The particle 嘛 (ma) is a sentence-final particle identical in pronunciation to the simple "yes/no question" particle 吗 (ma) you learned back in the day, but with a rather different function. It can be used when the speaker feels what he is saying is obvious (from his point of view).

Structure

Examples

你妹妹很漂亮嘛。 Nǐ mèimei hěn piàoliang ma. Your sister is pretty.
他家挺有钱的嘛。 Tā jiā tǐng yǒuqián de ma. His family is pretty rich.
不想去就不要去嘛。 Bù xiǎng qù jiù bùyào qù ma. If you don't wanna go, don't go.
你别太谦虚嘛。 Nǐ bié tài qiānxū ma. Don't be too modest.
大家有话就说嘛。 Dàjiā yǒu huà jiù shuō ma. Guys, you should say whatever you want to say.
你跟他很熟嘛。 Nǐ gēn tā hěn shóu ma. You two know each other well.
开慢点，安全第一嘛。 Kāi màn diǎn, ānquán dìyī ma. Drive slowly. Safety first.
不用塑料袋更环保嘛。 Bùyòng sùliàodài gèng huánbǎo ma. It's more environmentally friendly not to use plastic bags.
这个老外很了解中国文化嘛。 Zhège lǎowài hěn liǎojiě Zhōngguó wénhuà ma. This foreigner know a lot about Chinese culture.
别担心，一边工作一边学嘛。 Bié dānxīn, yībiān gōngzuò yībiān xué ma. Don't worry. You can learn while you work.

Expressing the self-evident with "ma"

Contents

Structure

Examples

See also

Sources and further reading

Books