How to say 嗎

  • Traditional characters: 嗎
  • Pinyin (Taiwan standard): ma
  • Zhuyin (bopomofo): ˙ㄇㄚ
  • Meaning: question particle (turns a statement into a yes/no question)

Hear it in a Taiwan accent:

嗎 in example sentences

Real lines from CiaoSpeak’s graded stories, each with pinyin, an English translation and Taiwan-accent audio.

花蓮票比台南票貴嗎？我查一下。

Huā lián piào bǐ Tái nán piào guì ma wǒ chá yí xià

Are Hualien tickets pricier than Tainan's? Let me check.

From the story 台南還是花蓮？ (Tainan or Hualien?)

雅婷，我要去公園散步，你要一起嗎？

Yǎtíng wǒ yào qù gōng yuán sàn bù nǐ yào yì qǐ ma

Yating, I'm going for a walk in the park — want to come?

From the story 三十六度 (Thirty-Six Degrees)

現在？現在三點欸。你想中暑嗎？

xiàn zài xiàn zài sān diǎn èi nǐ xiǎng zhòng shǔ ma

Now? It's three o'clock. You want heatstroke?

From the story 三十六度 (Thirty-Six Degrees)

明天我生日，你有空嗎？我們去吃火鍋。

míng tiān wǒ shēng rì nǐ yǒu kòng ma wǒ men qù chī huǒ guō

Tomorrow's my birthday — are you free? Let's go for hot pot.

From the story 驚喜派對 (The Surprise Party)

哪一家？郵局不是只有一家嗎？

nǎ yì jiā yóu jú bú shì zhǐ yǒu yì jiā ma

Which one? Isn't there just the one?

From the story 哪一家郵局？ (Which Post Office?)

Where 嗎 is taught

  • Unit level: TOCFL Novice 2 (CiaoSpeak’s placement, not the official TOCFL word list)
  • Unit: Sentence Basics
  • Lesson: Asking Questions
  • Taught just before: 老師
  • Taught just after: 你是學生嗎？