The question particle 吗 (ma) is a very simple way to convert it
into a "yes/no question," and beginners will learn not to
use 吗 with other question words, because it's redundant. More
advanced students, however, will note that 吗 has some more
complicated structures that do involve combining it with question
words in order to ask very specific types of confirming
questions.
Structure
You'll remember that this is the simple pattern for yes/no
questions:
If you embed a question that uses a question word
instead of a statement, you can create a more complex kind of
"confirming" 吗 (ma) question:
[Question-word Question] + 吗 ？
Examples of common question words include 什么 (shénme), 谁 (shéi),
and 哪里 (nǎlǐ).
Examples
Note that the following examples typically contains some kind of
"verb of understanding" such as 知道 (zhīdào),了解 (liǎojiě), 明白
(míngbai), 认识 (rènshi), etc. Then "吗" (ma) can still be added at
the end of the question, turning it into a kind of confirmation.
For example:
- 这 是 什么 ？Zhè shì
shénmei?What is this?
- 你 知道 这 是 什么 吗？Nǐ zhīdào zhè shì shénme
ma?Do you know what this
is?
- 他 叫 什么 名字 ？Tā jiào shénme
míngzi?What is his name?
- 你 知道 他 叫 什么 名字 吗？Nǐ zhīdào tā jiào shénme míngzi
ma?Do you what his name
is?
- 他 是 谁 ？Tā shì shéi?Who is he?
- 你 知道 他 是 谁 吗？Nǐ
zhīdào tā shì shéi ma?Do you know who he is?
- 他 什么 意思 ？Tā shénme
yìsi?What is he saying?
- 你 懂 他 什么 意思 吗？Nǐ
dǒng tā shénme yìsi
ma?Do you understand what he is
saying?
- 你 的 问题 是 什么 ？Nǐ de wèntí shì
shénme?What is your
question?
- 你 能 再 说 一 遍 你 的 问题 是 什么 吗
？Nǐ néng zài shuō yī biàn nǐ
de wèntí shì shénme ma?Can you
repeat what your question is?
- 他 是 怎么 学 中文 ？Tā shì zěnme xué Zhōngwén
de?How did he learn Chinese?
- 你 知道 他 是 怎么 学 中文 的 吗 ？Nǐ zhīdào zěnme xué Zhōngwén
ma?Do you know how he learned
Chinese?
- 这 是 在哪儿 买 的 ？Zhè shì zài nǎr mǎi
de?Where did you buy this?
- 你 能 告诉 我 这 是 在哪儿 买 的 吗 ？Nǐ néng gàosu wǒ zhè shì zài nǎr mǎi de
ma?Can I tell me where you
bought this?
See also
Sources and further
reading
Books
Category:B1 grammar points