Definitions
(particle)
question particle ("What about...?", "And...?"); pause particle for emphasis; particle indicating continuation of state or action
(noun)
woolen material; wool fabric
About
The character 呢, which remains identical in both traditional and simplified forms, originates from the Tang Dynasty as a later development in the Chinese writing system. Its structure is a semantic-phonetic compound, combining the mouth radical 口 on the left to indicate a relation to speech, with the component 尼 on the right which primarily provides phonetic indication. Its earliest attested use was as a descriptive term for whispering or speaking in a low, intimate tone. Over subsequent centuries, this concrete lexical meaning fell out of common use, and the character was adopted to serve a purely grammatical function as a modal particle. In modern Mandarin, it is used to form questioning tones, particularly in follow-up questions, or to add a sense of continuity or emphasis to a statement.
Example Sentences Hide
你在做什么呢？
他正在看书呢。
你喜欢咖啡，我呢？
天气很好，我们去公园呢？
如果你不去，那我怎么办呢？
他说他明天来，可是今天还没到呢。
你怎么能这样说话呢？
虽然遇到困难，但我们还是要坚持努力呢。