吗 / 呢 / 吧 mark three different moods
吗 (ma) turns a statement into a yes/no question: 你是学生吗？(Nǐ shì xuéshēng ma?) — Are you a student? 呢 (ne) either asks "what about...?" (我很好，你呢？ Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne? — I am fine, and you?) or marks an ongoing state, not a question (他还在睡觉呢。Tā hái zài shuìjiào ne. — He is still sleeping). 吧 (ba) softens a suggestion or seeks expected confirmation: 我们走吧。(Wǒmen zǒu ba.) — Let us go. Pick the particle by the job the sentence needs — the three are not interchangeable.
Question words stay in place; A-not-A ≠ 吗
Chinese does not invert subject and verb for a question word — it fills the statement slot in place: 你叫什么名字？(Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?) — What is your name? keeps 你叫 first. Core question words: 谁 (who), 什么 (what), 哪儿 (where), 怎么 (how), 为什么 (why), 什么时候 (when). A-not-A is a second yes/no question, repeating the verb around 不 with no 吗: 你去不去公园？(Nǐ qù bu qù gōngyuán?) — Are you going to the park? For a two-character verb only the FIRST character repeats: 喜欢 → 喜不喜欢, never 喜欢不喜欢.
Four connective pairs — use BOTH halves
Each connective is a fixed two-part frame across both clauses, not one word. 因为下雨，所以我们不去公园。(Yīnwèi xiàyǔ, suǒyǐ wǒmen bú qù gōngyuán.) — Because it is raining, we are not going. 虽然……但是…… marks contrast; 不但……而且…… adds a further point (他不但聪明，而且很努力。Tā búdàn cōngmíng, érqiě hěn nǔlì. — not only clever but also hardworking); 如果……就…… sets a condition. Dropping either half leaves the clause link unmarked in Chinese, even where English manages with one word.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Answering the wrong question word
✗ The task asks 你什么时候去？(when) but the answer names a place, as if it asked 你去哪儿？(where). ✓ Match each question word to its answer type: 谁 wants a person, 什么 a thing, 哪儿 a place, 怎么 a method, 为什么 a reason, 什么时候 a time. Identify the exact question word first, then check the answer supplies that kind of information — not just a topically related detail.
Grounded in the cambridge-0547 digest: question-word (what/when/where/how/why) recognition is flagged in every Reading paper's Key Messages as the top thing candidates must improve, both sittings (s22 21/22/23; s23 21/22/23).
Dropping half a connective pair
✗ 因为下雨，我们不去公园。(所以 dropped) ✓ 因为下雨，所以我们不去公园。(Yīnwèi xiàyǔ, suǒyǐ wǒmen bú qù gōngyuán.) — Because it is raining, so we are not going. ✗ 他很聪明，而且很努力。(不但 dropped) ✓ 他不但聪明，而且很努力。(Tā búdàn cōngmíng, érqiě hěn nǔlì.) — not only clever but also hardworking. Both halves of 因为……所以……, 虽然……但是……, 不但……而且…… and 如果……就…… must appear together; check for both before finishing.
Grounded in the cambridge-0547 digest: weak or absent connectives cap the Range mark in Writing Q3, with s23 naming over-reliance on one connective and incorrect pairing as sub-errors (s23 P42 Q3).
Missing the middle 不 in A-not-A
✗ Hearing 你去不去公园？and processing only 你去...公园 as a statement, missing that the middle 不 makes it a yes/no question. ✓ 你去不去公园？(Nǐ qù bu qù gōngyuán?) — Are you going to the park, or not? The unstressed middle 不 (spoken lightly as "bu") is easy to miss in fast speech, yet it is exactly what turns the sentence into a question rather than a statement of fact.
Grounded in the cambridge-0547 digest Listening findings: missing a single negative or qualifying word flips the answer, named at both sittings (s22 P11 Q17 "missing the negative word", s22 P11 Q19 "misled by the negative word") -- an A-not-A middle 不 is exactly this kind of easily-missed element.
喜欢不喜欢 — repeating the whole verb
In an A-not-A question a two-character verb repeats only its FIRST character before 不, then gives the full verb. ✗ 你喜欢不喜欢中国菜？(whole verb repeated) ✓ 你喜不喜欢中国菜？(Nǐ xǐ bu xǐhuān Zhōngguó cài?) — Do you like Chinese food, or not? The same holds for 认识 → 认不认识 and 知道 → 知不知道. Repeating the entire two-character verb is a very common formation slip.
