Rhetorical question: 难道……吗
特殊句型 / special sentence patterns
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
难道 + clause + 吗？
难道 (nándào) introduces a rhetorical question that shows surprise, reproach or disbelief: "don't tell me…?", "could it be that…?".
The real meaning is the opposite of the form: 难道你不知道吗？ = "Surely you knew?!" → "You should have known!"
难道 goes at the start or after the subject; the sentence often ends with 吗 (sometimes dropped).
Examples
难道你忘了今天是我的生日吗？
Nándào nǐ wàng le jīntiān shì wǒ de shēngrì ma?Don't tell me you forgot it's my birthday today?
我们是朋友，难道我会骗你吗？
Wǒmen shì péngyou, nándào wǒ huì piàn nǐ ma?We're friends: would I ever lie to you?
他难道不知道我生气了吗？
Tā nándào bù zhīdào wǒ shēngqì le ma?Can't he see I'm angry?
Common mistakes
✗ Using 难道 in a neutral question: 难道你几点来？ → 难道 doesn't combine with question words. ✓ 你几点来？
难道你是学生吗？ isn't a neutral question: it sounds surprised or doubtful.