Nǐ hǎo, in the previous lesson you've learned how to say you are so and so, your nationality
and that you can speak a little chinese. In this lesson we are gonna learn how to turn
these statements into yes or no questions, such as Are you John?Are you chinese? Can
you speak english? Etc. You first need to figure out the what the statement is and then
you just add a very special chinese question word at the end of your statement, and instantly
you change that statement into a Yes or No question. For example, to ask the question
Are you John? You first need to figure out what the statement is. The statement here
is You are John, nǐ shì John. Now you need to add this special question word at the end.
I call this question word a miracle word, because it works like a charm. Alright, in
no suspense, this miracle word is ma. It's a neutral tone or a toneless tone. It's short
and soft and sweet. So the question Are you John is nǐ shì john ma? Again. nǐ shì
john ma. Now we can ask, Are you American? The statement for this question is You are
American. Now add ma at the end. So are you American is literally You are American ma?
Nǐ shì měi guó rén ma? Now say You are chinese. Nǐ shì zhōng guó rén. Now ask
Are you chinese, nǐ shì zhōng guó rén ma? Great.Do you still remember how to say 'can'
in terms of a learned skill? It's Huì. How do you say speak chinese? shuō zhōng wén.
Now say you can speak chinese. You can speak chinese, nǐ huì shuō zhōng wén. Now ask
can you speak chinesse? nǐ huì shuō zhōng wén ma? Now say the english language. Yīng
wén. Now say you can speak english. nǐ huì shuō yīng wén. Now ask Can you speak english?
Nǐ huì shuō yīng wén ma? Great. Now imagine you in China, desperately looking for someone
who can speak english. So you ask a chinese person next to you, Can you speak english?
Nǐ huì shuō yīng wén ma? Nǐ huì shuō yīng wén ma? There are two things to watch
out here. First, ma indicates that the question is a yes or no question. When you hear ma,
you know you need to answer either yes or no. So the sound of ma at the end of a sentence
should be like your radar for detecting yes or no questions. However, not all questions
need ma at the end. For example, in the future when you form a question that seeks a specific
answer rather than just yes or no. For example when you are trying to ask what do you do?
Or where is the bathroom. etc. These questions seek specific answers and cannot carry ma
at the end. In addition, when you use ma, the overall phrase orders of statements and
yes or no questions are the same. You don't need to change You are John to Are you John?.
Keep the word order of the statement unchanged and simply add ma at the end. Then you are
done. Before we leave, let's ask can you speak english again. Nǐ huì shuō yīng wén ma?
Nǐ huì shuō yīng wén ma? Cool, in our next lesson we are going to learn how to say
I like to ear chinese food. Zài jiàn