The 有-Sentence: Possession and Existence

Chinese grammar · HSK 1 · 有字句 · By Carson 木林森

有 (yǒu) has two uses:

1. Possession: Subject + 有 + Object
- 我有一本书。(I have a book.)
- 她有朋友。(She has friends.)

2. Existence: Location + 有 + Thing
- 桌子上有水。(There is water on the table.)
- 学校里有老师。(There are teachers in the school.)

Negation: Use 没有 — NEVER 不有.
- 我没有书。(I don't have a book.)
- 桌子上没有水。(There is no water on the table.)

Question: Add 吗 or use 有没有.
- 你有书吗？(Do you have a book?)

Worked examples

Chinese	Pinyin	English	What it shows
我有一本书。	Wǒ yǒu yī běn shū.	I have a book.	Possession: Subject 我 + 有 + Object 一本书.
桌子上有水。	Zhuō zi shàng yǒu shuǐ.	There is water on the table.	Existence: Location 桌子上 + 有 + Thing 水.
我没有电话。	Wǒ méi yǒu diàn huà.	I don't have a phone.	Negation: 没有 replaces 有. Never say 不有.
你有朋友吗？	Nǐ yǒu péng yǒu ma?	Do you have friends?	Question: statement + 吗 at the end.

Produce this pattern without stopping to think about it. GraphChinese drills The 有-Sentence across 12 exercises and schedules the review that keeps it.

The same pattern at other levels

'有' Sentences — HSK 5

The 有-Sentence 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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