# Ai mà / ai lại không: rhetorical who in Vietnamese (B1)

> Some questions with ai (who) don't ask anything. Said with feeling, Ai mà biết! means "Who knows!", that is, nobody does.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/ai-ma-rhetorical/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**rhetorical who**

Pattern: `Ai mà + [verb]? · Ai lại không + [verb]? · [topic] thì ai không + [verb]?`

Level: B1 (our estimate) · Register: everyday · Medium: spoken

Typed without accents: ai ma, ai lai khong

Some questions with *ai* (who) don't ask anything. Said with feeling, *Ai mà biết!* means "Who knows!", that is, nobody does. *Mà* after *ai* gives the question a "who on earth would …" sense, and the answer it expects is "nobody": *Ai mà ngờ được!* Who'd have thought it!

Add *không*, and the expected answer becomes "everybody": *Ai lại không thương con mình?* Who doesn't love their own child? *Lại* adds "of course", and *mà* works here too: *ai mà không …*. Often a topic comes first, closed by *thì*: *Được nghỉ thì ai mà không thích?* Who doesn't like a day off?

Nobody is meant to answer: agree, laugh or carry on talking. In Hà Nội you'll also hear *ai chẳng* or *ai chả* for "everybody": *Ai chẳng biết!* Everybody knows that!

Without *mà* or *lại*, a question with *ai* is usually a real one: *Có ai biết đường không?* Does anyone know the way? And *ai cũng*, which you know, says the same "everybody" calmly: *Ai cũng thích được nghỉ.* The question form says it with more feeling.

## Examples

- Ai mà biết! — Who knows!
- Ai mà ngờ được! — Who'd have thought it!
- Được nghỉ thì ai mà không thích? — Who doesn't like a day off?
- Ai lại không thương con mình? — Who doesn't love their own child?

## Compare

- [Everyone, everything, always: ai cũng, gì cũng, lúc nào cũng](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/qword-cung-every/): every- / any-
- [Everyone without exception: không ai (là) không](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/khong-ai-khong/): there is no one who doesn't
- [Isn't it obvious? bộ … hả, chẳng phải … sao](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/rhetorical-negative/): rhetorical 'isn't it'

Previous in Asking questions: [What's the point?: … (mà) làm gì](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/lam-gi-whats-the-point/)
Next in Asking questions: [Could it be that …? phải chăng](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/phai-chang/)

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