Meir
Can 什么(shénme) and 吗 (ma) ever be used in the same sentence? A language CD had what sounds like: 小姐你要喝点什么吗? xiǎojiě, nǐ yào hē diǎnr shénme ma? The translation is : "Miss, would you like to drink anything?" Why would 吗 be at the end, if you already have 什么 doesn't that already show that it is a question? Unless 什么 can also mean "something" instead of only "what". In which case 小姐你要喝点什么 could mean "Miss , you want to drink something" and 小姐你要喝点什么吗? turns it into the question, "Miss, do you want something to drink?" Does that make sense or is the sentence a mistake?So, in addition to being a question word meaning "what?", 什么 can also mean "thing" or "something"? Perhaps someone could provide other example sentences of 什么 being used to mean "something" ?
Jan 7, 2016 5:23 AM
Answers · 6
3
In fact, 什么 here is NOT an interrogative anymore. 什么 could be used as "something". 你想喝点什么吗? = 你想喝点东西吗? = Do you want something to drink?
January 7, 2016
2
Hi Meir! You are right. Sometimes 什么 could mean something. For example: 1.我得吃点什么 I need to eat something. 2.你不想说点什么吗? Don't you want to say something? 3.我一直想为你做点什么。I've been thinking of doing something for you. I think the situation when 什么 is used as something is very rare, maybe only in the structure v.+点+什么. I cannot think of an example other than this.
January 8, 2016
2
your guessing is correct, here 什么 equals something.
January 7, 2016
你想喝点什么? 你想喝点什么吗? 这两句有一些差别: 第一句暗示,知道你要喝,因此询问”喝什么“,这里的”什么“类似于what。而不是something. 第二句则暗示,不知道你想不想喝东西,在询问你想喝,还是不喝。当然也可以表达”你要喝什么“,而第一句肯定不能表达”你喝不喝“这样的询问的。 这就是加”吗“和不加”吗“的区别。
January 7, 2016
you want to drink something = 你想喝些东西 do you want something to drink = 你要喝点什么 = 你要喝点什么吗 Eight interrogative words in common use are included in the dialect but the equivalent of ma(吗) in putonghua is excluded.
January 7, 2016
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