Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

STATIve verbS

11.6

11.6 The verb of possession and existence: 有 yIu ‘have,’ ‘exist’

有 yǒu has two meanings: ‘have’ and ‘exist.’

11.6.1 有 yIu used to express possession

有 yǒu means ‘have’ when the subject is something that can have possessions. This includes

people, animals, or any other noun that can be described as ‘having’ things:

我有一个弟弟。

我有一個弟弟。

Wǒ yǒu yī gè dìdi.

I have a younger brother.

那个书店有很多旧书。

那個書店有很多舊書。

Nàge shūdiàn yǒu hěn duō jiù shū.

That bookstore has many old books.

中国有很多名胜古迹。

中國有很多名勝古跡。

Zhōngguó yǒu hěn duō míng shèng gǔ jì.

China has many scenic spots and historical sites.

C29.2.1

11.6.2 有 yIu used to express existence

有 yǒu indicates existence when the subject is a location. The most common English translation

of this meaning is ‘there is’ or ‘there are.’

房子后头有一个小湖。

房子後頭有一個小湖。

Fángzi hòutou yǒu yī gè xiǎo hú.

Behind the house there is a small lake.

那儿有很多人排队。

那兒有很多人排隊。

Nàr yǒu hěn duō rén pái duì.

There are a lot of people there waiting in line.

C47.1

11.6.3 Possession vs. existence

The meanings of possession and existence are closely related, and often a Chinese sentence with

有 yǒu can be interpreted as conveying either possession or existence. The difference in inter-

pretation typically depends upon whether the subject is understood to be a possessor or a location.

美国大学有很多留学生。

美國大學有很多留學生。

Měiguó dàxué yǒu hěn duō liúxuéshēng.

American universities have many exchange students.

There are many exchange students in American universities.

这个图书馆有很多中文书。

這個圖書館有很多中文書。

Zhège túshūguǎn yǒu hěn duō Zhōngwén shū.

This library has a lot of Chinese books.

There are a lot of Chinese books in this library.