Qing Wen - Ending your sentence with 嘛 （ma)

It could be the equivalent to the English: "...ummm....".I didn't know that.

PS...thanks for clearing this out for me.:)

我餓死了，快點菜了嘛！

I have no problem asking for directions! Does that reduce my manhood?

Nice to hear Amber and Clay's Chinese shopping trips. Even though I love Qing Wen, is it possible to tell/show us Newbies some simple sentences with these particles, either in Qing Wen or in the lessons. Thanks

Wow. Thanks for this QW! I also take Chinese lessons with a tutor (we use a textbook as the foundation) and I own a bunch of different texts, dictionaries etc. However, you never find this sort of daily occuring and useful stuff in texts. The "filler" / delay ma is very interesting. Although it doesn't seem to have the functionality of some of the other patterns (ex. yue...yue lai...), I think that for a person like me at the humble elementary level its really useful. As I try to construct longer and more complex sentences, I sometimes have a pause as I try to find the right word. Like Clay mentioned, it might be nice to have something to substitute "ummmmmmmm" with. The filler/delay pause reminds me of the word "na4me" (which means so or in that case) as I hear used at the beginning of a sentence in the same sort of delay pause fashion. I guess the difference here is that the filler "ma" doesn't get used at the beginning of the sentence, only in the middle.

I have a 請問 suggestion, could you guys explain the difference of the "ANDs"(和;與;並; 跟;也) in Chinese? I don't know which one to use at some occassions...Thanks again for the lesson.:D

May be the next particle lesson can be on: 啊 - a1 呀 - ya1 Not sure about anyone else but this one is interesting to me. It is also potentially amusing.. :)

Oh my! Who let Connie out of the 'no English' cage??

Next should be 啦. 啦 is important because it can have a foundamental grammatical impact and because it is so close in pronounciation to 了.

Rescued by QW! I've heard and seen this particle many times in speech and writing (most recently in 经济特区), but always been too lazy to look it up. I suppose that's an argument for Henning's "vacuum cleaner" approach to reading of letting no good character go misunderstood. On Dave's post above, I think Connie just landed a Cpod "best actress" nomination with the whiny routine, though a fall release would have been better timed.

I love the 嘛... I may be wrong, but I am under the impression that it is used more frequently in Sichuan than, say, in proper Mandarin-speaking areas of China... Thanks for a very useful QW!

As I listen to each 请问 lesson, I sense 越来越 spontaneity of expressions. Things as simple as 喜欢就买嘛 and 生活嘛 are so useful for introducing us to what I would call "Chinese street talk" or how people really converse with one another. It's one of the keys to really speaking any language, isn't it! Bill

Hi everyone, here are the sentences used in the podcast today: 这个嘛，不告诉你。 Zhège ma, bù gàosu nǐ. ----Amber, 你喜欢夏天还是冬天？ ----Amber, nǐ xǐhuan xiàtiān háishi dōngtiān? ----夏天嘛，太热了；冬天嘛，太冷了。都不喜欢。 ----Xiàtiān ma, tài rè le；dōngtiān ma, tài lěng le. Dōu bù xǐhuan. 这个嘛，太热；这个嘛，太冷；这个嘛，刚刚好。 zhège ma, tài rè；zhège ma, tài lěng；zhège ma, gānggāng hǎo. Clay, 你别走嘛。 Clay, nǐ bié zǒu ma. 来接我嘛。 Lái jiē wǒ ma. 带我去玩嘛。 Dài wǒ qù wán ma. 喜欢就买嘛。 Xǐhuan jiù mǎi ma. 不知道就问嘛。 Bù zhīdào jiù wèn ma. 男孩子就是男孩子嘛。 Nánháizi jiùshì nánháizi ma. 生活嘛。 Shēnghuó ma. 粥 zhōu 撒娇 sājiāo

Q: 为什么她这么好吃啊 (wei1shen2me ta1 zhe4me hao4chi1 a)？ A: 新加破人嘛。。。(xin1jia1po1 ren2 ma) ＝ Q: Why is she so mad about food? A: Singaporean, 嘛...

P/s: 好吃 (hao4chi1; "mad about food") is not the same as 好吃 (hao3chi1; delicious) !!! When 好 is read in the fourth tone, it means, "to be into [something]". So the word, "好客" (hao4ke4) means "hospitable, very solicitous to guests"...

In regards to 嘛 （ma) as a pause or delay, it should be noted that 那个 （nàge） would be closer to the equivalent of "umm..." when you are searching for a word while talking. You will hear “那个，那个， 那个。。。” all the time when you come to china。

这句话，“生活嘛," 特别有用！我经常想表示这个语气，可是我说的是“生活就是这样吧”。我朋友们的回应一般表示他们不太明白我的意思，怪不得！ 有没有一个表示 "Oh well, that's love for you" 的句话？可不可以说，“爱情嘛”？

auntie68, 谢谢！I've wondered for a while about that 4th tone 好，I think I've got it straight now!

