啊 (a) - Ah — an interjection particle used to express & also used as a sentence-final particle for emphasis.

啊Tone 5

a ｜ 10 strokes ｜ radical:

安

啊 · a

Ah — an interjection particle used to express various emotions like surprise, realization, agreement, or to soften questions;

also used as a sentence-final particle for emphasis.

Ah — an interjection particle used to expressalso used as a sentence-final particle for emphasis.

Usage highlights

Expressing surpriseExpressing realizationSoftening a questionExpressing painExpressing admirationSentence

Synonyms

  • 呀— interjection expressing surprise or emphasis
  • 哦— interjection expressing understanding or realization
  • 哇— interjection expressing amazement or excitement

Usage & contexts

Examples

  • Ah, I see now (啊，我明白了).
  • What a beautiful view!(多美的景色啊！)
  • Is that really true?(那是真的啊？)
  • Ah, that hurts!(啊，好痛！)
  • You're coming too, right?(你也来啊？)

Collocations

  • Expressing surprise(啊！)
  • Expressing realization(啊，原来如此)
  • Softening a question(你好啊？)
  • Expressing pain(啊，好疼)
  • Expressing admiration(真美啊)
  • Sentence-final emphasis(是啊)

Idioms

  • Ah, so that's how it is(啊，原来如此)
  • Oh my goodness!(啊呀！)
  • Alas and alack!(啊哟！)

Cultural background

FAQ
  • Used extensively in spoken Chinese as an emotional particle to convey various feelings.
  • Functions as a discourse marker to soften statements or questions, making speech more polite.
  • Different tones of '啊' can express different emotions - surprise, realization, pain, or admiration.

FAQ