Chinese particles: 吗, 呢, 吧, 了, 的, 得, 地

October 3, 2026 · 8 min read

Particles are short words that don't name anything themselves but change what a sentence does: turn it into a question, a suggestion, or news that something is done. A lot of what English does with intonation, auxiliaries like "do" and "have", tag questions like "right?" and endings like -ly is done in Chinese by a particle. Nearly all of them are read in the neutral tone, unstressed. There aren't many, and they turn up in every other sentence, so they're worth learning at the very start.

Types of Chinese particles

• At the end of a sentence: 吗, 呢, 吧, 啊. These are called modal particles: they show why the sentence is said, to ask, to suggest, to be surprised.
• With the verb: 了, 着, 过. They show how the action goes: completed, ongoing, experienced before. Aspect, in grammar terms, not tense.
• Linking particles: 的, 地, 得. They join a word to what describes it. All three are read de.

吗: the question particle

吗 at the end turns a statement into a yes/no question. The word order stays the same: no "do you…?", no "are you…?" inversion.

• 你忙吗？nǐmángmaAre you busy?
• 你有笔吗？nǐyǒubǐmaDo you have a pen?
• 你明天有空吗？nǐmíngtiānyǒukòngmaAre you free tomorrow?

Instead of a plain "yes" or "no", the answer usually repeats the verb or adjective from the question: 忙 "(I'm) busy", 不忙 "(I'm) not busy".

呢: "and you?" and "right now"

呢 has three common uses. The first is to bounce a question back without repeating it: "and you?", "what about him?". The second is to ask where something is: name the thing and add 呢. The third is to stress that an action is going on right now, often together with 在 or 正在.

• 我很好，你呢？wǒhěnhǎo,nǐneI’m fine, and you?
• 我的书呢？wǒdeshūneWhere’s my book?
• 妈妈在做饭呢māmazàizuòfànneMom is cooking.

吧: "let's" and "I suppose"

吧 softens a sentence. With an action, it makes a suggestion or a gentle request, like "let's" or "shall we?". With a statement, it's a guess you want confirmed, like the English tag "…, right?".

• 我们走吧wǒmenzǒubaLet’s go.
• 我们去吃饭吧wǒmenqùchīfànbaLet’s go eat.
• 他还不知道这件事吧？tāháibùzhīdàozhèjiànshìbaHe doesn’t know about this yet, does he?

The difference from 吗 is certainty. With 吗, you don't know the answer. With 吧, you already expect it and want the other person to agree.

了: "did" and "has become"

了 goes in two places. After the verb, it means the action is completed. At the end of a sentence, it means the situation has changed: it wasn't like this before, a bit like the English "now" or "already". It isn't a past tense, even though it often comes out as one in English; why, see the guide to tenses in Chinese.

• 你买了什么？nǐmǎileshénmeWhat did you buy?
• 我吃饱了wǒchībǎoleI’m full.
• 我的手机丢了。wǒdeshǒujīdiūleI’ve lost my phone.

了 is also part of the frame 太…了, "too…" or "so…": the adjective goes between 太 and 了.

• 太贵了tàiguìleThat’s too expensive!

The three de particles: 的, 地, 得

By ear you can't tell them apart: all three are read de in the neutral tone. You tell them apart by what stands next to them.

• 的 + noun. Before 的 comes a modifier: whose, what kind, which. 我的书 "my book". Think of the English 's.
• 地 + verb. Before 地 comes how the action is done. 慢慢地走 "to walk slowly". Think of the English -ly.
• verb + 得. After 得 comes a verdict on the action: how well, how fast, how much. 说得很好 "speaks well".

的 is the most frequent of the three. The modifier before it can be not just "my" or "your" but a whole clause: 你做的菜 "the dish you cooked". English puts that clause after the noun; Chinese puts it before.

• 我的书在桌子上wǒdeshūzàizhuōzishangMy book is on the table.
• 你做的菜真香nǐzuòdecàizhēnxiāngWhat you cooked smells so good!

地 turns an adjective into an adverb, just as -ly does: 高兴 gāoxìng — glad, happy becomes 高兴地 "happily", 认真 rènzhēn — serious, conscientious becomes 认真地 "attentively".

• 她高兴地笑了。tāgāoxìngdexiàoleShe laughed happily.
• 他认真地听老师说话。tārènzhēndetīnglǎoshīshuōhuàHe listens attentively to the teacher.

得 sits right up against the verb. If the verb has an object, the verb is repeated: first with the object, then with 得: 说汉语说得很好, literally "speaks Chinese speaks well".

• 他跑得非常快。tāpǎodefēichángkuàiHe runs very fast.
• 他说汉语说得很好。tāshuōHànyǔshuōdehěnhǎoHe speaks Chinese very well.
• 你考得怎么样？nǐkǎodezěnmeyàngHow did your exam go?

着 and 过: with the verb

着 after a verb means a state continues: the door is open and stays that way. 过 after a verb means experience: this has happened before, like the English "have you ever…?". Both are read in the neutral tone: zhe, guo.

• 门开着。ménkāizheThe door is open.
• 他戴着眼镜。tādàizheyǎnjìngHe’s wearing glasses.
• 你去过中国吗？nǐqùguoZhōngguómaHave you ever been to China?

啊 and 的 at the end of a sentence

啊 adds feeling: admiration, surprise, liveliness. It has no translation: in English the same is carried by intonation, or by an exclamation like "what…!" or "how…!".

• 这些花好漂亮啊！zhèxiēhuāhǎopiàoliangaWhat beautiful flowers!
• 这个地方多么美啊！zhègedìfangduōmeměiaHow beautiful this place is!

的 can also come at the end. In the frame 是…的 it highlights a detail of something that has already happened: how, when, where or by what. It works like the English "it was by taxi that I came".

• 你是怎么来的？nǐshìzěnmeláideHow did you get here?
• 我是打车来的wǒshìdǎchēláideI came by taxi.