Expressing "related to..." with "you guan de"

When you need to express one thing in relation to another, the word 有关 (yǒuguān) can be a useful way of making a noun more specific. It comes in two flavors: the "跟……有关的" (gēn... yǒuguān de) structure, which is informal, and the "与……有关的" (yǔ... yǒuguān de) structure, which is formal.

Informal Pattern with 跟 or 和

The more casual form uses 跟 or 和. Use this in your spoken Mandarin.

Structure

跟 / 和 + Topic + 有关的 + Noun

Examples

• 我 和 他 分手了, 跟 他 有关的 事情 我 都 不 想 知道。Wǒ hé tā fēnshǒu le, gēn tā yǒuguān de shìqing wǒ dōu bù xiǎng zhīdào.We broke up, I don't want to know anything related to him.
• 他 对 中国 很 感兴趣, 跟 中国 有关的 故事 他 都 很 感兴趣。 Tā duì Zhōngguó hěn gǎn xìngqù, gēn Zhōngguó yǒuguān de gùshì tā dōu hěn gǎn xìngqù. He is very interested in China, he is interested in anything related to Chinese history.
• 和 这个 项目 有关的 资料 都 需要 保密。 hé zhège xiàngmù yǒuguān de zīliào dōu xūyào bǎomì.Any information related to this project needs to be kept confidential.
• 和 这个 人 有关的 一切，我 都 想 了解。hé zhège rén yǒuguān de yīqiè, wǒ dōu xiǎng liǎojiě.I want to know everything about this person.

Formal Pattern with 与

In more formal contexts, you will see the pattern used with 与 (yǔ).

Structure

The more casual form is:

跟 / 和 + Topic + 有关的 + Noun

Examples

• 与 游戏 有关的 活动，我 都 想 参加。Yú yóuxì yǒuguān de huódòng, wǒ dōu xiǎng cānjiā.I would like to participate in any activity related to the game.
• 他 为了 追 小丽，了解 了 很多 与 小丽 有关的 事情。Tā wèile zhuī Xiǎo lì, liǎojiě le hěn duō yú Xiǎo lì yǒuguān de shìqing.He has learned a lot of things about Xiao Li in order to chase her.
• 与 恐龙 有关的 问题，你 都 可以 问 他，他 都 知道。Yú kǒnglóng yǒuguān de wèntí, nǐ dōu kěyǐ wèn tā, tā dōu zhīdào.You can ask him questions about dinosaurs, and he knows everything.
• 与 疫苗 有关的 研究 已经 开始 了。Yú yìmiáo yǒuguān de yánjiū yǐjīng kāishǐ le.Research on the vaccine has already begun.
• 与 虾 有关的 食物 我 都 不能 吃，因为 我 对 虾 过敏。Yú xiā yǒuguān de shíwù wǒ dōu bù néng chī, yīnwèi wǒ duì xiā guòmǐn.I can't eat any food related to shrimp because I'm allergic to shrimp.

Finally, to negate 有关 in a formal context, use 无关 (wúguān):

• 与 这 次 会议 主题 无关的 事情，我们 就 不 讨论 了。 Yú zhè cì huìyì zhǔtí wúguān de shìqing, wǒmen jiù bù tǎolùn le.We will not discuss matters that are not relevant to the theme of this meeting.

Sources and further reading

Books

• Anything Goes (无所不谈) (pp. 17) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

HSK5