Affirmative-negative question

Also known as: 正反问句 (zhèng-fǎn wènjù) and alternative questions.

A common way to form questions in Chinese is to first use a verb in the positive, then repeat the same verb in its negative form, similar to how in English we can say, "Do you have money or not?" or "Have you or have you not been to the park?" This sentence pattern feels a lot more natural in Chinese than those admittedly awkward English equivalents, however.

Verb-Not-Verb

Structure

Verb + 不 + Verb

Examples

• 是 不 是 ？ Shì bu shì?Is it (or not)?
• 他们 来 不 来 ？ Tāmen lái bu lái?Are they going to come or not?
• 你 想 不 想 我 ？ Nǐ xiǎng bu xiǎng wǒ?Do you or do you not miss me?
• 我们 要 去 酒吧， 你 去 不 去？Wǒmen yào qù jiǔbā, nǐ qù bu qù?We are going to the bar. Do you want to go?
• 我 去 买 咖啡 ，你 要 不 要 ？ Wǒ qù mǎi kāfēi, nǐ yào bu yào?I'm going to buy coffee. Do you want some?

Note that the question provides the listener with both possible answers: it's either "Verb" or "不 (bù) Verb."

Verb-Not-Verb with an Object

Structure

If you want to add an object after the verb, the general sentence structure is:

Subj. + Verb + 不 + Verb + Obj.

Examples

• 你 回 不 回 家？ Nǐ huí bu huíjiā?Are you coming back home or not?
• 她 吃 不 吃 鱼？ Tā chī bu chī yú?Does she eat fish?
• 你们 要 不 要 米饭？ Nǐmen yào bu yào mǐfàn?Do you want rice?
• 你爸爸 喝 不 喝 酒？ Nǐ bàba ​hē bu hējiǔ?Does your dad drink alcohol or not?
• 今天 老板 来 不 来 办公室？Jīntiān lǎobǎn lái bu lái bàngōngshì?Is the boss coming to the office today?

Adjective-Not-Adjective

Structure

It can also be done with adjectives (adjectives often behave like verbs in Chinese):

Adj. + 不 + Adj.

Examples

• 好 不 好 ？Literally, "good or not good?"Hǎo bu hǎo?Is it good?
• 热 不 热 ？Rè bu rè?Is it hot?
• 他 帅 不 帅 ？Tā shuài bu shuài?Is he handsome?
• 这里 的 咖啡 贵 不 贵 ？ Zhèlǐ de kāfēi gùi bu gùi?Is the coffee expensive here?
• 中国 菜 辣 不 辣 ？ Zhōngguó cài là bu là?Is Chinese food spicy?

Again, the question provides the listener with both possible answers: it's either "Adjective" or "不 (bù) Adjective."

These are something like adding tag questions in English, in this case "Are you an adult or not?" If you wanted to translate it very literally, it would be, "Are you or are you not an adult?" In any case, the structure is a very common way to ask questions in Chinese.

Two-Character Verbs and Adjectives

All of the verbs used so far have been single-character verbs. Using two-characters verbs in affirmative-negative questions is slightly trickier. You usually put 不 (bù) after just the first character, then put the entire verb. For example 喜不喜欢 (xǐ bu xǐhuan) is the usual question form of 喜欢 (xǐhuan). You can repeat the whole two-character verb twice, but it's more common (and more elegant) to insert 不 (bù) after the first character (and the same is generally true of two-character adjectives).

Structure

It can be done with verbs:

[First Character of Verb] + 不 + Verb

It can also be done with adjectives:

[First Character of Adj.] + 不 + Adj.

Examples

• 喜欢 不 喜欢？whole word repeatedXǐhuan bu xǐhuan?Do you like it?
• 喜 不 喜欢？only the first character repeatedXǐ bu xǐhuan?Do you like it?

• 高兴 不 高兴？whole word repeatedGāoxìng bu gāoxìng?Are you happy?
• 高 不 高兴？only the first character repeatedGāo bu gāoxìng?Are you happy?

• 他 女朋友 漂亮 不 漂亮？whole word repeated Tā nǚpéngyou piàoliang bu piàoliang?Is his girlfriend pretty?
• 他 女朋友 漂 不 漂亮？only the first character repeatedTā nǚpéngyou piào bu piàoliang?Is his girlfriend pretty?

• 中国 菜 好吃 不 好吃？whole word repeatedZhōngguó cài hǎochī bu hǎochī?Is Chinese food good?
• 中国 菜 好 不 好吃？only the first character repeatedZhōngguó cài hǎo bu hǎochī?Is Chinese food good?

• 那 个 地方 好玩 不 好玩？whole word repeatedNàge dìfang hǎowán bu hǎowán?Is that place fun?
• 那 个 地方 好 不 好玩？only the first character repeated Nàge dìfang hǎo bu hǎowán?Is that place fun?

有 (yǒu) Is a Special Case

Structure

Because the verb 有 (yǒu) is negated with 没 (méi) and not 不 (bù), the structure for affirmative-negative questions with 有 (yǒu) is:

Subj. + 有 没有 + Obj.

The possible answers are: "有 (yǒu)" or "没有 (méiyǒu)."

The questions could be be asking about current possession ("Do you have it or not?"), or to ask about verbs in the past ("Did you do it or not?").

Examples

• 你 哥哥 有 没有 女 朋友？Nǐ gēge yǒu méiyǒu nǚpéngyou?Does your older brother have a girlfriend?
• 你们 有 没有 孩子？ Nǐmen yǒu méiyǒu háizi?Do you have children?
• 奶奶 有 没有 坐 过 飞机？ Nǎinai yǒu méiyǒu zuò guo fēijī?Has grandma been on a plane?
• 他 有 没有 上 过 大学？Tā yǒu méiyǒu shàng guo dàxué?Has he been to college?

See also

• Tag questions with "bu"
• Yes-no questions with "ma"
• Offering choices with "haishi"

Sources and further reading

Videos

• Yoyo Chinese: Verb-not-verb Questions

Books

• HSK Standard Course 2 (pp. 12) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 141-4) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 86, 102-4) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (pp. 87) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed) (pp. 102, 250-1) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy

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