Sentence-final particles and exclamations

When you watch subtitled videos or movies, you’ll notice that the subtitles are written very accurately, including the final particles. In casual speech, Mandarin speakers use a handful of particles at the end of the sentence to add an extra sense of emotion.

Here are the most common:

啊, 呀 - to ‘soften' the tone of the sentence and seem less serious

哎呀 - to express frustration (used stand-alone or at the beginning)

呢 - to shift the topic to something else

啦 - a combination of 了 and 啊

Any examples written out of context can’t be translated naturally, and it’s easy in any case to pick up on the mood as soon as you hear these from a native speaker.