# 我在超市买东西<呢>



## yuechu

大家好！

I heard the following conversation on TV today:
你在哪儿？
我在超市买东西呢

What is the meaning of 呢 in this sentence?
Thanks!


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## Youngfun

Short answer:
=I'm shopping at the supermarket eh.


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## Yujan Chou

呢 can be used at the end of a declarative sentence to indicate the continuation of an action or a state, as:

我在超市买东西呢。
I am shopping at the supermarket.

我听着呢。
I am listening.

他还在睡呢。
He is still sleeping.


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## SuperXW

I think 呢 is often added when it is a present continuous tense, and somehow delivers a soft tone.
我在超市买东西。May happen in another time. More serious.
我在超市买东西呢。 Happening now. Not a serious tone.


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## NewAmerica

baosheng said:


> 我在超市买东西呢
> 
> What is the meaning of 呢 in this sentence?



   呢 is an auxiliary word used at the end of the sentence to express an action in progress.


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## Sun14

It is just a way of expressing certain emotions, namely anger, acting like a spoiled child.


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## NewAmerica

Sun14 said:


> It is just a way of expressing certain emotions, namely anger, acting like a spoiled child.



That is not correct.
The explanation I offered was basically cited from an authoritative dictionary of Chinese language (original text is Chinese). So show me the Chinese source of your interpretation and I will show that of mine.


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## Youngfun

It may be a difference between Mandarin and Cantonese.


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## NewAmerica

Youngfun said:


> It may be a difference between Mandarin and Cantonese.


In that case, one has to indicate that the context for such interpretation is Cantonese.
The text that the OP offers is in accordance with standard Chinese: 我在超市买东西呢.
So all the answers should keep consistent with the standard.


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## yuechu

Thanks, everyone, for your help!


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## Sun14

NewAmerica said:


> That is not correct.
> The explanation I offered was basically cited from an authoritative dictionary of Chinese language (original text is Chinese). So show me the Chinese source of your interpretation and I will show that of mine.



你在哪儿？
我在超市买东西呢


This the context cited from OP. If you think this is sufficient and there is no other possibility to interpret it as expressing anther emotion, I could say you don't know Chinese at all.

There many possibility to interpret it. I just give one version:

为什么还不回家，你在哪儿？

我在超市买东西呢！

This could happened when someone urged one to go home while didn't know him or her was doing something important and necessary. It irritates him or her while he or she ends the sentence with a exclamation mark!


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## SuperXW

What Sun has said doesn't concern usages in Cantonese. Cantonese won't add 呢 at the end of a sentence.
I think 呢 could be used to express a certain mood, or, a "casual" tone. In other words, adding 呢 is more colloquial and informal. If we want a formal statement to indicate the continuation of an action or a state, we would use 正在.
Compare:
我在超市买东西呢。-Casual, spoken
我正在超市买东西。-Formal, written


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## Sun14

^


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## Skatinginbc

This is what 呢 actually means to me:
1.  It does NOT indicate _present_ tense: 呢 can be used in the past tense, for example, 昨晚，我去看他時，他還蹦蹦跳跳著呢!  怎麼說死就死了呢?
2.  It does NOT indicate _continuation _of an action or a state: For example, it can be used in a simple tense like 我才不嫁給他呢!
3.  Although it is often associated with progressive (e.g., 他还在睡呢) or negative sentences (e.g., 我才沒那麼多嘴呢), its function is NOT an aspect marker or negative marker.  The progressive aspect is already conveyed by 还在, 正在, or simply 在 (e.g., 我正在超市买东西呢, 我还在超市买东西呢), and negation is marked by 不 or 沒.

I think its function is purely pragmatic (namely, to imply contradiction), rather than syntactic (that is to say, it is syntactically non-essential.  The sentence can go without it and still be grammatical).
我听着呢 (It implies: You may think I'm not listening, but I am)
他还在睡呢 (It implies: You may wish he is available, but he is not.  He is still sleeping 他还在睡).
A: 为什么还不回家，你在哪儿？ B: 我在超市买东西呢！ (It implies: You may think I should be home now, but I am not.  I am still shopping 我在买东西).

