(me) - (question particle, softening) in Mandarin

Traditional: 麼

HSK 2

#259 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

(question particle, softening)

Word origin

么 (me) is a question and softening particle, the simplified form of 麼. It derives from 麼 (má/me) and is used in words such as 什么 'what' and 怎么 'how'. The simplified 么 is essentially the phonetic component of the fuller character standing alone.

Origin: phono-semantic compound
Root: simplified reduction of 麼 (má, phonetic 幺)

Stroke order

么

Examples

？

What are you doing?

？

So difficult?

？

What's wrong with you?

，？

What's wrong, my friend?

？

What does this mean?

么 (me) means (question particle, softening). It is used as a particle in everyday Mandarin speech.

Where this fits

The 1,000 most common Mandarin words

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Appears in 17 words

Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 么.

什么shén mewhat 什么shénmewhat 什么时候shénme shíhouwhen 为什么wèishénmewhy 怎么zěnmehow 怎么zěn mehow; why (in rhetorical questions)为什么wèi shén mewhy, for what reason 这么zhè meso, this much, like this 那么nà meso, then, in that case 怎么样zěn me yànghow, what do you think, how about 干什么gàn shén mewhat are (you/they) doing, why do that 没什么méi shén meit's nothing, never mind, no big deal 怎么办zěn me bànwhat to do, what should be done 怎么回事zěn me huí shìwhat's going on, what's the matter 多么duō mehow, what, so 什么样shén me yàngwhat kind of, what sort of 要么yào meeither, or, either... or...

Used in

Grammar articles

(23)

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Mandarin · Free printables

么: worksheet, infographic and listicle

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This word is part of lesson 6.