Affirmative-negative question

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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 bù shì? Is it (or not)?
  • 他们 来 不 来 ？ Tāmen lái bù lái? Are they going to come or not?
  • 你 想 不 想 我 ？ Nǐ xiǎng bù 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 bù 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, yào bù 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 bù huí jiā? Are you coming back home or not?
  • 她 吃 不 吃 鱼？ Tāchī bù chī yú? Does she eat fish?
  • 你们 要 不 要 米饭？ Nǐmen yào bù yào mǐfàn? Do you want rice?
  • 你爸爸 喝 不 喝 酒？ Nǐ bàba ​hē bù hē jiǔ? Does your dad drink alcohol or not?
  • 今天 老板 来 不 来 办公室？Jīntiān lǎobǎn lái bù 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 ？Hǎo bù hǎo? Is it good? (or "good or not good?")
  • 热 不 热 ？Rè bù rè? Is it hot?
  • 他 帅 不 帅 ？Tā shuài bù shuài? Is he handsome?
  • 这里 的 咖啡 贵 不 贵 ？ Zhèlǐ de kāfēi gùi bù gùi? Is the coffee expensive here?
  • 中国 菜 辣 不 辣 ？ Zhōngguó cài là bù 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 or adjectives in positive-negative questions

All of the verbs used so far have been single-character verbs. Using two-characters verbs in positive-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 bù 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 the whole word is repeatedXǐhuan bù xǐhuan?Do you like it?
  • 喜 不 喜欢 only the first character is repeatedXǐ bù xǐhuan?Do you like it?
  • 高兴 不 高兴 the whole word is repeatedGāoxìng bù gāoxìng?Are you happy?
  • 高 不 高兴 only the first character is repeatedGāo bù gāoxìng?Are you happy?
  • 他 女朋友 漂亮 不 漂亮？the whole word is repeated Tā nǚpéngyou piàoliang bù piàoliang?Is his girlfriend pretty?
  • 他 女朋友 漂 不 漂亮？only the first character is repeatedTā nǚpéngyou piào bù piàoliang?Is his girlfriend pretty?
  • 中国 菜 好吃 不 好吃？the whole word is repeatedZhōngguó cài hǎochī bù hǎochī?Is Chinese food good?
  • 中国 菜 好 不 好吃？only the first character is repeatedZhōngguó cài hǎo bù hǎochī?Is Chinese food good?
  • 那 个 地方 好玩 不 好玩？the whole word is repeatedNà ge dìfāng hǎowán bù hǎowán?Is that place fun?
  • 那 个 地方 好 不 好玩？only the first character is repeated Nà ge dìfāng hǎo bù hǎowán?Is that place fun?

有 in positive-negative questions

Structure

Because the verb 有 (yǒu) is negated with 没 (méi) and not 不 (bù), the structure for positive-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？Nǐgēge yǒu méiyǒu nǚpéngyou? Does your older brothe have a girlfriend?
  • 你们 有 没有 孩子？ Nǐmen yǒu méiyǒu háizi? Do you have children?
  • 你 有 没有 见 过 Obama？Nǐ yǒu méiyǒu jiàn guo Obama? Have you met Obama?
  • 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

Sources and further reading

Videos

Books


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