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- <p>The particle 嘛 (ma) 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 id="sentence-final-structure">Sentence-Final Structure</h2>
- <div class="jiegou">
- <p>Statement + 嘛</p>
- </div>
- <h3 id="examples">Examples</h3>
- <div class="liju">
- <ul>
- <li>你的 妹妹 很 漂亮 <em>嘛</em>。<span class="pinyin">Nǐ de mèimei hěn piàoliang <em>ma</em>.</span><span class="trans">Your sister is pretty.</span></li>
- <li>中国 人口 很 多 <em>嘛</em>。<span class="pinyin">Zhōngguó rénkǒu hěn duō <em>ma</em>.</span><span class="trans">The Chinese population is huge.</span></li>
- <li>美国人 很 开放 <em>嘛</em>。<span class="pinyin">Měiguó rén hěn kāifàng <em>ma</em>.</span><span class="trans">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 class="jiegou">
- <p>Topic + 嘛， + Statement</p>
- </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="liju">
- <ul>
- <li>大熊猫<em>嘛</em>，孩子们都很喜欢。<span class="pinyin">Dà xióngmāo <em>ma</em>, háizimen dōu hěn xǐhuan.</span><span class="trans">Pandas. All children like them.</span></li>
- <li>男人 <em>嘛</em>，总是要喝点酒，抽点烟。<span class="pinyin">Nánrén <em>ma</em>, zǒng shì yào hē diǎn jiǔ, chōu diǎn yān.</span><span class="trans">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_"ma"" 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><a href="Common_Chinese_Patterns_330_(汉语常用格式330例)" title="wikilink">Common Chinese Patterns 330 (汉语常用格式330例)</a> (pp. 225) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/7802006473/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=7802006473">→buy</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&tag=allset-23&linkCode=as2&asin=B002ZNK7JE&camp=536&creative=3132&creativeASIN=B002ZNK7JE">→买</a></li>
- <li><a href="Integrated_Chinese:_Level_2,_Part_2" title="wikilink">Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2</a> (pp. 19) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276881/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0887276881">→buy</a></li>
- <li><a href="Intermediate_Chinese_-_A_Grammar_and_Workbook" title="wikilink">Intermediate Chinese - A Grammar and Workbook</a> (Unit 23) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415160391/ref%3das_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399373&creativeASIN=0415160391">→buy</a></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>
- <p> </p>
- <p><a href="Category:B1_grammar_points" title="wikilink">Category:B1 grammar points</a> <a href="Category:Particles" class="uri" title="wikilink">Category:Particles</a></p>
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