question about the "ma" suffix
israelyplane
April 15, 2010, 10:05 PM posted in General Discussionis ma 吗 used for EVERY time that there's a question?
i already know that the affirmative - negative questions do NOT get ma, but does it mean that ALL the rest of them do?
how do u say "do you learn chinese?"
catherinem
I think israelyplane might be talking about 去不去/ 好不好 here (correct me if I'm wrong), in which case s/he is right to say that they don't need a question particle 吗...
go_manly
Of course. He probably means that. I wondered how someone could have got it back to front.
israelyplane, I guess you could divide questions up the following way:
1. Questions requiring True/False - Yes/No answers
(a) Catherine's examples: qù bu qù, hǎo bu hǎo - these don't use 'ma'.
(b) Statements converted into questions. Identical to a VERY informal way of asking questions in English: eg. You are going, yes? or You are well, yes? In these questions 'ma' is required - it is the equivalent of the 'yes' in the examples.
2. Questions requiring an answer more complicated that this. There will be some other question word in the sentence, eg. (in English) where, when, why, who, how, what, which. These are not answered with Yes or No, so don't end with a 'ma' - the question word suffices.
3. Questions that contain one of the above question words, but actually require a 'ma' because they require a Yes/No answer: eg. Which one is yours? (no 'ma' required) BUT Do you know which one is yours? (ma required).
(I have written the examples in English because I don't know your level of Mandarin, and I think they explain the concept well enough)
srock222
April 15, 2010, 10:39 PMNǐ xuéxí Zhōngwén ma? (yes or no answer)
I think open-ended questions generally don't have "ma".
hamshank
April 16, 2010, 08:54 AMI don't know whether this is correct but the way I look at it is if the question could also be a statement, stick a "ma" on the end.
For example....
You Tired? 你有空..ni3 you3 kong4 --> You have time!
Where as;你有空馬?..ni3 you3 kong4 ma? --> do you have time?
I also look for certain "question" making words in a sentence. Normally I think if a sentence has the following words, it never needs a "ma"
怎麼 -- zen3me -- How?
幾 -- Ji3 -- How many?
甚麼 -- shen2me -- What?
Etc...Etc..
Like I said, im still very much a beginner too but thats how I think of it.
catherinem
April 16, 2010, 09:02 AMI think israelyplane might be talking about 去不去/ 好不好 here (correct me if I'm wrong), in which case s/he is right to say that they don't need a question particle 吗...
lujiaojie
April 16, 2010, 09:08 AMYes, The affirmative - negative questions DO get ma.
Do you learn chinese?
You can say:
你学中文吗？Nǐ xué Zhōngwén ma?你学不学中文？Nǐ xué bu xué Zhōngwén?
xiao_liang
I find that when I remember the "verb 不v erb" construction, I instinctively add a吗 at the end erroneously! How do you know when to use verb-不-verb, and when to use 吗？Is it just style? I know they are interchangeable.
go_manly
I think most people do do that when they start out. They are interchangeable, but I seem to recall there may be a few cases when you can't you verb不verb. I'll look at Grammar book later.
suansuanru
sometime verb 不 verb can be used in a declarative sentence such as"我不知道他明天来不来。"
xiao_liang
April 16, 2010, 09:17 AMI find that when I remember the "verb 不v erb" construction, I instinctively add a吗 at the end erroneously! How do you know when to use verb-不-verb, and when to use 吗？Is it just style? I know they are interchangeable.
suansuanru
April 16, 2010, 03:35 PMsometime verb 不 verb can be used in a declarative sentence such as"我不知道他明天来不来。"
go_manly
April 15, 2010, 10:26 PMThe affirmative - negative questions DO get ma. They are the only ones that use it. Ma basically means you are seeking a yes/no - true/false answer.