Aiyah, guolanusa, it's probably all in your dictionary... just don't ask me to explain 好奇 (hao4qi2), there's just no way, I just learned that as a word on its own...

Maybe, "to be into [the mystery of something]" ? Aaarghhh! Most constructions with the fourth tone "好" are easier to understand, eg., 好喝酒 (hao4 he1jiu3; to be fond of drinking) or 好跳舞 (hao4 tiao4wu3; to be fond of dancing).

Clay, I have often noticed the word 哪个 popping up all the time. Is this also used as a pause word?

auntie68, The character dictionary at mandarintools.com lists hao4qi as" curious, inquisitive"

Ahh, okay, that makes sense. Thanks misterjess.

Clay, thanks for the clarification on nàge. I was recently in Shanghai and Beijing and heard it in both places. Those two cities were a slightly different experience though. In Shanghai, I heard some Shanghainese there and there while in Beijing...there were a lot of "r" sounds everywhere.

I hope there will be a lesson about how to use 着。比如：这叫什么来着？ :)

Connie, What's the difference between 刚刚好 and 正好？ Bill

Hi Bill, They have the same meaning. But, 正好 is a little better, like 'perfect'. 刚刚好 is more like 'just right'. At the end of a sentence, you can use both. 这件衣服正好。Zhè jiàn yīfu zhènghǎo. 这件衣服刚刚好。Zhè jiàn yīfu gānggāng hǎo.

你好，Connie, 明白了！ 多谢, Bill Bill

I'm in Taiwan, and I don't think I've ever heard 嘛 used as a substitute for "...ummm..." Can someone verify this? Is this also used in Taiwan or just in the mainland?

Great lesson!!! And danielcyoung, I have watched Taiwanese drama and have seen 嘛 used as a substitue for umm a few times. :)

Hi Danielcyoung, I'm Canada and there are some teashops here where there are lots of Taiwanese. When I am in line for my bubble tea, I sometimes hear them using 嘛. However, I think 那个 seems to be much more frequent in usage. Of course, I'm not fluent so maybe I'm not picking it all up.

是啊语气词在很多情况下都能转会气氛，很有用的。而且现在国内受台湾腔的影响很爱在后面加“哦”呵呵，当然包括我在内了。呵呵

Using the three bears pattern, I might say, 那个吗嘛，是妈妈。

Another random question. Why is it that some nouns in chinese end in "zi" and can be taken off while yet, others do not need it at all? Like for example.... chong2zi....mao4zi....nao3zi (please respond)

Why did you ask the same question in 5 different conversations, jhklhjk? What is a Chengyu? Going to the Pharmacy Fruit Salad Roommates and What Chinese Think of Foreigners and This one...

Question to Clay's comment from April 15, 2008 @ 10:08 am: "In regards to 嘛 （ma) as a pause or delay, it should be noted that 那个（nàge） would be closer to the equivalent of "umm..." when you are searching for a word while talking. You will hear “那个，那个， 那个。。。” all the time when you come to china。" While it's the same character, I remember to hear it as 那个 nèigè ('that ...'). Could s.o. from the team comment please?

Hi daolin, Sorry I just saw your comment. I'm not from the cPod team, but part of my job includes teaching ESL to Chinese people in the states, so I speak Chinese with them quite a bit. In answer to your question, you are right, the pronunciation of "nei4 ge4" vs. "na4 ge4" is dependent on the person's regional accent. I used to always say "na4 ge4" to my students, who would look at me a second, then repeat it to the others as "nei4 ge4." Both are okay, though I believe "na4 ge4" is the more standard pronunciation.

那个 (nà ge) 、(nèi ge)，这两个读音都可以。nèi ge 更口语。 这个 (zhè ge)、(zhèi ge) 哪个 (nǎ ge)、(něi ge)

Dear C-Pod, I rarely post anything, but I just had to let you know how much I appreciate this qing wen series on 语气词. I have always struggled with these but now, thanks to your clear explanations，我终于明白了！！！ 非常感谢你们！ 包迈金

Hi adlinad,

Yes, you can use 呢 instead of 嘛 in this sentence.

夏天呢，太热了。冬天呢，太冷了。

How do you distinguish between the question ma and the statement of the obvious ma?  It seems to me that 嘛 seems to fall in tone.  Is this accurate?

 

For example, aren't there minimal pair sentences that could go either way:

 

他是老师吗？ "Is he a teacher?"

 

他是老师嘛  "He's a teacher (so obviously he doesn't drink at work etc.)"

 

Would these two sentences sound phonetically identical?  If not, how are they different?

 

 

Thanks!