modal particle; sentence-final particle
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
modal particle; sentence-final particle; final particle expressing mood
technicalAlso known as 语气助词 (yǔqì zhùcí). This is a technical grammatical term referring to particles like 吗, 呢, 啊, 吧, etc., which express grammatical mood or the speaker's attitude.
"
Ma吗
"
shì是
yī一
gè个
cháng常
yòng用
de的
yǔ语
zhù助
cí词
。
'Ma' is a commonly used modal particle.
Gǔ古
dài代
Hàn汉
yǔ语
zhōng中
de的
yǔ语
zhù助
cí词
bǐ比
xiàn现
dài代
Hàn汉
yǔ语
gèng更
jiā加
fēng丰
fù富
。
Classical Chinese had a richer variety of modal particles than modern Chinese.
Show 2 more examplesShow fewer examples
"
Ne呢
"
hé和
"
a啊
"
yě也
shì是
cháng常
jiàn见
de的
yǔ语
zhù助
cí词
。
'Ne' and 'a' are also common modal particles.
Yǔ语
zhù助
cí词
tōng通
cháng常
wèi位
yú于
jù句
mò末
，
biǎo表
shì示
yí疑
wèn问
、
gǎn感
tàn叹
huò或
qí祈
shǐ使
děng等
yǔ语
qì气
。
Modal particles are usually placed at the end of sentences to express interrogative, exclamatory, or imperative moods.