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