吗 ma and 呢 ne chinese grammar

Chinese Grammar – 嗎/吗 ma and 呢 ne

Posted on by tiffany

Grammar Point:
In Chinese grammar, 吗 ma and 呢 ne are both sentence-ending particles used to ask questions and seek information or clarification, but they serve different purposes:

Final Particles 嗎/吗 ma

This is a question marker that is added to the end of a statement to turn it into a yes-no question. It is used to ask whether something is true or not.

The question that you really don’t know the answer to

你nǐ是shì日本人rìběnrén吗ma?
Are you Japanese?

你nǐ喜欢xǐhuan猫māo吗ma?
Do you like cats?

Final Particles 呢 ne

This particle is used to seek information or ask about the continuation of an action or a situation. It’s often used to follow up on a previous question or statement.

Bounce back question (How about..? What about..?)

我wǒ是shì日本人rìběnrén， 你nǐ呢ne？
I am Japanese, how about you?

你nǐ喜欢xǐhuan猫māo， 他tā呢ne？
You like cats, how about him?

你nǐ今天jīntiān很hěn忙máng， 明天míngtiān呢ne？
You are busy today, how about tomorrow?

Where – Noun + 呢 ne

狗gǒu呢ne？
Where’s the dog?

我的wǒde钱qián呢ne？
Where’s my money?

Soft your tones when you ask question (a little bit casual)

The main difference between 呢 ne and 吗 ma is that 吗 ma is used exclusively for yes-no questions, while 呢 is used for questions that contain question words (such as where, what, why, etc.).

你nǐ要yào吃chī什么shénme呢ne？
What do you want to eat?

Toby 为什么wèishénme喜欢xǐhuan猫māo呢ne？
Why does Toby like cats?

Try to convince people

It usually goes with 吧 ba to provide a suggestion.

还hái早zǎo呢ne， 再zài喝hē一yì杯bēi酒jiǔ吧ba！
It’s still quite early, let’s have another cup of drinks.

中文zhōngwén很hěn简单jiǎndān呢ne， 你nǐ就jiù试试shìshì吧ba！
Mandarin Chinese is easy, you should have a try!

Continuation of an action or state (usually go with 在 zài )

我wǒ在zài吃饭chīfàn呢ne！
I am eating now!

妈妈māma在zài生气shēngqì呢ne！
Mom is angry now!

Practice

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