<p>Check out <em>ABC</em>'s definition of 嘛:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>1 (used to persuade sb. to do sth.)  </p>
  
  <p>来嘛, 不要太任性。<br>
  Lái ma, bụ̀yào tài rènxìng.<br>
  Come on, don't be so stubborn. </p>
  
  <p>2 (used to emphasize the obvious)</p>
  
  <p>是星期日嘛。办公室当然关了。<br>
  Shì Xīngqīrì ma. Bàngōngshì dāngrán guān le.<br>
  It's Sunday. Of course offices are closed. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>So here 嘛, despite it's similar pronunciation, has very different usage to 吗. It is mostly used in persuasion or to emphasize something that is obvious.</p>

<hr>

<p>Taking your sentence if it had been 吗 instead we would have something like:</p>

<ul>
<li>你可以找到我吗？</li>
<li>Can you find me?</li>
</ul>

<p>but your sentence: 你可以找到我嘛 works out to something more like:</p>

<ul>
<li>See if you can find me!</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-13T11:25:43.357Z
Or Simply a non-standard written form
炸鱼薯条德里克
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-14T14:39:32.173Z
I feel like it doesn't matter nowadays. It is just like in english you can write `hmm` as well as `hmmm`
Archeosudoerus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-13T10:01:37.203Z
2019-06-13T10:33:07.890Z
2019-06-13T10:33:07.890Z
Mou某
<p>Pinyin is a normal computer input method used very commonly in China. But it doesn’t contain any tone marks. So if you type “Ma” in this input method, these two words “嘛” and “吗” appear just at the same time. Sometimes, an interrogative sentence ended up by “嘛“ (instead of “吗”) is just a typo.</p>

<p>You should use “吗” on formal occassion.</p>

<p>(Native speaker.)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-16T16:43:07.227Z
2019-06-18T16:54:57.613Z
2019-06-18T16:54:57.613Z
lyc
<p>嘛has meaning of a little spoiled.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-17T12:59:40.783Z
2019-06-17T12:59:40.783Z
daotian
<p>Somebody showed me a group picture that included their face, and asked me “你可以找到我嘛”. After replying I asked why 嘛 is used instead of 吗 for this question. My Chinese is not great and my Chinese friend isn't great at explaining Chinese grammar to me in English, but they did say 语气词. Which, as I understand it, names this grammar construct.</p>

<p>What is 语气词? Why is it used here? How do I use it?</p>

<p>Clarification; this was a text message conversation</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-13T11:32:46.163Z
It's very strange the person ask you by speaking while you describe his question by writing. Possibly an ending neutral tone without too much meaning, as mentioned by user3306356, there isn't too much difference between "Can you find me?" and "See if you can find me!"
炸鱼薯条德里克
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-13T11:41:46.240Z
see previous Q&A: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/search?q=%E5%98%9B
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-13T15:05:53.393Z
@炸鱼薯条德里克 sorry, I didn't make it clear, she asked me in a text message conversation. It wasn't spoken.
Lex
<grammar>
What is "语气词"? Why does this question end with 嘛 instead of 吗?
# What is "语气词"? Why does this question end with 嘛 instead of 吗?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-06-13)

Somebody showed me a group picture that included their face, and asked me “你可以找到我嘛”. After replying I asked why 嘛 is used instead of 吗 for this question. My Chinese is not great and my Chinese friend isn't great at explaining Chinese grammar to me in English, but they did say 语气词. Which, as I understand it, names this grammar construct.

What is 语气词? Why is it used here? How do I use it?

Clarification; this was a text message conversation

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It's very strange the person ask you by speaking while you describe his question by writing. Possibly an ending neutral tone without too much meaning, as mentioned by user3306356, there isn't too much difference between "Can you find me?" and "See if you can find me!"  
> **username_2**: see previous Q&A: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/search?q=%E5%98%9B  
> **username_0**: @username_1 sorry, I didn't make it clear, she asked me in a text message conversation. It wasn't spoken.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-06-13. Score: 2

Check out *ABC*'s definition of 嘛:

> 1 (used to persuade sb. to do sth.)
>
> 来嘛, 不要太任性。  
> Lái ma, bụ̀yào tài rènxìng.  
> Come on, don't be so stubborn.
>
> 2 (used to emphasize the obvious)
>
> 是星期日嘛。办公室当然关了。  
> Shì Xīngqīrì ma. Bàngōngshì dāngrán guān le.  
> It's Sunday. Of course offices are closed.

So here 嘛, despite it's similar pronunciation, has very different usage to 吗. It is mostly used in persuasion or to emphasize something that is obvious.

---

Taking your sentence if it had been 吗 instead we would have something like:

* 你可以找到我吗？
* Can you find me?

but your sentence: 你可以找到我嘛 works out to something more like:

* See if you can find me!

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Or Simply a non-standard written form  
> **username_4**: I feel like it doesn't matter nowadays. It is just like in english you can write `hmm` as well as `hmmm`  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-06-16. Score: 1

Pinyin is a normal computer input method used very commonly in China. But it doesn’t contain any tone marks. So if you type “Ma” in this input method, these two words “嘛” and “吗” appear just at the same time. Sometimes, an interrogative sentence ended up by “嘛“ (instead of “吗”) is just a typo.

You should use “吗” on formal occassion.

(Native speaker.)


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2019-06-17. Score: 0

嘛has meaning of a little spoiled.


---