(general FL trap)
Copying English question word order
Chinese keeps the question word in its normal clause position, with no inversion and no repeated subject. ✗ 为什么你迟到你？(English-style inversion, 你 echoed at the end) ✓ 你为什么迟到？(Nǐ wèishénme chídào?) — Why are you late? The question word 为什么 simply fills the unknown slot inside the ordinary 你……迟到 frame; do not move the subject or echo it, as English word order tempts you to.
(general FL trap)
Using 呢 for a plain yes/no question
呢 never forms a plain yes/no question — that is 吗's job. 呢 only makes an ellipsis question ("what about...?") or marks an ongoing state. ✗ 你是学生呢？(呢 wrongly used for a yes/no question) ✓ 你是学生吗？(Nǐ shì xuéshēng ma?) — Are you a student? Use 你呢？only as a follow-up echoing an earlier question onto a new subject, never to ask something fresh.
(general FL trap)
吗 cannot be added to every sentence
吗 only turns a PLAIN statement into a yes/no question. A sentence that already has a question word (什么/谁/哪儿/为什么) or an A-not-A structure is ALREADY a question, so adding 吗 double-marks it. ✗ 你叫什么名字吗？ ✓ 你叫什么名字？(Nǐ jiào shénme míngzi?) — What is your name? ✗ 你是不是学生吗？ ✓ 你是不是学生？ Each question type carries its own marking; use only one per sentence.
Name the question type before answering
Decide the question type: a plain 吗 yes/no, an ellipsis/ongoing-state 呢, a soft 吧, a question word, or an A-not-A. Reply in that pattern and never stack markers — no 吗 on top of a question word or A-not-A, which double-marks one question (你叫什么名字？needs no 吗).
Check both halves of a connective pair
For a complex sentence, choose the pair that fits the meaning — 因为……所以…… (cause), 虽然……但是…… (contrast), 不但……而且…… (addition), 如果……就…… (condition) — then confirm BOTH halves are present before submitting. A missing second half is one of the commonest ways marks slip on Writing Q3.
Form A-not-A cleanly, no 吗 on top
To build an A-not-A question, repeat the verb around 不 and add nothing else: 你去不去？ For a two-character verb repeat only the first character (喜不喜欢, not 喜欢不喜欢). Never add 吗 — the structure already asks the yes/no question, so 你是不是学生吗？is wrong and 你是不是学生？is right.
This grammar point (Section G, G8) covers three related tools: the sentence-final question/mood particles 吗, 呢 and 吧; question words (谁/什么/哪儿/怎么/为什么/什么时候) and the alternative A-not-A question; and four complex-sentence connective pairs. All four skills -- Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing -- depend on recognising and forming these correctly.
A question word REPLACES the unknown piece of information IN PLACE -- Chinese does not invert subject and verb the way English does. A-not-A repeats the verb or adjective with 不 in the middle to ask the same yes/no question 吗 asks, so the two must never be combined. 呢 does two different jobs depending on the sentence: an ellipsis question ("what about...?") or marking that an action is still ongoing (not a question at all). 吧 softens a suggestion or seeks confirmation the speaker already expects. Each of the four connective pairs links exactly two clauses and needs BOTH halves present.
Turn this into a yes/no question using 吗: 你是学生。
写出三个例句，分别用「吗」「呢」和「吧」各一个，并标注拼音和英文翻译。
Level-of-response questions with model answers and mark scheme rubrics.
你想约朋友一起去看电影。请给朋友写一条短信，问朋友三个不同类型的问题：（1）用「吗」问朋友这个周末有没有空；（2）用一个疑问词（谁/什么/哪儿/怎么/为什么/什么时候）问一个细节，比如什么时候方便；（3）用「A-不-A」句型问朋友想不想看某一部电影。请用中文（汉字）书写，约80-90字。（8分）
请给你的笔友介绍一下你的学校生活，并用「因为……所以……」和「虽然……但是……」两个句型说明你的想法。内容包括：（1）你最喜欢的科目是什么，为什么；（2）虽然学校生活有一些困难，但是你还是喜欢它，为什么。请用中文（汉字）书写，约80-90字，两个句型都要正确使用，两半都不能少。（8分）
