Kilo Lingo
Mandarin grammar Part of Chapter 2

CEFR A1-A2

3 min read

Test yourself (21 questions)

By Michael McGettrick and Wee Khang LinUpdated 11 October 2026

Yes-No Questions in Mandarin

A Mandarin yes-no question is the statement, unchanged, plus (ma) at the end. No inversion, no "do". To answer, hand the question's verb back: bare for yes, negated for no. And (ne) bounces a question back: "and you?".

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

吗 or 呢? Use 吗 to turn a statement into a fresh question, 呢 to bounce a question back.

  1. 你好？ (Are you well?)

    nǐ hǎo ___？ (Are you well?)

  2. 我很好，你？ (I'm fine. And you?)

    wǒ hěn hǎo ， nǐ ___？ (I'm fine. And you?)

  3. 他去？ (Is he going?)

    tā qù ___？ (Is he going?)

The whole system on one screen

The colours stay the same all page long:

吗 ma (asks)呢 ne (and you?)the verb you echoWhat do the colours mean?
HanziPinyinWhat it does
？Nǐ qù ma?asks: are you going?
。Qù.yes: going
。Bú qù.no: not going
，？Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?bounces back: and you?
？Nǐ qù bu qù?asks directly: going or not?

吗 (ma): statement + one syllable = question

Take any statement and add (ma). The word order does not change, and nothing is added in front:

Statement
Question mark

nǐ qù ma? nǐ yǒu shì ma? nǐ xǐhuan zhège ma?

QuestionPinyinEnglish
？Nǐ qù ma?Are you going?
？Nǐ yǒu shì ma?Are you busy?
？Tā shì nǐ xiānsheng ma?Is he your husband?
？Nǐ xǐhuan zhège ma?Do you like this one?

(ma) is a neutral-tone particle, said light and quick. It carries no meaning of its own; it only marks the question.

Negative statements question the same way:

  • ？ (Nǐ bú qù ma?) - Aren't you going?

Answering: echo the verb, because there is no word for "yes"

Mandarin has no single word for "yes" and none for "no". Find the verb in the question and hand it back, bare for yes, negated for no:

QuestionYes / NoPinyin
？。 / 。qù / bú qù
明míng？。 / 。shì / bú shì
？。 / 。yǒu / méi yǒu
？。 / 。zhīdào / bù zhīdào

The negative follows the negation rules: (bù) for most verbs, (méi) for (yǒu). A fuller answer just adds the subject:

  • ，。 (Qù, wǒ qù.) - Yes, I'm going.

Two extras:

  • (duì), "right", confirms a statement: ，明míng。 (Duì, wǒ shì Xiǎo Míng.) - That's right, I'm Xiaoming.
  • (shì) as "yes" only fits where (shì) was the verb. Answering (nǐ qù ma) with (shì) marks you as a learner at once.

呢 (ne): the bounce-back

Once a question has been asked and answered, (ne) sends it back without repeating it:

HanziPinyinEnglish
，？Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?I'm fine, and you?
，？Wǒ bú qù, nǐ ne?I'm not going. What about you?
，？Wǒ yào zhège, nǐ ne?I want this one. And you?
Inside a cafe: a woman with long hair and a bow and a man with a moustache sit at a round white table with a blue cup and a yellow cup of coffee and a green menu standing between them; a waiter, a man with a moustache, a bow tie and an apron, stands at the side writing on a notepad.
  1. 。？
  2. 。
  3. ？

The waiter (3) asks with 吗 ma. She answers by echoing the verb, 要 yào, and bounces it on with 呢 ne; he echoes 要 too.

(ne) cannot make a yes-no question from nothing; that is (ma)'s job, and the two never swap. With no question on the table, (ne) after a person asks where they are:

  • 明míng？ (Xiǎo Míng ne?) - Where's Xiaoming?

A preview: the verb-not-verb question

The second way to ask: say the verb, then (bù), then the verb again. It means the same as (ma) and sounds a little more direct:

HanziPinyinEnglish
？Nǐ qù bu qù?Are you going or not?
明míng？Nǐ shì bu shì Xiǎo Míng?Are you Xiaoming?
？Hǎo bu hǎo?Is that all right?