Conclusion:  To me, its function is to imply "contradiction", rather than to indicate "present" or "continuation".


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## yuechu

Thanks for your explanation, Skatinginbc! I understand it a lot better now


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> This is what 呢 actually means to me:
> 1.  It does NOT indicate _present_ tense: 呢 can be used in the past tense, for example, 昨晚，我去看他時，他還蹦蹦跳跳著呢!  怎麼說死就死了呢?
> 2.  It does NOT indicate _continuation _of an action or a state: For example, it can be used in a simple tense like 我才不嫁給他呢!
> 3.  Although it is often associated with progressive (e.g., 他还在睡呢) or negative sentences (e.g., 我才沒那麼多嘴呢), its function is NOT an aspect marker or negative marker.  The progressive aspect is already conveyed by 还在, 正在, or simply 在 (e.g., 我正在超市买东西呢, 我还在超市买东西呢), and negation is marked by 不 or 沒.
> 
> I think its function is purely pragmatic (namely, to imply contradiction), rather than syntactic (that is to say, it is syntactically non-essential.  The sentence can go without it and still be grammatical).
> 我听着呢 (It implies: You may think I'm not listening, but I am)
> 他还在睡呢 (It implies: You may wish he is available, but he is not.  He is still sleeping 他还在睡).
> A: 为什么还不回家，你在哪儿？ B: 我在超市买东西呢！ (It implies: You may think I should be home now, but I am not.  I am still shopping 我在买东西).
> 
> Conclusion:  To me, its function is to imply "contradiction", rather than to indicate "present" or "continuation".



In the following conversation, 呢 does not imply any contradiction.
_A: 你在哪呢？
B: 我在超市呢。_

So my interpretation is that, 呢 has several functions or implications.
“Continuous status” is one of them. “Contradiction” is another one. We also know it is used in questions.
When we use it to imply a “contradiction” or a “question”, we can say it expresses a certain “emotion”, or 语气态度.
That's why it is just a 语气助词, not syntactically essential.

_昨晚，我去看他時，他還蹦蹦跳跳著呢!_ –continuous status (past continuous)
_怎麼說死就死了呢?_ –questioning "emotion".
_我才不嫁給他呢!_ –expressing contradiction, or an opposite emotion.


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## Skatinginbc

SuperXW said:


> In the following conversation, 呢 does not imply any contradiction.
> _A: 你在哪呢？
> B: 我在超市呢。_


The context is insufficient for me to comprehend why 呢 does not imply any contradiction.


SuperXW said:


> _昨晚，我去看他時，他還蹦蹦跳跳著呢!_ –continuous status (past continuous)


Although it is used in the past progressive, it is NOT a marker of past progressive.  To me, it is still a mood marker to signal contradiction (蹦蹦跳跳 as opposed to 死了 or other conditions).


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## fyl

To me, 呢 can have the same function as 正/在/正在. That is, it indicates continuation.
我吃饭 = I eat.
我吃饭呢 = I am eating. Of course it is possible to add 正/在/正在, but a single 呢 is sufficient to convey the meaning clearly. Using 呢 is more colloquial (actually, more natural) than 正/在/正在, and they can be combined.

The above meaning of 呢 can be found in 汉典 and 现代汉语词典.

呢 of course can express emotion, negation, or whatever. But that should be a different meaning.


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> The context is insufficient for me to comprehend why 呢 does not imply any contradiction.).


...My IQ is insufficient to comprehend why you think the context is insufficient and why 呢 must imply a contradiction here... OTZ


Skatinginbc said:


> Although it is used in the past progressive, it is NOT a marker of past progressive.  To me, it is still a mood marker to signal contradiction (蹦蹦跳跳 as opposed to 死了).


