ending particles

[murrayjames]

What are the rules or guidelines to ending particles like these? Different particles are used depending on the final of the word before it, right?

• 啊
  
• 嘛
  
• 哪
  
• 啦
  
• 呀
  
• 哇
  

[陳德聰]

You're correct. Check this link: http://hi.baidu.com/sxjxyrb/blog/item/5c5ef2d36315aed2a9ec9aaa.html

[murrayjames]

Wow that's helpful. Thanks!

[Benjameno]

Are the rules expressed in that article invariable? It says that words ending in -ao may only be used with 哇，but I see 好啊 all the time.

[imron]

It's also worthing noting that 嘛 serves a different purpose than those other particles. There's a recent article on Sinosplice explaining more.

[陳德聰]

@Benjameno I don't think I have ever actually written any of those particles purposely except 啊 嘛 and 啦...

Like it says in the link I posted, you really can't go wrong with 啊 and that is what almost 100% of people do. It is all just about pronunciation, if you type 好啊 you will naturally produce the 好哇 sound when you say it. That's the nature of the particle.

But what do I know, I just realized that the person who wrote the explanation on 百度 bashes us 南方人 saying we always use them wrong =_="

[Mark Yong]

陳德聰 wrote:

...the person who wrote the explanation on 百度 bashes us 南方人 saying we always use them wrong...

My take is that ‘wrong’ is subjective. Those ending particles are speech-originated, and which ones are used depend largely on what spoken dialect (and here, I include Mandarin as a ‘dialect’) you are referring to. Besides, they function as verbal exclamations, and semantically carry no meaning.

I personally avoid using those mouth-radical ending particles like a plague in writing... but that’s just me.

[skylee]

I personally avoid using those mouth-radical ending particles like a plague in writing... but that’s just me.

I think it is all right if they are not used excessively and the feelings are real. 情真意切即可. (And when I thought about this, this piece came up in my mind. It is one of the most 情真意切 pieces of writing I know.)