嘛 (ma)

嘛 (ma)

– 嘛 is NOT used to indicate the tone of questioning.

– 嘛 is used at the end of a sentence or clause to indicate the thing should be so or the reason is obvious.

e.g.

A：他怎么又迟到了？(Tā zěnme yòu chídàole?) Why is he late again?

B：他本来就不愿意去嘛。(Tā běnlái jiù bù yuànyì qù ma.) He didn’t want to go.

 

A：有话就说嘛，怎么一脸不高兴啊？ (Yǒu huà jiù shuō ma, zěnme yī liǎn bù gāoxìng a?) If you have something to say, just say it out. Why do you look unhappy?

B：你问问你自己嘛，你还不清楚？(Nǐ wèn wèn nǐ zìjǐ ma, nǐ hái bù qīngchǔ?) You ask yourself. Don’t you know that?

 

A：这次又错过比赛了。(Zhè cì yòu cuòguò bǐsài le.) I missed the game again this time.

B：没关系，天有不测风云嘛！(Méiguānxi, tiān yǒu bùcè fēngyún ma!) It’s okay. Something unexpected may happen at any time.

 

– 嘛 is also used to indicate one’s expectation or persuasion.

e.g.

你走快点嘛！大家都在等我们。(Nǐ zǒu kuài diǎn ma! Dàjiā dōu zài děng wǒmen.) Hurry up! Everyone is waiting for us.

开车慢点嘛，不要着急。(Kāichē màn diǎn ma, bùyào zhāojí.) Drive slowly, don’t worry.

你不要抽烟了嘛！太臭了！(Nǐ bùyào chōuyānle ma! Tài chòule!) Don’t smoke anymore! It stinks!

大家都希望你能参加这次聚会。来嘛！(Dàjiā dōu xīwàng nǐ néng cānjiā zhè cì jùhuì. Lái ma!) Everyone wants you to join this party. come on!

 

– Sometimes 嘛 can be used after some words, such as the subject, the adverb, the clause and etc., which indicates a pause that can draw one’s attention to the following words.

e.g.

我们去上班。你嘛，就在家打扫卫生。(Wǒmen qù shàngbān. Nǐ ma, jiù zàijiā dǎsǎo wèishēng.) We go to work. You, clean up at home.

这个问题嘛，很简单，我教你。(Zhège wèntí ma, hěn jiǎndān, wǒ jiāo nǐ.) Well, this question is very simple, I will teach you.

其实嘛，大家互相帮助就能解决很多问题。(Qíshí ma, dàjiā hùxiāng bāngzhù jiù néng jiějué hěnduō wèntí.) In fact, we can solve many problems by helping each other.

对嘛，邻居有困难，我们应该互相帮助。(Duì ma, línjū yǒu kùnnán, wǒmen yīnggāi hùxiāng bāngzhù.) Right, when neighbors are in trouble, we should help each other.