It is usually not syntactic, I agree, but sometimes, it can still be a functional marker of past progressive by itself.
A: 你吃了吗？ B: 吃呢。
Since other markers are omitted, 呢 takes the responsibility here. You can't delete it.

Also, compare the different tones:
1. 都十点了，他还睡呢！ -Contradition
2. 别吵醒他，他还睡呢！ -Continuous


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## Skatinginbc

fyl said:


> To me, 呢 can have the same function as 正/在/正在. That is, it indicates continuation...a single 呢 is sufficient to convey the meaning clearly.


That would be "dialectal" in my mind because I don't use it that way and that function is not included in 國語辭典.


SuperXW said:


> 别吵醒他，他还睡呢！ -Continuous


To me, 还 is the word that indicates continuation. "呢", as 國語辭典 puts it, 表示加強、確定的語氣。


SuperXW said:


> A: 你吃了吗？ B: 吃呢。


That's indeed a good example.  Again, it is not something that would naturally come out of my mouth.   "正在吃呢" is what I would say, with 正在 indicating "progressive" and "呢" 表示加強語氣 or contradiction (正在吃 as opposed to 吃了).


SuperXW said:


> why you think the context is insufficient


Let me put it this way:
B: 咱們見個面, 好不好?
A: 好啊.  你在哪呢？
B: 我在超市. 等我購完物，我去接你.  ==> 我在超市呢 would be unnatural for me because A has no expectation of B's whereabouts and therefore there is no "contradiction" to an expectation.

A: 都這麼久了, 怎麼还沒見到你的人影?  你在哪呢？
B: 我在超市呢 ==> 呢 is to emphasize the fact (对事实的强调), that is, 在超市, which is  contrary to one's expectation (e.g., supposed to be at your place now).


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## fyl

It isn't dialectal in mainland Mandarin since the usage is found in several dictionaries.

For the dialog in OP, although I don't know the context, I believe the 呢 is just an indication of progressing action and there is little special emotion or other things involved, according to my experience.


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## bsbaby

Interesting, as a proficient Mandarin speaker,
and according to dictionary, 呢 has two sounds.

◎ ne5 <助词> (the tone is neither 1、2、3、4, please help me out)
(1) 表示疑问 [used in asking questions for purposes of emphasis]。如:你怎么知道呢?
(2) 用在反问句末 [used at the end of an interrogative sentence]。如:这件事谁不知道呢?
(3) 用在陈述句末,表示对事实的确认或强调 [used at the end of a declarative sentence] 如:他们都要求比赛呢
(4) 用在陈述句末,表示动作或情况正在继续 [used at the end of a declarative sentence, indicating the notion that an action or situation is in progress]。如:他学习呢
(5) 用在句中表示停顿 [used to indicate a pause]。如:现在呢,跟过去大不同了

◎ 呢 ní
〈名〉
(1) 人们的悄声细语 [whispering] 呢,呢喃,小声多言也。——《玉篇》
(2) 燕子鸣声 [twittering] 燕雏羽弱飞难起,母燕呢喃翔复止。——周士彬《营巢燕》
(3) 一种较厚较密的毛织品 [woolen cloth]。如:呢子大衣 (泛指毛织品与丝织品)

In some context, I agree with Sun14: 


Sun14 said:


> It is just a way of expressing certain emotions, namely anger, acting like a spoiled child.


adding 呢 at the end of sentence does sound a little feminine in Mainland China.


