Dictionary › 吗

吗

ma

Old HSK 1 HSK 3.0 character level 1 Character Traditional 嗎

吗 (ma) means "(question particle for yes/no questions)". It is an HSK 3.0 level 1 word, and was HSK 1 in the old six-level list.

What 吗 means

1. (question particle for "yes-no" questions)

How 吗 is used in grammar

吗 is a grammar word. Each link goes to its own section: what it does in that pattern, the structure, three example sentences with pinyin, and the mistake to avoid.

• Yes/No Questions with 吗 (HSK 1)

The official HSK 3.0 grammar outline lists it at level 1, particles (语气助词).

Other readings

吗 is 多音字 — it is read more than one way, and the reading changes the meaning.

• máwhat?
• mǎused in {吗啡|mǎ fēi}

Example sentences

• 忙吗？
  Are you busy?
• 是吗？
  Is that so?
• 有吗？
  Is that so?
• 对吗？
  Right?
• 远吗？
  Is it far?
• 痛吗？
  Does that hurt?

Words starting with 吗

• 吗啡mǎ fēimorphine (loanword)
• 吗哪mǎ nǎmanna (Israelite food)
• 吗喽ma lou(slang) monkey (often used humorously or self-deprecatingly by overworked laborers)
• 吗啉mǎ línmorpholine (chemistry) (loanword)

Words containing 吗

• 约吗yuē ma(neologism, attested by 2014) (slang) Are you interested?…
• 不是吗bù shì maisn't that so?
• 不香吗bù xiāng ma(slang) would be better (abbr. for 这钱买排骨它不香吗
• 干吗gàn mávariant of 干嘛

Characters built on 马

These share the phonetic component 马 (mǎ), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.

• 妈māma; mom; mother
• 码mǎ(archaic) agate; (bound form) standard weight used with a balance scale; number
• 玛mǎused in 玛瑙
• 骂màto scold; to abuse; to curse
• 蚂māused in 蚂螂
• 犸mǎused in 猛犸; Taiwan pr. mà
• 杩màheadboard

Characters that look like 吗

Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.

• 玛mǎused in 玛瑙
• 鸡jīfowl; chicken; (slang) prostitute
• 吻wěnkiss; to kiss; mouth
• 坞wù(bound form) low area within a surrounding barrier; (literary) small castle; fort
• 呜wū(onomatopoeia) for humming or whimpering
• 鸠jiūturtledove; (literary) to gather

Sounds the same

Read ma, tone for tone, but written differently.

• 嘛modal particle indicating that sth is obvious; particle indicating a pause for emphasis
• 么interrogative final particle

Where 吗 is taught

In the GraphChinese course it is part of Function Words and Adverbs (HSK 1), HSK 1 Characters · Set 3 (HSK 1), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.

Go deeper

• Every HSK 1 word, with the rest of its level.
• How characters are built from components.
• How to learn Chinese characters.
• The four tones and the neutral tone, to read ma correctly.
• Look up another word in the free dictionary.