吗

• 拼音: ma
• 汉字拆解: 吗 = 口 (mouth, semantic) + 马 (horse, phonetic)

含义

Question particle placed at the end of a statement to turn it into a yes/no question.

The most basic and essential question particle in Mandarin. Simply append 吗 to any declarative sentence to form a yes/no question. It carries a neutral tone and is one of the first grammar points taught to beginners.

例句

1. 你是中国人吗？
2. 今天你忙吗？
3. 你喜欢吃苹果吗？

用法指南

语境: grammar, everyday

语气: neutral

正确说法

• 你是学生吗？(Are you a student?)
• 他来了吗？(Has he arrived?)

错误说法

• 你去哪里吗？(Don't use 吗 with question words like 哪里 — the sentence is already a question; just say 你去哪里？)

起源与历史

A grammatical particle that developed in spoken Chinese. The character uses 口 (mouth) as the semantic component and 马 (horse) as the phonetic component.

文化背景

世代: All ages

社会背景: Universal