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## Skatinginbc

bsbaby said:


> (1) 表示疑问 [used in asking questions for purposes of emphasis]。如:你怎么知道呢?
> (2) 用在反问句末 [used at the end of an interrogative sentence]。如:这件事谁不知道呢?
> (3) 用在陈述句末,表示对事实的确认或强调 [used at the end of a declarative sentence] 如:他们都要求比赛呢
> (4) 用在陈述句末,表示动作或情况正在继续 [used at the end of a declarative sentence, indicating the notion that an action or situation is in progress]。如:他学习呢
> (5) 用在句中表示停顿 [used to indicate a pause]。如:现在呢,跟过去大不同了


I'm familiar with (1), (2), (3), and (5), but (4) is alien to me.  Because of its absence in some Mandarin dialects (e.g., Taiwan Mandarin), people (e.g., me) in certain Chinese communities would naturally think 呢 in 我在超市买东西呢 is "just a way of expressing certain emotions" (Sun 14's Post #6) and relate it to this context:
A: 为什么还不回家，你在哪儿？
B: 我在超市买东西呢！" (see Sun 14's Post #11).
Thus 呢 in 我在超市买东西呢 can be seen as 对事实的强调 (to emphasize the fact 在超市, which contradicts one's expectation 回家) like the one in "赵源以言语挑逗, 女子欣然相就, 夜来朝去, 甚相亲呢" (呢 is to emphasize the fact 欣然相就朝夜相亲, which contradicts one's moral expectations).


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## Sun14

Thanks for all your insightful input.


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## Skatinginbc

fyl said:


> 我吃饭呢 = I am eating. Of course it is possible to add 正/在/正在, but a single 呢 is sufficient to convey the meaning clearly. Using 呢 is more colloquial (actually, more natural) than 正/在/正在, and they can be combined.


Can I say "你去看他是不是吃饭呢" meaning "你去看他是不是正在吃饭"?  Or is 我吃饭呢 a short form of 我(正在/还在/在)吃饭呢 from a context as follows: 
A: 你可以现在过来吗?
B: 我(正在/还在/在/还得/得)吃饭呢! (呢 emphasizes the fact "I'm eating" or "I need to eat") ==> You think or hope I'll be able to come over right now, but I cannot.  I still need to eat or I'm still eating. ==> Again, this is what I called the "mood of contradiction".      


fyl said:


> 呢 of course can express emotion, negation, or whatever. But that should be a different meaning.


Despite their superficial differences, the 呢 in a progressive sentence and the one in a negative sentence may actually have the same pragmatic function, that is, to imply contradiction.  For instance, 我还活着呢 (continuation), 你們就在争遗产 = 我还没死呢 (negation), 你們就在争遗产 ==> You think or hope that I'm dead, but I am not.  I'm still kicking and alive.


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## fyl

To me, "你去看他是不是吃饭呢" means exactly "你去看他是不是正在吃饭". "我吃饭呢" does not have to be from a context that negates something.
A：干嘛呢？ What are you doing?
B：吃饭呢。 I'm eating.
This two sentences can be (and likely to be) the first two sentences of a dialog (greetings), and both 呢 mean the action is in progress.

I agree that in many contexts 呢 can mean both continuation and negation (or other emotion).
There is another similar word in my mind: 啦. A 啦 at the end of a sentence can carry both the function of 了 (tense/aspect) and the function of an interjection (emotion). For such kind of words, the degree of emotion depends on how people read the sentence and varies a lot according to the contexts. I think in many cases 呢 does not carry much emotion, though in many other cases it does.
Edit: A dictionary explains 啦 as the combination of 了 and 啊. So it may not be the same case as 呢.


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## Skatinginbc

fyl said:


> To me, "你去看他是不是吃饭呢" means exactly "你去看他是不是正在吃饭".


Thanks for teaching me something new.  I've learned a lot from you.


fyl said:


> A：干嘛呢？ What are you doing?
> B：吃饭呢。 I'm eating.


