Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

aSkiNG qUeStioNS aNd rePlyiNG to qUeStioNS

28.1

他们卖橘子不卖？

他們賣橘子不賣？

Tāmen mài júzi bù mài?

Do they sell tangerines?

你有钱没有？

你有錢沒有？

Nǐ yǒu qián méi yǒu?

Do you have money?

The verb-not-verb structure can be used to question whether an action is complete. In this case,

‘not’ must be 没有/沒有 méi yǒu. 没有/沒有 méi yǒu occurs after the direct object, at the

end of the sentence.

你吃饭了没有？

你吃飯了沒有？

Nǐ chī fàn le méi yǒu?

Have you eaten?

Note

Native speakers differ in where they put 了 le in sentences like these. Some speakers prefer to put 了 le

after the object of the verb as in the example above. Some speakers prefer to put 了 le after the verb

itself, as in the following example

你吃了饭没有？

你吃了飯沒有？

Nǐ chǐ le fàn méi yǒu?

Have you eaten?

C13.4, 37.1

28.1.3 yes–no questions with 是否 shìfIu

是否 shìfǒu before the verb turns a statement into a yes–no question. 是否 shìfǒu questions

are more common in written Chinese than in the spoken language.

Statement 是否 shìfǒu question

你喜欢他。 你是否喜欢他？

你喜歡他。 你是否喜歡他？

Nǐ xǐhuan tā. Nǐ shìfǒu xǐhuan tā?

You like him. Do you like him (or not)?

他去过中国。 他是否去过中国？

他去過中國。 他是否去過中國？

Tā qùguò Zhōngguó. Tā shìfǒu qùguò Zhōngguó?

He has been to China. Has he been to China (or not)?

他会说汉语。 他是否会说汉语？

他會說漢語。 他是否會說漢語？

Tā huì shuō Hànyǔ. Tā shìfǒu huì shuō Hànyǔ?

He can speak Chinese. Can he speak Chinese (or not)?

28.1.4 replying to yes–no questions

28.1.4.1 replying ‘yes’
There is no word ‘yes’ in Mandarin. To reply ‘yes’ to a yes–no question in 吗/嗎 ma form, in
是否 shìfǒu form, or in verb-not-verb form, repeat the verb.