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.

  1. 你叫咩名呀？
    nei5 giu3 me1 meng2 aa3?
    What is your name?

  2. 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.

  1. 你叫咩名呀？
    nei5 giu3 me1 meng2 aa3?
    What is your name?
    This question has the question word 咩 me1 (‘what’).

  2. 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’).