The Summary of Yes/No Questions in Chinese

吗（ma）and 呢（ne）are most commonly used general question (also called yes or no question) particles in Chinese.

吗

A declarative sentence can be changed into a yes-no question by adding the question particle “吗” at the end of it.

e.g.

你好。（Nǐ hǎo.） à 你好吗？（Nǐ hǎo ma?）

你忙。（Nǐ máng.）à 你忙吗？（Nǐ máng ma?）

他喝水。（Tā hē shuǐ.） à 他喝水吗？（Tā hē shuǐ ma?）

呢

呢 is mostly used to turn statements into queries (among other things). It`s used to ask the situation mentioned previously, which indicates “How about……?” ”What about……?”.

e.g.

我很好，你呢？（Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?）

I`m very good, and you?

你的书在这儿，我的呢？（Nǐ de shū zài zhèr, wǒ de ne?）

Your books are here, what about mine?