Chinese modal particles: 吗、呢、吧

Original Chinese study material with English explanations. Simplified Chinese with pinyin; beginner, intermediate and advanced are editorial difficulty labels.

吗 often marks a yes–no question. 呢 (ne) can ask a follow-up or add a continuing-discussion tone. 吧 (ba) commonly softens a suggestion or signals tentative agreement.

我很好，你呢？

Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?

I am well. And you?

我们走吧。

Wǒmen zǒu ba.

Let us go.

Particles convey stance as well as sentence function; translating each with a fixed English word is rarely useful.

Try it

Which particle naturally softens “Let us go”?

1. 吧
2. 吗
3. 的

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