Category: Chinese Grammar

Finally, use 吗 (ma) to ask yes / no questions in Chinese. These questions are also known as polar questions or binary questions. You can turn any statement into a yes / no question simply by putting 吗 at the end.

The most common character in Chinese is 的 (de). That’s because 的 is used all the time to mark possession. That means that it’s used to talk about things belonging to other things, or to attach qualities to things.

Every other verb apart from 有 is negated with 不 (bù). 不 is pretty much equivalent to “not” or “don’t” in English. It goes before a verb and negates it.

To talk about “not having” something, you negate the word 有 (yǒu) with 没 (méi). Remember this important point: if you negate 有, always use 没. The two words go together.

You can talk about directly wanting something with the word 要 (yào). This word is also used to talk about the future, as in “I’m going to do” something.

To talk about things being in places, use the word 在 (zài). This is actually a verb, so you don’t need to use any other words to talk about something being somewhere.