Natural Chinese > courses > Language Points and Exercise > question/疑问句 with “吗?,呢?”

吗?,呢?


In Chinese, we usually add 吗 to a statement or even a single word to make a simple question(with “yes/no” answers), and you will get a positive or negative response, for example:

A:你是学生吗?

B:我不是。

Sentences structure:  

  • Subject+verb+(object+)吗?

eg. Is she a student?/她是学生吗?,

      Do you learn Chinese?/你学中文吗?

      Do you know?/你知道吗?

  • Verb/Ajective+(Object+)吗?

eg.  Is it ok/好吗?,可以吗?,行吗?

       Have you eaten?/吃饭了吗?

       Are you hungry?/饿吗?


usually means what about?/how about, sometimes, 呢 is used to emphasize surprise and doubt, for example:

How about her?/她呢?

She is Chinese, what about you?/她是中国人,你呢?

but she agreed my advice, why?/但是她同意了我的建议呢,为什么?。

let’s look at another example, can you tell the difference?:

他爸爸是老师吗?,他妈妈呢?

Sentences structure:Subject+呢?