běn shū nǐ dú le ma? Did you read this book?
  • 衣服 你 买 了 吗Yīfu nǐ mǎi le ma? Did you buy clothes?
  • 酒 你 喝 了 吗Jiǔ nǐ hē le ma? Did you drink alcohol?
  • 电话 你 给 我 打 了 吗Diànhuà nǐ gěi wǒ dǎ le ma? Did you call me?
  • 咖啡 你 今天 喝 了 吗Kāfēi nǐ jīntiān hē le ma? Did you drink coffee today?
  • 水果 你 吃 了 吗Shuǐguǒ nǐ chī le ma? Did you eat fruit?

Notice that in these examples the object is introduced first as a topic.

Finally, please notice that this pattern is nothing more than the combination of the Expressing completion with le pattern and the Yes - no questions with ma pattern.

See also


Sources and further reading

Books