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

Subj. + Verb + Obj. + 了吗?

Examples

  • 你 吃 饭 了 吗Nǐ chī fàn le ma? Did you eat?
  • 老板 走 了 吗Lǎobǎn zǒu le ma? Did the boss leave?
  • 你男朋友 找到 新 工作 了 吗Nǐ nánpéngyǒu zhǎodào xīn gōngzuò le ma? Has your boyfriend found a new job yet?
  • 妈妈,你 昨天 给 我 打电话 了 吗Māma, nǐ zuótiān gěi wǒ dǎ diànhuà le ma? Mom, did you call me yesterday?
  • 你 今天 去 上班 了 吗Nǐ jīntiān qù shàngbān le ma? Did you go to work today?

With a Topic

Structure

Topic + (Subj.) + Verb + 了吗?

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

Examples

  • 晚饭 你 吃 了 吗Wǎnfàn nǐ chī le ma? Did you eat dinner?
  • 衣服 你 洗 好 了 吗Yīfu nǐ xǐ hǎo le ma? Have you finished washing clothes?
  • 作业 你 写 完 了 吗Zuòyè nǐ xiě wánle ma? Have you finishing doing homework?
  • 这 个 电影 你 看 了 吗Zhè gè diànyǐng nǐ kàn le ma? Have you seen this movie?
  • 我 的 邮件 你 收到 了 吗Wǒ de yóujiàn nǐ shōudào le ma? Have you received my message?

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