Progressive Aspect - (3) …呢
进行态 — （3）……呢
The particle 呢 alone at the end of the phrase can indicate the progressive aspect without 在/正在. Informal and concise form.
Structure
Subject + Verb + 呢
Elements
…呢
How to use it
- Short form of the progressive; very common in spoken Chinese.
Examples
你 看 这个 包 呢？
nǐ kàn zhège bāo ne？
Are you looking at this bag?
他 来 不来 呢？
tā lái bù lái ne？
Is he coming or not?
他看书呢。
tā kàn shū ne。
He is reading (right now).
下雨呢。
xià yǔ ne。
It is raining (right now).
Notes and exceptions
- Less formal than 在+verb.
- 呢 : question particle. The character "呢" is used in Chinese as a small phrase at the end of a question to show that one is waiting for a response or confirmation. Common combinations observed: 呢 (progressive/insistence), 不 (general negation).
Common mistakes
- 呢 has multiple uses: progressive, relaunch (你呢？), rhetorical (怎么办呢？).
Practice quiz
Choose the best option for each sentence, then submit to view the correction.
1. 你 看 这个 包 ____？
(Are you looking at this bag?)
2. 他 来 不来 ____？
(Is he coming or not?)
3. 他看书____。
(He is reading (right now).)
4. 下雨____。
(It is raining (right now).)