Actually, they sound natural to me, too.  But in my mind, they are abridged from the following:
A： (你在)干嘛呢？==> 呢 is an interrogative marker.
B: (我在)吃饭呢! ==> 呢 is 表示加強的語氣.
However, I guess (purely guess because it is new to me) Mainland Mandarin speakers see 呢 as a suffix-like particle like English -ing.  Thus 吃饭呢 = Eating!
A: What are you doing?
B: Eating! 吃饭呢! ==> The progressive aspect is already indicated by -ing (呢) and therefore readily understandable even when 在 (= be) is absent.  Since 呢 is not treated as a 语气助词 in this case, it becomes "just an indication of progressing action and there is little special emotion or other things involved" (see fyl #21).  And thus we encounter examples as such:
A: 你吃了吗？ Did you eat?
B: 吃呢。 (Still) eating. ==> 吃(eat) + 呢 (-ing), without emphasis or extra emotion.
And we have: 看見他吃饭呢 saw him eating, with 吃饭 (eat) + 呢 (-ing).


fyl said:


> I agree that in many contexts 呢 can mean both continuation and negation (or other emotion).


I would like to clarify my points: I said 呢 is often used in a progressive or negative sentence, but it does NOT have the function of indicating continuation or negation.  The continuation is conveyed by 在, 正在, or 还在, and negation is marked by 不 or 沒.  Of course, I was describing my own dialect.


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## Skatinginbc

Sun14 said:


> It is just a way of expressing certain emotions, namely anger


I would like to explain how that "anger" interpretation may come about.  As I've stated, one of the functions of 呢 is to emphasize the fact (强调事实) contrary to expectation, that is, to_ highlight_, rather than to play down, contradiction.  It therefore sounds more confrontational and less polite.  Apparently it is to show disapproval and not meant to be polite when someone says "我还活着呢, 你們就在争遗产" or "我还没死呢, 你們就在争遗产".  The 呢 in 我还活着呢 is_ identical_ to the 呢 in 我还没死呢.  Since the latter does not indicate "continuation", we can safely conclude the same about the former: The function of 呢 in 我还活着呢 has nothing to do with "continuation".  It is there to highlight the contradiction: You guys act as if I were dead, but I am not.  Also compare: 我还在唱呢, 你就鼓掌 vs. 我还没唱完呢, 你就鼓掌.

A: 你在哪儿？ B: 我在超市买东西呢 ==> With that extra 呢, it sounds like (1) emphasis of an unforeseen event (contradiction to expectation, e.g., an impulse or unplanned purchase or longer-than-expected shopping at the supermarket) or (2) an expression of annoyance (Don't rush me.  Don't expect me to come back so soon ==> contradiction to expectation).  I do not deny that it may "somehow deliver a _*soft *_tone" (see SuperXW #4) to Mainland Mandarin speakers, particularly the northerners, I guess, but to me it is usually either *neutral* (pure emphasis of new information) or *harsh* (showing disapproval or annoyance).


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## NewAmerica

Skatinginbc said:


> I do not deny that it may "somehow deliver a _*soft *_tone" (see SuperXW #4) to Mainland Mandarin speakers, particularly the northerners, I guess, but to me it is usually either *neutral* (pure emphasis of new information) or *harsh* (showing disapproval or annoyance).



    你的意见是中肯的。

一个字或词，蕴涵诸多含义，这是正常现象。编撰字、词典的语言学权威，基于篇幅的限制，通常情形下只能给出几个最精要的意义。“呢”，当发音为ne用于句末的时候，它是一个助词（an auxiliary word），这是中国汉语语言学家的权威总结，而世界汉语语言学的权威在中国。这种总结性结论是传播中华文明最权威的语言学依据（之一），是值得高度尊重的。不同意见当然是欢迎的，但以自己一鳞半爪的见解，就去否定权威结论，是浅薄可笑的。这也正是我觉得没必要争论的原因。

   楼主的汉语能力极为有限，不过看下标准中文原文也许不无裨益。

有道是：尔动我自安，清风绕山岗！


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## Skatinginbc

NewAmerica said:


> 否定权威结论


我想我们都同意"呢"用在陈述句末, 可表示动作或情况正在继续.  SuperXW 和 fyl 给了几个例子, 清楚地证明事實如此.  我只是指出该功能并不存于所有的官话方言, 並且指出楼主的原句有其他詮釋的可能性.  譬如, "呢"用在陈述句末, 也可表示对事实的确认或强调, 特别是对与期望有出入之事实的强调, 这一功能与你所谓的权威结论并不矛盾.  我还指出, "呢"在有一些句子看起来好像是表示继续, 但实际上是强调事实, 这是对特定句子分析分类上的意见分歧, 与否定权威结论无关.

