吗
yes/no question particle
ma
What does 吗 mean?
吗 (ma, neutral tone) is the Chinese sentence-final particle that turns a statement into a yes/no question. Add it to the end of any declarative sentence and the meaning flips from 'X is true' to 'Is X true?' — 你好 'You're well' becomes 你好吗 'Are you well?' Unlike English, Chinese does not invert word order or add a 'do/does' helper to form yes/no questions; the particle 吗 does all the work.
Two clarifications: first, 吗 is only for yes/no questions — for 'who / what / where / when / why' questions you use a question word and drop 吗. Second, the tone is neutral and the syllable is unstressed; written with full tone 'ma' is wrong. The character 吗 shares its right side with 妈 (mother), but the mouth radical 口 marks it as a spoken particle.
Character breakdown
(question particle) — 口 'mouth' radical + 马 'horse' (phonetic)
Memory hook: 口 (mouth) on the left signals 'something said'; 马 (mǎ) gives the sound. A mouth-sound that turns statements into questions.
Example sentences
你是中国人吗？
Nǐ shì Zhōngguó rén ma?
Are you Chinese?
neutral
你喜欢喝茶吗？
Nǐ xǐhuan hē chá ma?
Do you like drinking tea?
spoken
他在家吗？
Tā zài jiā ma?
Is he at home?
neutral
明天你来吗？
Míngtiān nǐ lái ma?
Are you coming tomorrow?
spoken
Common phrases with 吗
Synonyms
Don't confuse 吗 with
嘛 (also neutral tone) is an emphasis/persuasion particle, not a question marker: 来嘛 'come on, come!' It softens a request, not turn a sentence into a question.
妈 means 'mom / mother' and is read with first tone. 吗 is a neutral-tone particle. Same right side (马), different left radical: 女 (woman) for 妈, 口 (mouth) for 吗.
FAQ
Acquire by listening
Hear 吗 in real Chinese, not in a flashcard.
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