The interrogative ne

The interrogative (question particle) ne is placed at the end of a sentence or phrase. It is used in the following situations.

  1. To bounce a question back to the person you are having a conversation with, as in:
    1. A: 你好>吗 ? nĭ hăo ma? how are you?
    2. B: 我很好. 你呢? wǒ hěn hăo. nĭ ne I am very well, and you?
  2. To ask the question where? as in

    我的书呢 ?

    wǒ de shū ne  

    Where is my book?

ne used for emphasis (35)

ne can also be used to reinforce questions that are formed with question-words such as who, what, which, when, why and where (See below) and to show that the speaker really would like to know the answers. For instance,

他在 哪儿

tā zài năr ne

Where IS he?

你看 的是 ?

nĭ kàn de shì shénme shū ne

What book ARE you reading?

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Assignments

Translate the following sentences into Chinese (2,ne)

  1. I am very well, and you?
  2. My mother is very busy and yours?
  3. Where is my friend?
  4. Where is my mother?