▎嗎, ma, (Ptc), Confrontational (2)

 

Function In addition to making regular questions, 嗎 can also be used in mild confrontation. The speaker is not asking a question but is mildly challenging.

1 你覺得這個漢字很難寫嗎？

Nǐ juéde zhè ge Hànzì hěn nán xiě ma?

Do you think this Chinese character is difficult to write?

2 她不知道今天要考試嗎？

Tā bù zhīdào jīntiān yào kǎoshì ma?

Didn’t she know there would be an exam today?

3 馬先生已經在這裡住了兩個月，還不知道丟垃圾的時間嗎？

Mǎ xiānshēng yǐjīng zài zhèlǐ zhùle liǎng ge yuè, hái bù zhīdào diū lèsè de shíjiān ma?

Mr. Ma has lived here two months and he still doesn’t know when garbage is collected?

 

Structures This pattern can be either positive or negative. Either 不 or 沒 negation can be used.

1 你不知道外國人不可以打工嗎？

Nǐ bù zhīdào wàiguó rén bù kěyǐ dǎgōng ma?

Don’t you know that foreigners are not permitted to work?

2 他結婚的事，他沒告訴過你嗎？

Tā jiéhūn de shì, tā méi gàosùguò nǐ ma?

Didn’t he ever tell you he’s married?

3 你沒看見我正在忙嗎？

Nǐ méi kànjiàn wǒ zhèngzài máng ma?

Can’t you see I’m busy?

 

Usage Confrontational, or rhetorical, questions usually imply the speaker’s surprise or annoyance. Such questions are uttered in a high-level intonation, as is also the case in English. Thus 嗎 questions are more complex than A-not-A questions.