吗 meaning and stroke order
(question particle for "yes-no" questions)
How to write 吗, stroke by stroke
6 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 吗
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (question particle for "yes-no" questions)
- (coll.) what?
- used in 嗎啡|吗啡[ma3 fei1]
How 吗 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Mouth.
口 gives the meaning and 马 hints at the sound.
Radical: 口 (mouth), shared by 428 characters on this site.
How to remember 吗
吗 is a mouth 口 next to a horse 马 (mǎ), which gives the sound. Picture yourself asking a horse a question with your mouth: "Can you run fast, ma?"
Put 吗 (ma) at the end of a statement to turn it into a yes-no question, said in the neutral tone. 你好吗？(Nǐ hǎo ma?) How are you? It also appears in 干吗 (gànmá, why / what for) and in the loanword 吗啡 (mǎfēi, morphine).
Common mistake: Learners often add 吗 to questions that already have a question word, as in 你叫什么名字吗？ This is wrong. Drop 吗 when you use 什么, 谁, 哪儿, or an A-not-A pattern like 是不是.
Common words with 吗
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 干吗 | gànmá | variant of 幹嘛|干嘛[gan4 ma2] | HSK 3 |
| 吗啡 | mǎfēi | morphine (loanword) |
吗 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 吗
How many strokes are in 吗?
吗 is written with 6 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 吗 mean?
吗 (ma) means (question particle for "yes-no" questions). A common word with it is 干吗 (gànmá), meaning "variant of 幹嘛|干嘛[gan4 ma2]".
How do you pronounce 吗?
吗 is pronounced ma, in the neutral tone (short and light).
What is the radical of 吗?
The radical of 吗 is 口, which carries the idea of "mouth". Dictionaries list 吗 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 吗?
The traditional form of 吗 is 嗎. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 吗 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 吗 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 吗 is part of the HSK 1 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 1.
What is the difference between 吗 and 呢?
吗 makes a yes-no question out of a statement. 呢 (ne) is used for follow-up questions like 你呢？(Nǐ ne?) And you? It also softens questions that already contain a question word.
How do I answer a question ending in 吗?
Chinese has no single word for yes or no. You usually repeat the verb, either positive or negative. For 你忙吗？(Nǐ máng ma?) you answer 忙 (máng) or 不忙 (bù máng).