另外, 这里没人说"呢"不是助词, 所以没人在这里否定权威结论.  我认为"呢"如果表示动作或情况正在继续, 便不是语气助词, 这不等于说它不是助词.  助词有几类, 包括时态助词.  说它不是语气助词意思是: 我认为它是时态助词.

表示动作或情况正在继续 ==> 时态助词
表示对事实的确认或强调 ==> 语气助词


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## NewAmerica

我的帖子完全不是针对你说的，并且我始终认为你的帖子属于意见最中肯的一类。
我所针对的另有其人，那货说我完全不懂中文（“I could say you don't know Chinese at all”）。 不知道他敢不敢把自己的半吊子中文秀出来让大家开心一下。

当然你对汉语字、词典在汉语语言学上的权威性的怀疑我不敢苟同。因为现实的原则而明显，向国外介绍中国语言文化，这些经典性工具是最坚实的基础，可改进的空间极小。


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## Skatinginbc

我从未怀疑该功能(i.e., "呢"表示动作或情况正在继续)的存在性,  我怀疑的是其普及性.  我不是内地人, 自然有这样的疑问.
台湾的标准国语也是"Standard Mandarin", 台湾的字典也是"权威结论".  当台湾和大陆字典有分歧時, 我只能说"你所谓的权威结论", 因为权威不只一个.


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## Mamanunique

有呢没呢我觉得都一样，上面所有句子都可以省掉"呢"。只是有了呢，显得没那么生硬，语言更有美感。
比如:你在干嘛？光说“吃饭。” 就显得生硬粗鲁，“吃饭呢。”或者“在吃饭。” “在吃饭呢。”显得就柔和些了也感觉更有礼。而且完全就可以把“呢”换成“呀”“哦”“呐”之类的词。


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## NewAmerica

Skatinginbc said:


> 我从未怀疑该功能(i.e., "呢"表示动作或情况正在继续)的存在性,  我怀疑的是其普及性.  我不是内地人, 自然有这样的疑问.
> 台湾的标准国语也是"Standard Mandarin", 台湾的字典也是"权威结论".  当台湾和大陆字典有分歧時, 我只能说"你所谓的权威结论", 因为权威不只一个.



       我就不说台湾的标准国语及其字典是“所谓的权威结论”，我认为那毫无疑问就是权威结论，大陆的也是，两者可以并行，对学习者指明其适用地域即可。就象英式英语词典与美式英语词典同属权威一样，适用的国度不同而已。
   所以你以“所谓的权威结论”来称指大陆字典的权威性就有点不适当，这种措辞无非是说台湾字典才是权威的，而大陆字典是“所谓的权威”。


Mamanunique said:


> 有呢没呢我觉得都一样，上面所有句子都可以省掉"呢"。只是有了呢，显得没那么生硬，语言更有美感。
> 比如:你在干嘛？光说“吃饭。” 就显得生硬粗鲁，“吃饭呢。”或者“在吃饭。” “在吃饭呢。”显得就柔和些了也感觉更有礼。而且完全就可以把“呢”换成“呀”“哦”“呐”之类的词。


正确。
 “呢”的添加使语气更加委婉亲切，而不是那货说的“namely anger"，那简直是胡扯。我说他不正确，他竟说我完全不懂中文。不知道他那点农村大妈式的菜蓝子中文敢不敢亮出来。


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