Two Simple Ways of Using NE

Like Chinese particle 吗, 呢 is also a common particle word used to end a sentence in Chinese. In this post, we will introduce two simple ways of呢, one of the most common particle words in learning Chinese grammar.

This is when someone asks you a question, and you return the question to them after answering it. This is commonly done by simply asking “你呢？”. We may call it a “bounce-back” question. For example, when you first meet somebody, you may introduce each other by:

nǐjiào shén me mínɡ zi ？

A: 你 叫 什么 名字？

What’s your name?

wǒ jiào jiékè，   nǐne？

B: 我 叫 杰克， 你呢？

I am Jack, what about you?

Another usage of 呢 is probably to form simple queries. It’s very easy to query things in Chinese using 呢. Just say the thing you’d like to know about, and put 呢 right after it. When used this way, 呢 can combine with question words to emphasize a query. Examples:

tā yǒu shénme bù xǐhuɑn chī de ne？

他 有什么 不 喜欢 吃 的 呢？

Why is that he doesn’t like eating?

tā wèishénme méi lái ne？

她 为什么 没来 呢？

Why didn’t she come?

These questions are also grammatically valid questions without 呢, but by adding 呢 the speaker makes it clear that they don’t just want an answer to the question. Maybe they’re questioning the situation or even criticizing it.