Affirmative-Negative Questions
In Chinese, you can form a yes/no question by repeating a verb in its positive and negative forms side by side. This is called the A-not-A pattern. No 吗 is needed.
Pattern: Subject + Verb + 不 + Verb (+ Object)?
Examples with common verbs:
| Verb | A-not-A Question | Meaning |
|------|------------------|---------|
| 是 | 是不是 | Is it or isn't it? |
| 去 | 去不去 | Going or not? |
| 好 | 好不好 | Good or not? |
| 吃 | 吃不吃 | Eating or not? |
| 有 | 有没有 | Have or not? |
| 能 | 能不能 | Can or can't? |
Important: 有 uses 有没有 (not 有不有) because 没 is the negation for 有.
Answering: Repeat the verb alone.
- 你去不去？→ 去。/ 不去。
- 他是不是老师？→ 是。/ 不是。
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 你是不是学生？ | Nǐ shì bu shì xué shēng? | Are you a student or not? | 是不是 = is/is not. Answer: 是。(Yes.) or 不是。(No.) |
| 你们去不去北京？ | Nǐ men qù bu qù Běi jīng? | Are you (all) going to Beijing or not? | 去不去 = going/not going. Answer: 去。or 不去。 |
| 他有没有钱？ | Tā yǒu méi yǒu qián? | Does he have money or not? | 有 is negated with 没, so the pattern is 有没有, not 有不有. |
What you need first
Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.
What this opens up
These patterns list Affirmative-Negative Questions among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.
Affirmative-Negative Questions is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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