吗 (yes-no question)

• Pinyin: ma
• Formation: Statement + 吗？
• Hanzi breakdown: 吗 = 口 (mouth) + 马 (horse)

Meaning

The particle 吗 (ma) is added at the end of a statement to turn it into a yes-no question. It is the simplest and most common way to form questions in Mandarin Chinese.

Adding 吗 to any declarative sentence transforms it into a question that expects a yes or no answer. The word order of the statement remains completely unchanged — only 吗 is appended. For example, 你是学生 (You are a student) becomes 你是学生吗？(Are you a student?). This is fundamentally different from English, which changes word order to form questions. Answers to 吗 questions do not use 'yes' or 'no' — instead, speakers repeat or negate the verb: 是 (yes/am) or 不是 (no/am not). 吗 cannot be used together with other question words like 什么, 谁, or 哪 — if the sentence already contains a question word, 吗 is not needed and should not be added.

Examples

1. 你是中国人吗？ Are you Chinese?
2. 这个周末你有空吗？ Are you free this weekend?
3. 你喜欢吃辣的吗？ Do you like eating spicy food?

Usage Guide

Context: spoken, written, everyday

Tone: interrogative

Do Say

• 你会说英语吗？
• 这里可以停车吗？
• 你明天来上班吗？
• 这个颜色好看吗？

Don't Say

• 你去哪里吗？(吗 cannot appear in a sentence that already has a question word like 哪里 — the question word itself makes it a question) → 你去哪里？
• 谁来了吗？(吗 and 谁 cannot coexist — 谁 already indicates a question, so 吗 is redundant and ungrammatical) → 谁来了？
• 你要什么吗？(吗 should not be added when 什么 is already asking a question — use one question form or the other) → 你要什么？

Origin & History

The particle 吗 evolved from the classical Chinese question marker 么/麼. It became the standard spoken question particle during the Yuan dynasty and has remained the primary yes-no question marker in Mandarin ever since.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal