<blockquote>
<p>你有什么事吗？</p>
<p>你有什么事？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The other answer already addressed it from a general grammar point of view.  I'd also like to point out the nuance between the two sentences.</p>
<p>When we say &quot;你有什么事吗？&quot;, the speaker is not really sure whether you have anything or not, whilst with &quot;你有什么事&quot; the speaker has an assumption that you have something but don't know what.</p>
<p>And the reason why both end up to be translated to the same English sentence &quot;What's the matter?&quot; is that in practice those two questions probably get the same answer, such as 我想找个人.</p>
<p>So, the distinction here is the assumption, but the assumption is implied.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-29T22:03:01.693Z
2020-06-29T22:03:01.693Z
dan
<p>你有什么事吗？：在猜测对方是否需要帮助。<br />
你有什么事？ : 他想知道具体是什么事，提问的人大概率希望提供帮助</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-01T22:28:58.630Z
2020-07-01T22:28:58.630Z
芸香科橙子同学
<p>In Chinese grammar, words as 什么 are commonly known as <strong>interrogative substitutes</strong>, they substitute the word that should be found in the answer.</p>
<p>Therefore, they have inherent interrogative semantics, and don't require interrogative particles at the end of the sentence.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你在吃<strong>什么</strong>？What are you eating?</p>
<p>我在吃<strong>麻婆豆腐</strong> I'm eating &quot;mapo&quot; tofu.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As you can see, the interrogative substitute and the noun phrase that answers the question are in the same place, and there's no 吗。</p>
<p>When you do place an interrogative particle at the end of the sentence, the interrogative substitute plays the role of an <strong>indefinite pronoun</strong>. We can summarize this in the following table:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>什么，什么东西 -- what? -- anything -- (thing)</p>
<p>哪里，什么地方 -- where？-- anywhere -- (place)</p>
<p>谁，什么人 -- who? -- anyone -- (person)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A couple examples more:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你包里有什么东西？What's in your bag?</p>
<p>你包里有什么东西吗？Is there anything in your bag?</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>这个周末你准备去什么地方？Where do you plan to go this weekend?</p>
<p>这个周末你准备去什么地方吗? Do you plan to go anywhere this weekend?</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>谁认识他？Who knows him?</p>
<p>谁认识他吗？Does anyone know him?</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>So your sentence:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你有什么事吗 (interrogative + particle = indefinite) do you have anything? (= is there something wrong?)</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>你有什么事 (interrogative) what do you have? (= what's the matter)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>At the end of the day, in this particular example both sentences can actually be translated as &quot;what's the matter&quot;, since in Chinese 有事 has an idiomatic meaning, but <em>in general</em>:</p>
<p><strong>interrogative substitute + 吗 = indefinite pronoun.</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-29T21:05:18.647Z
I can't come up with a good example for `谁 / 什么人` though
blackgreen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-29T21:36:30.677Z
How about: 誰認識他? (who knows him?);  誰認識他吗? (do someone knows him?)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-29T21:39:38.807Z
You can use it in your answer
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-29T22:11:23.467Z
As a Chinese speaker,  I did not study grammar from books. Therefore, I don't know a lot of grammar lingo. This means I often need to describe a simple term with a detailed explanation. I learn a lot by reading your posts. Would you join Cantonese Plus forums at  https://www.reddit.com/r/CantonesePlus/  ? I believe you can be a great contributor to the dictionary we are working on .The dictionary is here https://www.cantoneseplus.com/
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-29T22:15:05.997Z
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/110040/discussion-between-tang-ho-and-blackgreen).
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-29T20:47:27.813Z
2020-06-29T21:38:51.833Z
2020-06-29T21:38:51.833Z
blackgreen
<p>In a Chinese lesson, I came across these sentences:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<blockquote>
<p>你有什么事吗？</p>
<p>Nǐ yǒu shénme shì mɑ?</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
<li>
<blockquote>
<p>你有什么事？</p>
<p>Nǐ yǒu shénme shì?</p>
</blockquote>
</li>
</ol>
<p>And both were translated as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What's the matter?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don't understand 1. Without 吗, I understand it literally as: <code>You have what matter?</code>. From <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Advanced_yes-no_questions_with_%22ma%22#Structure" rel="noreferrer">Advanced yes-no questions in resources.allsetlearning</a>, I know you can add 吗 to a sentence with another question word to convert it to a confirmation question. However, I don't see how 1. becomes a yes-no question. Which yes-no question that would be?</p>

