<p>fefe is right in that omitting "吗" is allowed, but they have slightly different meanings:</p>

<p>你见过他？has a bit of on the rhetorical sense in it, and seems more surprised - it can be somewhat close to "You've met him, really?" or "Oh, you have ever met him?"</p>

<p>你见过他吗？is more of a question, as in purely asking "Have you ever met him, or not?"</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-27T18:38:07.163Z
2019-03-27T18:38:07.163Z
Ray_squared
<p>You can omit the "吗", but:</p>

<p>In writing, you need a question mark.</p>

<p>In speech, a rising intonation must be used.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-27T02:27:55.517Z
2019-03-27T02:27:55.517Z
fefe
<p>I was reading Assimil Chinese with Ease and came across this.</p>

<p>你见过他？</p>

<p>Since this is a question, is 吗 necessary for the question? Perhaps an error? Or can you omit 吗？</p>

<translation><meaning><mandarin><usage><characters>
Error in Book? Need help
# Error in Book? Need help

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-26)

I was reading Assimil Chinese with Ease and came across this.

你见过他？

Since this is a question, is 吗 necessary for the question? Perhaps an error? Or can you omit 吗？

**Tags:** translation, meaning, mandarin, usage, characters


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-03-27. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

You can omit the "吗", but:

In writing, you need a question mark.

In speech, a rising intonation must be used.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2019-03-27. Score: 3

username_2 is right in that omitting "吗" is allowed, but they have slightly different meanings:

你见过他？has a bit of on the rhetorical sense in it, and seems more surprised - it can be somewhat close to "You've met him, really?" or "Oh, you have ever met him?"

你见过他吗？is more of a question, as in purely asking "Have you ever met him, or not?"


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