A1 · Grammar reference
Affirmative-negative question
A common way to form questions in Chinese is to first use a verb in the positive, then repeat the same verb in its negative form, similar to how in English we can say, "Do you have money or not?" or "Have you or have you not been to the park?" This sentence pattern feels a lot more natural in Chinese than those admittedly awkward English equivalents, however.
- Keywords
- 不 · 没 · 没有
- Used for
- Asking questions · Giving alternatives
- Classification
- HSK2
Examples (29)
是不是？
他们来不来？
你想不想我？
我们要去酒吧，你去不去？
我去买咖啡，你要不要？
你回不回家？
她吃不吃鱼？
你们要不要米饭？
你爸爸喝不喝酒？
今天老板来不来办公室？
好不好？
热不热？
他帅不帅？
这里的咖啡贵不贵？
中国菜辣不辣？
喜欢不喜欢？
喜不喜欢？
高兴不高兴？
高不高兴？
他女朋友漂亮不漂亮？
他女朋友漂不漂亮？
中国菜好吃不好吃？
中国菜好不好吃？
那个地方好玩不好玩？
那个地方好不好玩？
你哥哥有没有女朋友？
你们有没有孩子？
奶奶有没有坐过飞机？
他有没有上过大学？
Further resources
Learn from another explanation
- A focused video lesson on forming and answering affirmative-negative questions.
- An audio-led lesson on the 有/没有 form of the verb-not-verb question pattern.
- A concise comparison of 吗 questions and the A-not-A pattern, including when not to combine them.
Editorial picks are checked for a close topic match. Search results and external content belong to their publishers and may change.
Summary, structure, classification, and adapted sentence examples draw from the AllSet Learning Chinese Grammar Wiki under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; changes were made. This noncommercial reference is based on an October 2023 snapshot.
Related points