1.5 The Sentence Particle 呀 aa3 I (Question)
When asking a question, we can optionally add the sentence particle 呀 aa3 at the end of the question.
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你叫咩名呀?
nei5 giu3 me1 meng2 aa3?
What is your name? -
佢係邊個呀?
keoi5 hai6 bin1 go3 aa3?
Who is he / she?
Note that adding 呀 aa3 is not enough to turn a sentence into a question. To form a question, we need a question word or a question construction. 呀 aa3 only serves as a supplementary means to help signal a question. Look at the examples again. There is a question word in each question.
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你叫咩名呀?
nei5 giu3 me1 meng2 aa3?
What is your name?
This question has the question word 咩 me1 (‘what’). -
佢係邊個呀?
keoi5 hai6 bin1 go3 aa3?
Who is he / she?
This question has the question word 邊個 bin1 go3 (‘who’).