p8nda
p8nda BETA
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吗

嗎
ma
particle HSK 1 #15

Meanings

  1. 1 question particle (turns a statement into a yes/no question)

Characters

吗
ma
question particle
口 (mouth) + 马 (horse) — 马 gives the 'ma' sound

Examples

你好吗？
Nǐ hǎo ma?
How are you?
你是学生吗？
Nǐ shì xuéshēng ma?
Are you a student?
你喜欢中国吗？
Nǐ xǐhuan Zhōngguó ma?
Do you like China?

Tips

grammar
Add 吗 to the end of any statement to make it a yes/no question. No word order change needed — the simplest way to ask questions in Chinese.
mistakes
Don't use 吗 with questions that already have a question word (什么, 哪, 谁). Wrong: 你去哪儿吗？ Right: 你去哪儿？

Stroke Order

吗 ma