Grammar Explanation
In this lesson, we’ll cover two ways of asking questions in Chinese.
One way is to add the interrogative particle “吗” to the end of the sentence. The sentence order remains unchanged.
S | EV | N | 吗? |
---|---|---|---|
nǐ | shì | xiǎowánɡ | mɑ? |
你 | 是 | 小王 | 吗? |
Are you Xiao Wang?
màikè’ěr | shì | měiɡuórén | mɑ? |
迈克尔 | 是 | 美国人 | 吗? |
Is Michael an American?
tā | xìnɡ | lǐ | mɑ? |
她 | 姓 | 李 | 吗? |
Is she surnamed Li?
The other way of asking questions is to use the “positive + negative” form of the verb (i.e. by immediately following the positive form of the verb with its negative form). “吗” is always omitted in this kind of sentence pattern.
S | V | V-Negative | N? |
---|---|---|---|
nǐ | shì | búshì | xiǎowánɡ? |
你 | 是 | 不是 | 小王? |
Are you Xiao Wang (or not)?
màikè’ěr | shì | búshì | měiɡuórén? |
迈克尔 | 是 | 不是 | 美国人? |
Is Michael an American (or not)?
tā | xìnɡ | búxìnɡ | lǐ? |
她 | 姓 | 不姓 | 李? |
Is she surnamed Li (or not)?
Actually, there is a slight difference between the “吗” question and the “positive + negative” type of question. The “吗” question carries a sense of doubt and is answer-seeking, while the “positive + negative” question hints that the person who proposed the question seems to know the answer, but is not sure about it.
The Answer
In Chinese, the word order of the answer is usually the same as the word order of the question. So, to answer questions in Chinese, you simply repeat the verb in its positive or negative form and remove the interrogative word “吗”. Besides, there is no need to add “yes” or “no” in the answer as in English.
A: 你 是 小王 吗?
Are you Xiao Wang?
B: 我 不是 小王。
I am not Xiao Wang
A: 你 姓 不姓 李?
Are you surnamed Li?
B: 我 不姓 李。
I am not surnamed Li.