City University of Hong Kong CLASS CLASS
Making Sense of Grammar
1 like 0 dislike
6,816 views

Are particle questions with sentence-final question particle like Ma (嗎) equivalent to English yes/no questions?

asked Jan 16, 2018 in Questions about Chinese Grammar by admin (25,540 points)
retagged Mar 14, 2018 by admin | 6,816 views

1 Answer

0 like 0 dislike

Particle questions are somewhat equivalent to English yes/no questions. However, in answering the Chinese yes/no question, one usually does not answer with the English equivalent of a yes, du`I (對) or sh`ı (是). For a positive short answer, one can simply repeat the verb or the auxiliary verb. For instance, an appropriate short answer to the question 我該去嗎? (w˘o g¯ai q`u ma/ Should I go?) is simply 該 (g¯ai/ should).

For a more complete answer, one can repeat either just the verb phrase, 該去 (g¯ai q`u/ should go) or the entire sentence with some adjustment with the pronoun, 你該去 (n˘ı g¯ai q`u/ you should go).

Reference: Chinese: a linguistic introduction by Chao Fen Sun

answered Jan 16, 2018 by admin (25,540 points)
edited Apr 25, 2018 by admin

1,613 questions

1,887 answers

232 comments

414,765 users

1,613 questions
1,887 answers
232 comments
414,765 users