1 · The basic sentence
Yes-no questions with ma
the question particle at the end
Add ma to the end of a statement and it becomes a question; answer by repeating the verb.
A statement becomes a yes-no question when 吗 is added at the end. Nothing else changes — no inversion, no “do”: 你是学生 is “you are a student”, 你是学生吗？ “are you a student?” 吗 has the neutral tone, and the sentence ends with a question mark.
Chinese has no all-purpose “yes” and “no”. The answer repeats the verb or the adjective of the question, positive or negative: 你去吗？ — 去。 or 不去。; 你忙吗？ — 很忙。 or 不忙。 Only when the question contains 是 is 是 the answer, and 对, “right”, confirms what somebody has said.
A question that already contains a question word such as 什么 or 哪儿 takes no 吗: the question word does the asking. With 吗 added, the question word stops asking and means “something” or “somewhere” instead.
A negative question is answered to its statement, not to the facts. Asked 你不去吗？, “aren’t you going?”, a Chinese speaker who is not going says 对，我不去 — “right, I’m not going” — where English says “no”. English speakers answer the facts and end up confirming the opposite of what they meant.
The form
| statement | 你是老师。 |
| question: add ma | 你是老师吗？ |
| yes: repeat the verb | 是，我是老师。 |
| no: negate the verb | 不是。 |
| with an adjective | 你累吗？不累。 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Ma at the end turns a statement into a yes-no question; nothing else moves.
你会说英语吗？Can you speak English?
The answer repeats the verb or adjective, positive or negative.
喜欢，我很喜欢吃饺子。Yes, I like dumplings very much.
A question with a question word takes no ma.
你叫什么名字？What's your name?
A negative question is answered to the statement: duì, “right”, where English says “no”.
对，我不去。No, I'm not going.
A closer look
Answering a negative question
In English, “aren’t you going?” and “are you going?” get the same answers: “no” if you are not going. In Chinese the answer agrees or disagrees with what the question said. To 你不去吗？ you answer 对，我不去 if you are not going, and 不，我去 if you are.
The safest habit is to repeat the verb in full, which leaves no doubt: 不去 or 去. A softer cousin of 吗 is 吧, which asks for confirmation of a guess: 你是学生吧？, “you’re a student, aren’t you?”
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the question offers a choice between two things
use 还是, “or”, and no 吗.
你喝茶还是咖啡？Would you like tea or coffee?
A choice is already a question; it asks “which”, not “yes or no”.
How to spot it
- 吗
- ？
Example sentences
你是中国人吗？Are you Chinese?
你有哥哥吗？Have you got an older brother?
这是你的包吗？Is this your bag?
你明天有空吗？Are you free tomorrow?
你吃饭了吗？Have you eaten?
你不认识他吗？Don't you know him?
8 more example sentences
你会做中国菜吗？Can you cook Chinese food?
这儿可以拍照吗？Can I take photos here?
你累吗？Are you tired?
他在家吗？Is he at home?
你去过上海吗？Have you been to Shanghai?
去，我明天去。Yes, I'm going tomorrow.
不喜欢，太甜了。No, it's too sweet.
你要米饭吗？Would you like some rice?
Worth knowing (1)
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The voice does not rise
In English the voice rises at the end of a yes-no question. In Chinese 吗 carries the question, and the tones of the other words stay as they are. 你好吗？ asks whether somebody is well — something said to a person you have not seen for a while, not an everyday “hello”.
你好吗？好久不见了！How are you? It's been a long time!
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English answers almost any question with “yes”, and 是 looks like the word for it. But 是 is the verb “to be”, and it only answers a question that asked with 是. Here the question asked about liking, so the answer is 喜欢.
Put ma at the end to ask, and answer with the verb itself.
Your turn
8 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.