Auxiliary words are empty words but they can not be negligible in Chinese language. As we have learned Chinese verbs don’t have grammatical forms for tense, voice, and mood. Auxiliary words are just used to realize the these grammatical functions. Auxiliary words are different from content words. Here are the three characteristics of auxiliary words.
1. Chinese auxiliary words are function words and don’t have real meanings.
吗, 么, 吧, 呀, 啊, 哇, 哪, etc don’t have real meanings and they are just used to express certain mood or tone.
2. Most of the Chinese auxiliary words are pronounced in the neutral tone.
吗, 么, 吧, 呀, 啊, 哇, 地，啦，呢 etc are pronunced ma, me, ba, ya, a, wa, de, la, ne etc when they are used as auxiliary words.
3. Chinese auxiliary words don’t have unified grammatical functions and can not be used alone.
All the auxiliary words can’t be used alone because they have no real meanings. So, you will not hear someone speak only “啊, 哇, 地, 吗, 么, 吧, 呀,” unless he or she has some mental problem.
Check out the types of Chinese auxiliary words.