吗 (yes-no question)

• 拼音: ma
• 结构: Statement + 吗？
• 汉字拆解: 吗 = 口 (mouth) + 马 (horse)

含义

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.

例句

1. 你是中国人吗？
2. 这个周末你有空吗？
3. 你喜欢吃辣的吗？

用法指南

语境: spoken, written, everyday

语气: interrogative

正确说法

• 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？

错误说法

• 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？

起源与历史

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.

文化背景

世代: All ages

社会背景: Universal