嘛 meaning in English
modal particle indicating that sth is obvious; particle indicating a pause for emphasis
Meaning of 嘛
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- modal particle indicating that sth is obvious
- particle indicating a pause for emphasis
- used in 唵嘛呢叭咪吽[an3 ma2 ni2 ba1 mi1 hong1]
- (Tw) (coll.) what?
How to use 嘛
嘛 (ma) goes at the end of a sentence to show that something is obvious or to gently push a point. It can also mark a pause before you continue. Example: 他是老师嘛，当然懂。(Tā shì lǎoshī ma, dāngrán dǒng.) He's a teacher, so of course he understands.
嘛 is 口 (mouth) plus 麻 (má), which gives the sound. Picture a mouth adding a little "ma" at the end of a sentence to say "come on, it's obvious."
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 嘛 with the question particle 吗 (ma). 吗 turns a statement into a yes or no question, while 嘛 makes a statement sound obvious or persuasive. So 你去吗？ asks "Are you going?", but 你去嘛 means "Come on, just go."
嘛 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
嘛 ma · modal particle indicating that sth is o… · 14 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 嘛.
| 干嘛 | gànmá | what are you doing?; whatever for? |
| 喇嘛 | lǎma | lama, spiritual teacher in Tibetan Buddhism |
Questions about 嘛
What does 嘛 mean?
嘛 (ma) means "modal particle indicating that sth is obvious; particle indicating a pause for emphasis" and is used as a auxiliary verb.
How do you write 嘛?
嘛 is made of 1 character: 嘛 (14 strokes). That is 14 strokes in total.
Is 嘛 an HSK word?
Yes. 嘛 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Is 干嘛 the same as 干什么?
Yes, 干嘛 (gànmá) is a casual spoken way to say 干什么 (gàn shénme), meaning "what are you doing?" or "why?" You will sometimes see it written 干吗 too. It can sound blunt, so watch your tone with strangers.
Does 嘛 make a sentence sound polite or rude?
It depends on context. In requests like 帮帮我嘛 (bāngbang wǒ ma), it sounds soft and a little pleading. In arguments, it can sound impatient, as if saying "isn't that obvious?"