呀

ya

particle HSK 4 #332

Meanings

1 ah!; oh! (exclamation of surprise)
2 (sentence-final particle, variant of 啊)

Characters

exclamation particle (softened form of 啊)

Examples

呀，你来了！

Ya, nǐ lái le!

Oh, you're here!

快走呀！

Kuài zǒu ya!

Hurry up!

呀，下雨了！

Ya, xià yǔ le!

Oh, it's raining!

Tips

grammar

呀 is a softened variant of 啊 (a). It's used after words ending in -a, -o, -e, -i, -ü sounds. After -n, use 哪 (na); after -ng, use 啊 (a).

usage

As an exclamation at the start of a sentence, 呀 expresses surprise. At the end of a sentence, it softens the tone like 啊.

Stroke Order

呀 ya