Sentence pattern · Band 1

呢: and you? the follow-up question

A 呢？

呢 is the sound of a question being tossed back. Someone asks how you are; you answer, then say 你呢 and they owe you the same answer. It also hunts for missing things: your phone plus 呢 makes a whole sentence meaning wait, where did my phone go. One syllable keeps the ping pong going.

Hear it in a sentence

老师，我很好，你呢？Lǎoshī, wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?Teacher, I am fine. And you?
妈妈，我的手机呢？Māma, wǒ de shǒujī ne?Mom, where is my phone?
他是老师，你呢？Tā shì lǎoshī, nǐ ne?He is a teacher. What about you?
今天很冷，明天呢？Jīntiān hěn lěng, míngtiān ne?Today is cold. What about tomorrow?

Mistakes people make

Not this你呢是老师？Nǐ ne shì lǎoshī?Say this你是老师吗？Nǐ shì lǎoshī ma?

呢 only bounces back a question already asked, or asks where something went; a brand new question takes 吗.

Words in this pattern

呢ne手机shǒujī老师lǎoshī明天míngtiān

Quick answers

What does 呢：追问 mean?

呢 is the sound of a question being tossed back. Someone asks how you are; you answer, then say 你呢 and they owe you the same answer. It also hunts for missing things: your phone plus 呢 makes a whole sentence meaning wait, where did my phone go. One syllable keeps the ping pong going.

How do you build it?

A 呢？

What is the most common mistake?

你呢是老师？ → 你是老师吗？

呢 only bounces back a question already asked, or asks where something went; a brand new question takes 吗.

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