iNdiCatiNG ComPletioN aNd talkiNG aBoUt the PaSt
37.4
他没(有)买那本书。
他沒(有)買那本書。
Tā méi (yǒu) mǎi nà běn shū.
He didn’t buy that book.
The adverb 还/還 hái may occur in sentences negated with 没(有)/沒(有) méi (yǒu).
还没(有)/還沒(有) hái méi (yǒu) means ‘not yet.’
我还没吃早饭。
我還沒吃早飯。
Wǒ hái méi chī zǎofàn.
I haven’t yet eaten breakfast.
他才十三岁。当然还没结婚。
他才十三歲。當然還沒結婚。
Tā cái shísān suì. Dāngrán hái méi jiéhūn.
He’s only 13. Of course he hasn’t yet married.
C13.3.2, 17.1.1.2, 27.1.2
37.4 Asking whether an action has occurred
To ask whether an action has occurred, use a yes–no question:
Yes–no questions with 吗/嗎 ma
Q: 你买飞机票了吗？
你買飛機票了嗎？
Nǐ mǎi fēijī piào le ma?
Did you buy the airplane ticket?
Verb-not-verb yes–no questions
verb 了 le (object) 没有/沒有 méi yǒu
Q: 你买了飞机票没有？ or Q: 你买飞机票了没有？
你買了飛機票沒有？ 你買飛機票了沒有？
Nǐ mǎi le fēijī piào méi yǒu? Nǐ mǎi fēijī piào le méi yǒu?
Have you bought (the) airplane ticket yet? Have you bought (the) airplane ticket yet?
Yes–no questions with 有没有/有沒有 yǒu méi yǒu (Taiwan usage)
有没有/有沒有 yǒu méi yǒu + [prepositional phrase +] verb phrase
Q: 你有没有买飞机票？
你有沒有買飛機票？
Nǐ yǒu méi yǒu mǎi fēijī piào?
Have you bought the airplane ticket?
To answer ‘yes’ to 吗/嗎 ma or verb-not-verb yes–no questions, reply with V 了：
A: 买了。
買了。
Mǎi le.
[I] bought [it].
To answer ‘yes’ to 有没有/有沒有 yǒu méi yǒu questions, say:
A: 有。
Yǒu.
Yes.
