吗
· ·
Spell out: + = · + = · + =
(question particle for "yes-no" questions)
6 strokes
Dict coverage rank #3,122 U+5417
How 吗 is formed
Phono-semantic compound (形声字)
口 (semantic, “mouth”) + 马 (phonetic, mǎ)
How to remember it
yes or no · Heisig RSH #1455
口 mouth + 马 horse
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Phonetic series: characters sharing the sound component 马
Siblings built with the same phonetic component 马 (mǎ) — compare how they read:
| Character | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 马 sound component | mǎ | horse; surname |
| 码 | mǎ | number, numeral, symbol; yard |
| 玛 | mǎ | agate, cornelian |
| 骂 | mà | to accuse, to blame, to curse, to scold |
| 妈 | mā | mother, mama |
| 蚂 | mǎ | ant; leech |
| 犸 | mǎ | mammoth |
| 杩 | mà | headboard |
Words containing 吗
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 不香吗 | bù xiāng ma | (slang) would be better (abbr. for 這錢買排骨它不香嗎|这钱买排骨它不香吗[zhe4 qian2 mai3 pai2 gu3 ta1 bu4 xi… |
| 不是吗 | bù shì ma | isn't that so? |
| 干吗 | gàn má | variant of 幹嘛|干嘛[gan4 ma2] |
| 约吗 | yuē ma | (neologism, attested by 2014) (slang) Are you interested? (originally an invitation for ca… |
| 吗啡 | mǎ fēi | morphine (loanword) |
| 吗哪 | mǎ nǎ | manna (Israelite food) |
| 吗喽 | ma lou | (slang) monkey (often used humorously or self-deprecatingly by overworked laborers) |
| 吗啉 | mǎ lín | morpholine (chemistry) (loanword) |