<grammar><usage><difference><particles>
What is 吗 doing in 你有什么事吗？
# What is 吗 doing in 你有什么事吗？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-06-29)

In a Chinese lesson, I came across these sentences:

1. > 你有什么事吗？
   >
   > Nǐ yǒu shénme shì mɑ?
2. > 你有什么事？
   >
   > Nǐ yǒu shénme shì?

And both were translated as:

> What's the matter?

I don't understand 1. Without 吗, I understand it literally as: `You have what matter?`. From [Advanced yes-no questions in resources.allsetlearning](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Advanced_yes-no_questions_with_%22ma%22#Structure), I know you can add 吗 to a sentence with another question word to convert it to a confirmation question. However, I don't see how 1. becomes a yes-no question. Which yes-no question that would be?

**Tags:** grammar, usage, difference, particles

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-06-29. Score: 10 | Accepted answer

In Chinese grammar, words as 什么 are commonly known as **interrogative substitutes**, they substitute the word that should be found in the answer.

Therefore, they have inherent interrogative semantics, and don't require interrogative particles at the end of the sentence.

For example:

> 你在吃**什么**？What are you eating?
>
> 我在吃**麻婆豆腐** I'm eating "mapo" tofu.

As you can see, the interrogative substitute and the noun phrase that answers the question are in the same place, and there's no 吗。

When you do place an interrogative particle at the end of the sentence, the interrogative substitute plays the role of an **indefinite pronoun**. We can summarize this in the following table:

> 什么，什么东西 -- what? -- anything -- (thing)
>
> 哪里，什么地方 -- where？-- anywhere -- (place)
>
> 谁，什么人 -- who? -- anyone -- (person)

A couple examples more:

> 你包里有什么东西？What's in your bag?
>
> 你包里有什么东西吗？Is there anything in your bag?

> 这个周末你准备去什么地方？Where do you plan to go this weekend?
>
> 这个周末你准备去什么地方吗? Do you plan to go anywhere this weekend?

> 谁认识他？Who knows him?
>
> 谁认识他吗？Does anyone know him?

---

So your sentence:

> 你有什么事吗 (interrogative + particle = indefinite) do you have anything? (= is there something wrong?)

> 你有什么事 (interrogative) what do you have? (= what's the matter)

At the end of the day, in this particular example both sentences can actually be translated as "what's the matter", since in Chinese 有事 has an idiomatic meaning, but *in general*:

**interrogative substitute + 吗 = indefinite pronoun.**

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: I can't come up with a good example for `谁 / 什么人` though  
> **username_4**: How about: 誰認識他? (who knows him?);  誰認識他吗? (do someone knows him?)  
> **username_4**: You can use it in your answer  
> **username_4**: As a Chinese speaker,  I did not study grammar from books. Therefore, I don't know a lot of grammar lingo. This means I often need to describe a simple term with a detailed explanation. I learn a lot by reading your posts. Would you join Cantonese Plus forums at  https://www.reddit.com/r/CantonesePlus/  ? I believe you can be a great contributor to the dictionary we are working on .The dictionary is here https://www.cantoneseplus.com/  
> **username_4**: Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/110040/discussion-between-tang-ho-and-blackgreen).  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-06-29. Score: 4

> 你有什么事吗？
>
> 你有什么事？

The other answer already addressed it from a general grammar point of view. I'd also like to point out the nuance between the two sentences.

When we say "你有什么事吗？", the speaker is not really sure whether you have anything or not, whilst with "你有什么事" the speaker has an assumption that you have something but don't know what.

And the reason why both end up to be translated to the same English sentence "What's the matter?" is that in practice those two questions probably get the same answer, such as 我想找个人.

So, the distinction here is the assumption, but the assumption is implied.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-07-01. Score: 0

你有什么事吗？：在猜测对方是否需要帮助。  
你有什么事？ : 他想知道具体是什么事，提问的人大概率希望提供帮助


---

