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Particles in speech bubbles

Day 2 of 15~12 minThe small words that carry the tone
Pinyin help
Tone colours
啊 · 吧 · 呢 · 嘛

Speech bubbles are written to sound like speech, so they are full of the small particles that end spoken sentences. A drawing can show a face; the particle shows the tone of voice, and it is often the whole point of the line.

Four particles

Each changes how a line sounds.

好啊！
hǎo a!
Sure!
啊 adds feeling: warmth, surprise or urgency, depending on the tone.
走吧！
zǒu ba!
Let's go!
吧 turns a statement into a suggestion.
你呢？
nǐ ne?
And you?
呢 asks the same question back.
快点嘛！
kuài diǎn ma!
Come on, hurry up!
嘛 is coaxing, or a little impatient: it should be obvious.
Why it works

Particles carry no dictionary meaning you can point to, which is why textbooks neglect them. In a speech bubble they are how you tell a request from an order and a joke from a complaint.

One exchange, four particles

Two friends meet late.

A
你怎么才来啊？
nǐ zěnme cái lái a?
Why are you only getting here now?
才, only just, later than expected.
B
路上堵车嘛。
lù shang dǔchē ma.
The traffic was bad, obviously.
嘛: it should be obvious.
A
算了，走吧。
suànle, zǒu ba.
Forget it, let's go.
算了, forget it, let it go.
B
去哪儿呢？
qù nǎr ne?
Where to, then?
Why it works

Take the particles out and every line still means the same thing, but they lose their voices: impatience, an excuse, giving up, curiosity. That is the job particles do.

The same words, with and without

Plain on the left, with the particle on the right.

Let's go
Plain
走。
zǒu.
With feeling
走吧。
zǒu ba.
Plain 走 is an order. 吧 makes it an invitation.
Really?
Plain
真的？
zhēn de?
With feeling
真的啊？
zhēn de a?
啊 adds surprise, as if you can hardly believe it.
I told you
Plain
我说了。
wǒ shuō le.
With feeling
我说了嘛。
wǒ shuō le ma.
嘛 says it should have been obvious. A little smug.
Why it works

The left column is correct and sounds cold. The right column is how people actually talk, which is why manhua, written to sound natural, use it.

Punctuation that shouts

Chinese uses full-width punctuation: ！ and ？ take up a whole character's space. Manhua often double them or combine them, ？！, to show shouting or disbelief. Vertical-scroll manhua write their text horizontally, like this page.

Carry over, from earlier days
更新
gēngxīn
update
第一话
dì yī huà
chapter one
追漫
zhuī màn
to follow a comic

8 questions. Get 5 right to finish the day.

  1. 吧 at the end of 走吧 makes it…

    • a question
    • a suggestion
    • the past tense
    • a threat
    Show the answer

    a suggestion Let's go.

  2. 你呢？ means…

    • you did it
    • you're here
    • and you?
    • you again
    Show the answer

    and you? 呢 asks the same question back.

  3. 嘛 in 我说了嘛 adds…

    • sadness
    • it should have been obvious
    • a question
    • politeness
    Show the answer

    it should have been obvious A little smug.

  4. Type the pinyin for 算了.

    Show the answer

    suànle Forget it.

  5. 你怎么才来啊？ complains that the person…

    • arrived early
    • did not come
    • arrived late
    • came by car
    Show the answer

    arrived late 才, only just.

  6. Which sounds like an order?

    • 走。 zǒu.
    • 你呢？ nǐ ne?
    • 好啊！ hǎo a!
    • 走吧。 zǒu ba.
    Show the answer

    走。 No particle, no softening.

  7. 真的啊？ adds…

    • anger
    • boredom
    • surprise
    • agreement
    Show the answer

    surprise As if you can hardly believe it.

  8. Type the Chinese or pinyin for let's go.

    Show the answer

    zǒu ba The suggestion.

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