HSK 3 grammar · pattern
反问句
反问句 — rhetorical questions (for emphasis)
Pattern
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( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
A rhetorical question uses question form to state something forcefully, not to ask. 不是…吗 asserts the positive ("isn't it …?" = it surely is); 怎么/哪儿 … 呢/啊 denies it ("how could …?" = it can't be).
Examples
这不是很简单吗？
Zhè bú shì hěn jiǎndān ma?
Isn't this quite simple? (It clearly is.)
你怎么能这样说呢？
Nǐ zěnme néng zhèyàng shuō ne?
How can you say such a thing?
我哪儿知道啊？
Wǒ nǎr zhīdào a?
How would I know?
Related
See it in a story
In the app, 反问句 is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.