Ask a yes-or-no question
IntroducedYou want to check
- you你to be / is是student学生。 — You are a student. is a statement. you你to be / is是student学生(yes/no ?)吗？ — Are you a student? checks it.
- Add (yes/no ?)吗 ma at the end. The words before it keep their order.
Keep (yes/no ?)吗 light
- (yes/no ?)吗 has a neutral tone: short and unstressed. It does not have one fixed flat pitch; the surrounding speech affects its pitch.
- Try another identity: she / her她to be / is是teacher老师(yes/no ?)吗？ Tā shì lǎoshī ma? — Is she a teacher?
Complete “Are you a student?”: 你是学生____？
The final 吗 turns this statement into a question.
Answer the identity question
- For you你to be / is是student学生(yes/no ?)吗？, confirm with to be / is是，I / me我to be / is是student学生。 or deny with no不是，I / me我to be / is是teacher老师。
- These replies use to be / is是 because the question uses to be / is是. Other verbs have other natural replies; to be / is是 is not a universal Chinese “yes”.
A: she / her她to be / is是teacher老师(yes/no ?)吗？ B: to be / is是，she / her她to be / is是teacher老师。 — Is she a teacher? Yes, she is.
A teacher is asked 你是学生吗？ Choose the truthful reply.
不是 denies being a student; 我是老师 states the teacher’s identity.
Match each question.
Identity questions check a claim; the name question requests information.
Recognise asking and telling
- Play and listen for the final ma.
- You can ask simple identity questions by adding (yes/no ?)吗. For the name question you你variant of 叫叫what什么name (of a person or thing)名字？, do not add (yes/no ?)吗: you are asking for information.
This is the ordinary beginner distinction between an information question and a yes/no question. Later you may meet question words used in other ways; avoid treating this shortcut as a rule about every Chinese sentence.
What is the speaker doing?
The final 吗 asks a yes/no question about his identity.
The ordinary way to ask a name is 你叫什么名字吗？
Ask 你叫什么名字？ without 吗 when you want the name.
Ask and answer
- Ask a partner you你to be / is是student学生(yes/no ?)吗？ Then answer their question truthfully, or use fictional roles. Alone, listen to the question and reply before reading a model.
- Revisit the name question too: one asks for a name, the other checks an identity.
Statement + (yes/no ?)吗 makes a simple yes/no question. For identity questions, to be / is是 confirms and no不是 denies.
Next: decline an invitation.
Build “Are you a student?”
The question is 你是学生吗？; the order before 吗 stays unchanged.