Yes-no questions with "ma"

Nível: HSK 1 | Categoria: Gramática

            Fórmula Sintática: Topic (+ Subj.) + Verb + 了吗?
          

Explicação da Regra:

The question particle 吗 (ma) is a simple way to form questions in Chinese. By placing 吗 (ma) on the end of a statement, you convert it into a yes/no question (questions that could be answered with "yes" or "no" in English). Any statement can be converted into a yes/no question with 吗 (ma). You could think of 吗 (ma) as being like a question mark you say out loud. So the basic structure is: [Statement] + 吗？ • 你喜欢咖啡。statementNǐ xǐhuan kāfēi.You like coffee. The sentence "You like coffee" can easily be converted into the question "Do you like coffee?" by adding 吗 (ma): • 你喜欢咖啡吗？questionNǐ xǐhuan kāfēi ma?Do you like coffee? More examples of yes/no questions that revert to statements when you remove the 吗 (ma): • 你是大学生吗？questionNǐ shì dàxuéshēng ma?Are you a college student? • 他是老板吗？questionTā shì lǎobǎn ma?Is he the boss? • 你喜欢她吗？questionNǐ xǐhuan tā ma?Do you like her? • 你想家吗？questionNǐ xiǎng jiā ma?Do you miss home? • 你们明天见面吗？questionNǐmen míngtiān jiànmiàn ma?Are you going to meet tomorrow? • 你们也去吗？questionNǐmen yě qù ma?Are you also going? • 他在你们学校学中文吗？questionTā zài nǐmen xuéxiào xué Zhōngwén ma?Does he study Chinese in your school? • 妈妈会做饭吗？questionMāma huì zuòfàn ma?Does mom know how to cook? It's important to remember that you do not normally add 吗 (ma) to a sentence that's already a question. For example: • 你是谁吗？谁 (shéi) is a question wordNǐ shì shéi ma? • 这是不是书吗？是不是 (shì bu shì) is a question patternZhè shì bu shì shū ma? These would be something like "Are you who are you?" and "Is this is a book?" in English, both obviously ungrammatical. Still, if you're not careful, you may find yourself throwing a 吗 (ma) onto the end of a question that doesn't need it. Many learners make this mistake, so don't worry if it happens every once in a while, just catch it and remember it the next time.

Exemplos com Falantes Nativos:

这个电影你看了吗？ (zhè gè diànyǐng nǐ kàn le ma ？): "Did you watch this movie?"
我的邮件你收到了吗？ (wǒ de yóujiàn nǐ shōudào le ma ？): "Have you received my mail?"
你喜欢咖啡吗？ (nǐ xǐhuān kāfēi ma ？): "Do you like coffee?"
你是大学生吗？ (nǐ shì dà xuéshēng ma ？): "Are you a University student?"

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