吗 (ma): question particle
吗 (ma) is a Chinese character meaning “question particle.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 口 (semantic) and 马 (phonetic). It ranks #453 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 吗 mouth. Its radical form 口 (mouth) appears in many related characters such as 口 (kǒu, mouth), 叫 (jiào, to call, to be called), 右 (yòu, (bound form) right).
Definitions
- question particle
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 吗 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 干吗verb | gàn má | variant of 幹嘛|干嘛 |
| 吗啡noun | mǎ fēi | morphine (loanword) |
| 不是吗phrase | bù shì ma | isn't that so? |
| 约吗 | yuē ma | (neologism, attested by 2014) (slang) Are you interested? (originally an invitation for casual sex, later generalized... |
| 不香吗 | bù xiāng ma | (slang) would be better (abbr. for 這錢買排骨它不香嗎|这钱买排骨它不香吗 for that money, a... |
| 吗哪noun | mǎ nǎ | manna (Israelite food) |
| 吗啉noun | mǎ lín | morpholine (chemistry) (loanword) |
| 吗喽noun | ma lou | (slang) monkey (often used humorously or self-deprecatingly by overworked laborers) |
吗 appears in 8 compound words: 50 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 吗 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Example Sentences
你明天有空吗？我想约你一起讨论项目方案。
Nǐ míngtiān yǒu kòng ma? Wǒ xiǎng yuē nǐ yìqǐ tǎolùn xiàngmù fāng'àn.
Are you free tomorrow? I'd like to discuss the project plan with you.
...品有哪些东西?代糖饼干、无糖豆浆、黑巧算吗
. . . pǐn yǒu nǎ xiē dōng xī ? dài táng bǐng gān wú táng dòu jiāng hēi qiǎo suàn ma
What kinds of products are there? Do sugar-free cookies, unsweetened soy milk, and dark chocolate count?
男生小便完甩一下和性快感有关吗?尿道神经受刺激产生愉悦感吗
nán shēng xiǎo biàn wán shuǎi yī xià hé xìng kuài gǎn yǒu guān ma ? niào dào shén jīng shòu cì jī chǎn shēng yú yuè gǎn ma
Is the act of shaking after uration related to sexual pleasure? Does stimulation of the urethral nerves produce a pleasurable sensation?
冰鉴春秋:还有人看不到台湾吗
bīng jiàn chūn qiū hái yǒu rén kàn bù dào tái wān ma
Ice Mirror Chronicles: Is There Anyone Who Still Can't See Taiwan?
和股票与储蓄帐户不同 出售实物白银很难吗
hé gǔ piào yǔ chǔ xù zhàng hù bù tóng chū shòu shí wù bái yín hěn nán ma
Unlike stocks and savings accounts, is it difficult to sell physical silver?
...初选,李四川合体拉抬他?被问羡慕新北整合吗,江启臣曝内心愿望
. . . chū xuǎn , lǐ sì chuān gě tǐ lā tái tā ? bèi wèn xiàn mù xīn běi zhěng gě ma , jiāng qǐ chén pù nèi xīn yuàn wàng
...Primary election: Did Li Sichuan team up to boost him? When asked if he envies New Taipei's consolidation, Jiang Qichen reveals his inner wish.
嗨！你在这儿工作吗？
Hāi! Nǐ zài zhèr gōngzuò ma?
Hi! Do you work here?
我回来了！啊？有人来看我们吗？
Wǒ huílai le! ǎ? Yǒu rén lái kàn wǒmen ma?
I'm back! Oh? Have we got a guest?
你会代替我去派对吗？
Nǐ huì dàitì wǒ qù pàiduì ma?
Will you go to the party instead of me?
你的学校在这个城市吗？
Nǐ de xuéxiào zài zhège chéngshì ma?
Is your school in this town?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 吗 (ma) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 吗 have?
What is the radical of 吗?
What are the components of 吗?
What are common words containing 吗?
What characters sound the same as 吗 (ma)?
Is 吗 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 吗 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.