吗

ma

HSK 14 readings

“What?” in Chinese is 吗 (ma).

Other characters with the syllable ma: see all 7 →

Meaning

(coll.) what?
(question particle for "yes-no" questions)
used in 嗎啡|吗啡[ma3 fei1]

Example

你干吗不早点说？

Why didn't you say so earlier?

From 干吗 · Example sentence from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0).

Readings

má(coll.) what?
mǎused in 嗎啡|吗啡
ma(question particle for "yes-no" questions)

Stroke Order

6 strokes

Words containing 吗

干吗gànmávariant of 幹嘛|干嘛[gan4 ma2]HSK 3

More HSK 1 characters

爱àito love; to be fond of; to likeHSK 1 八bāeightHSK 1 爸bàfatherHSK 1 吧babar (loanword) (serving drinks, or providing Internet access etc)HSK 1 白báiBai ethnic groupHSK 1 百bǎihundredHSK 1 班bānteam; class; gradeHSK 1 半bànhalfHSK 1 帮bāngto helpHSK 1 包bāoto coverHSK 1

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