Marking a topic with "ma" (Redirected from ASGB33AE) Level B2 Similar to Expressing the self-evident with "ma" (B1) Topic-comment sentences (B1) Marking a topic with "de hua" (B2) Used for Marking a topic Keywords 嘛 This article is a stub. Editors can help the Chinese Grammar Wiki by expanding it. 嘛 (ma) can be used for topic marking. It basically allows the speaker to state the topic, then gather his thoughts before making a comment on it. In this pattern, the following comment may or may not be one the speaker feels is obvious. Contents 1 Structure 2 Examples 3 See also 4 Sources and further reading 4.1 Books Structure Topic + 嘛 ，Statement Examples 大 熊猫嘛 ，大家 都 喜欢 。 Dà xióngmāo ma, dàjiā dōu xǐhuan. Pandas. Everybody likes them. 名牌 嘛 ，一定 不 便宜 。 Míngpái ma, yīdìng bù piányi. Brandname. It can't be cheap. 第 一 次 嘛 ，以后 就 会 了 。 Dì-yī cì ma, yǐhòu jiù huì le. First time. You'll learn soon. 孩子 嘛 ，不 懂 这些 很 正常 。 Háizi ma, bù dǒng zhèxiē hěn zhèngcháng. Kids. It's common that they don't understand these things . 老板 请客 嘛 ，当然 要 大方 。 Lǎobǎn qǐngkè ma, dāngrán yào dàfang. The boss is buying. Of course I need to be generous. See also Expressing the self-evident with "ma" Sources and further reading Books