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ChineseGrammarWiki


			
				
					
						
						
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  <h1></h1>

  <p>The particle <span class="hanzi">嘛</span> (<span class="pinyin">ma</span>) is a sentence-final particle identical in pronunciation to the simple <a href="Yes_-_no_questions_with_ma" title="wikilink">"yes/no question" particle 吗 (ma)</a> 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).</p>

  <h2>Contents</h2>

  <ol>
    <li>Structure<br/></li>

    <li>Examples<br/></li>

    <li>See also<br/></li>

    <li>Sources and further reading<br/></li>

    <ol>
      <li>Books<br/></li>
    </ol>
  </ol>

  <h2 id="sentence-final-structure">Sentence-Final Structure</h2>

  <div>
    <div class="deux">
      Statement + <span style="color: rgb(255, 127, 80); font-family: NotoSansCJKsc; font-size: 30px;">嘛</span>
    </div>
  </div>

  <h3 id="examples">Examples</h3>

  <div class="exemple">
    <ul>
      <li><span class="hanzi">你的 妹妹 很 漂亮 嘛。</span> <span class="pinyin">Nǐ de mèimei hěn piàoliang ma.</span><br/><span> Your sister is pretty.</span></li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">中国 人口 很 多 嘛。</span> <span class="pinyin">Zhōngguó rénkǒu hěn duō ma.</span><br/><span> The Chinese population is huge.</span></li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">美国人 很 开放 嘛。</span> <span class="pinyin">Měiguó rén hěn kāifàng ma.</span><br/><span> Americans are very open-minded.</span></li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <h2 id="topic-marking-structure">Topic-Marking Structure</h2>

  <p>An alternate form is:</p>

  <div>
    <div class="deux">
      Topic + <span class="hanzist">嘛，</span> + Statement
    </div>
  </div>

  <p>This 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.</p>

  <h3 id="examples-1">Examples</h3>

  <div class="exemple">
    <ul>
      <li><span class="hanzi">大熊猫嘛，孩子们都很喜欢。</span> <span class="pinyin">Dà xióngmāo ma, háizimen dōu hěn xǐhuan.</span><br/><span> Pandas. All children like them.</span></li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">男人 嘛，总是要喝点酒，抽点烟。</span> <span class="pinyin">Nánrén ma, zǒng shì yào hē diǎn jiǔ, chōu diǎn yān.</span><br/><span> Men. They're always going to drink and smoke.</span></li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>

  <ul>
    <li><a href="Yes-no_questions_with_&quot;ma&quot;" title="wikilink">Yes-no questions with "ma"</a></li>
  </ul>

  <h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further reading</h2>

  <h3 id="books">Books</h3>

  <ul>
    <li>Common Chinese Patterns 330 (<span class="hanzi">汉语常用格式330例</span>) (pp. 225)</li>

    <li>Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 19)</li>

    <li>Intermediate Chinese - A Grammar and Workbook (Unit 23)</li>
  </ul>

  <h3 id="websites">Websites</h3>

  <ul>
    <li><a href="http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/2012/01/31/the-other-ma-on-a-bag/"> Three Simple Uses of the Other “Ma” on a Bag</a></li>
  </ul>
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