▎呢, ne, (Ptc), Contrastive tag Questions

 

Function The 呢 particle forms a tag question, i.e., ‘how about’?

1 我要喝茶，你呢？

Wǒ yào hē chá, nǐ ne?

I want to drink tea, and you?

2 他不喝咖啡，陳小姐呢？

Tā bù hē kāfēi, Chén xiǎojiě ne?

He does not drink coffee. What about Miss Chen?

3 王先生是日本人，李先生呢？

Wáng xiānshēng shì Rìběn rén, Lǐ xiānshēng ne?

Mr. Wang is Japanese. What about Mr. Li?

 

Structures

(1) Same predicate, different subjects

Subj.1 V Obj., Subj.2 呢?

1

他是美國人，你呢？

Tā shì Měiguó rén, nǐ ne?

He’s American. And you?

2

他喜歡日本菜，你呢？

Tā xǐhuān Rìběn cài, nǐ ne?

He likes Japanese food. How about you?

(2) Same subject, different objects

Subj. V Obj.1, Obj.2 呢?

1

你喜歡喝茶，咖啡呢？

Nǐ xǐhuān hē chá, kāfēi ne?

You like to drink tea. How about coffee?

2

他不喝咖啡，茶呢？

Tā bù hē kāfēi, chá ne?

He doesn’t drink coffee. How about tea?