The (bù) in the middle is light and toneless: shì bu shì. The pattern never takes (ma) as well, and it is answered with the same echo. The question words page covers it with (háishi), "A or B?".

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
？？one question marker, not two
明míng？明míng？a fresh question takes (ma)
。 to 你去吗。echo the verb, not (shì)
。。 (yǒu) never takes (bù)

What to do next

  1. Do the drill below.
  2. Turn five sentences you already know into questions with (ma), and answer each one both ways.
  3. Read question words for (shénme), (shéi) and the rest.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/6

吗 or 呢? Use 吗 to turn a statement into a fresh question, 呢 to bounce a question back.

  1. 你好？ (Are you well?)

    nǐ hǎo ___？ (Are you well?)

  2. 我很好，你？ (I'm fine. And you?)

    wǒ hěn hǎo ， nǐ ___？ (I'm fine. And you?)

  3. 他去？ (Is he going?)

    tā qù ___？ (Is he going?)

  4. 我要这个，你？ (I want this one. What about you?)

    wǒ yào zhè ge ， nǐ ___？ (I want this one. What about you?)

  5. 你知道？ (Do you know?)

    nǐ zhī dào ___？ (Do you know?)

  6. 我在这里，他？ (I'm here. Where is he?)

    wǒ zài zhè lǐ ， tā ___？ (I'm here. Where is he?)

Pick the right one

0/5

Answer by echoing the verb in the question: bare for yes, negated for no.

  1. 你去吗？ (Yes.)

    nǐ qù ma ？ (Yes.)

  2. 他是你先生吗？ (No.)

    tā shì nǐ xiān sheng ma ？ (No.)

  3. 你有事吗？ (No.)

    nǐ yǒu shì ma ？ (No.)

  4. 你要这个吗？ (No.)

    nǐ yào zhè ge ma ？ (No.)

  5. 你知道吗？ (Yes.)

    nǐ zhī dào ma ？ (Yes.)

Complete the story

0/4

Choose the word for each gap.

Two friends meet

你好？我很好，你？我也很好。你明天去北京？，我不去。

Gap 1 of 4

Spot the mistake

0/3

Each sentence has one mistake. Tap it.

  1. nǐ qù bu qù ma ？

  2. nǐ shì xiǎo míng ne ？

  3. tā yǒu shì ma ？ tā bù yǒu 。

Put the words in order

0/3

Put the words in order. A question keeps the order of a statement.

  1. Do you like this one?

    Your sentence is empty.

  2. Is he your husband?

    Your sentence is empty.

  3. Are you going or not?

    Your sentence is empty.

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Mandarin · Free printables

Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. The whole system on one screen
  3. 吗 (ma): statement + one syllable = question
  4. Answering: echo the verb, because there is no word for "yes"
  5. 呢 (ne): the bounce-back
  6. A preview: the verb-not-verb question
  7. Mistakes English speakers make

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

How do you ask a yes-no question in Mandarin?
Add (ma) to the end of a statement. That is the whole rule. (nǐ qù, you are going) becomes (nǐ qù ma, are you going?); (nǐ yǒu shì, you are busy) becomes (nǐ yǒu shì ma, are you busy?). Nothing moves and no extra verb appears. is a light, neutral-tone particle whose only job is to mark the question.
How do you say yes and no in Mandarin?
Mostly you do not: Mandarin has no exact single word for yes or no. You echo the verb from the question: asked (are you going?), you answer (qù) for yes or (bú qù) for no. Asked with , answer or ; asked with , answer or . (duì, right) confirms a statement, but the echo is the native default.
What does (ne) mean?
(ne) bounces the current question back at the other person without repeating it. ，？ (wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?) is 'I am fine, and you?'. Aimed at a person or thing with no question on the table, it asks where they are: 明？ (Xiǎo Míng ne?) is 'where is Xiaoming?'.
What is the difference between and ?
(ma) makes a new yes-no question out of a statement: (are you going?). (ne) cannot do that; it reflects a question already on the table, or asks 'what about X?'. So asks whether you are going, while asks 'and you?' about whatever was just discussed.
What is the (verb-not-verb) question?
The second way to ask a yes-no question: say the verb, then , then the verb again, as in (nǐ qù bu qù, are you going or not?). It means the same as the version and sounds a little more direct. The in the middle is light and toneless, and the pattern never takes as well.