There are two easy ways to turn a statement into a yes-or-no question in Chinese. And answering one isn’t a simple “yes” or “no” either — you repeat the verb instead. This page covers both.
一 Statement + 嗎吗ma
The simplest way to ask a yes-or-no question — just add 嗎吗 to the end of a normal statement.
Subject + Verb + Object + 嗎吗 = Yes/No Question
你喝咖啡嗎？你喝咖啡吗？
Do you drink coffee?
這是垃圾嗎？这是垃圾吗？
Is this garbage?
你有貓嗎？你有猫吗？
Do you have a cat?
你喜歡你的中文老師嗎？你喜欢你的汉语老师吗？
Do you like your Chinese teacher?
二 Verb-Not-Verb
Another common way to ask a yes-or-no question: say the verb, then its negative, then finish the sentence. It means the exact same thing as adding 嗎吗 — but the two never go together in the same sentence.
Subject + Verb + Negative + Verb + Object
你吃不吃飯？你吃不吃饭？
Do you eat (a meal)?
你有沒有錢？你有没有钱？
Do you have money?
他是不是英國人？他是不是英国人？
Is he British?
你喜不喜歡你的中文老師？你喜不喜欢你的汉语老师？
Do you like your Chinese teacher? (a two-syllable verb can drop its second syllable the first time it appears)
Most verbs use 不 for this pattern, but 有 is special — it always pairs with 沒, never 不 (你有沒有錢, never 你有不有錢).
In Taiwan, people love playing with this pattern using English loanwords too — you’ll often hear 你O不OK (are you OK or not?), where “OK” gets shortened to just its first letter the same way a two-syllable Chinese verb would drop its second syllable.
三 Answering Structure
Chinese doesn’t really have one word for “yes” or “no.” Instead, you repeat the main verb from the question — by itself for “yes,” negated for “no.”
Affirmative Answers
For “yes,” just repeat the verb on its own — short and simple.
這裡賣不賣咖啡？这儿卖不卖咖啡？
Do they sell coffee here?
Ans
賣卖
Yes.
你有貓嗎？你有猫吗？
Do you have a cat?
Ans
有
Yes.
他要不要去北京？
Is he going to Beijing?
Ans
要
Yes.
Negative Answers
For “no,” negate the verb, then usually follow up with the correct information.
他是不是英國人？他是不是英国人？
Is he British?
Ans
不是，他是美國人不是，他是美国人
No, he’s American.
你喜歡你的中文老師嗎？你喜欢你的汉语老师吗？
Do you like your Chinese teacher?
Ans
不喜歡，我喜歡我的韓文老師不喜欢，我喜欢我的韩文老师
No, I like my Korean teacher.
他要不要去北京？
Is he going to Beijing?
Ans
不要，他要在家
No, he’s going to stay home.
四 Common Mistakes
❌ 你吃不吃飯嗎？你吃不吃饭吗？
✅ 你吃不吃飯你吃不吃饭？
Verb-not-verb already asks the question by itself — adding 嗎吗 on top of it is double-asking and isn’t correct.
❌ 你有不有錢？
✅ 你有沒有錢你有没有钱？
有 is always negated with 沒, never 不 — that rule doesn’t change just because it’s in a verb-not-verb question.
❌ Ans: 是(answering 你喜歡你的中文老師嗎？ with a generic “yes”)
✅ Ans: 喜歡喜欢
There’s no all-purpose word for “yes” — you have to repeat whatever verb the question actually used, not a generic stand-in like 是.
五 Practice
Pick the correct short answer for each question.
Question 1 of 10
你喝咖啡嗎你喝咖啡吗？ (Yes, I do drink coffee.)
Repeat the verb 喝 by itself for “yes.”
你有貓嗎你有猫吗？ (No, I don’t have a cat.)
有 is negated with 沒没, so the answer is 沒有没有, not 不.
這裡賣不賣咖啡这儿卖不卖咖啡？ (Yes, they do sell it here.)
The question’s verb is 賣卖, so that’s the word to repeat.
他是不是英國人他是不是英国人？ (No, he’s not.)
是 is negated as 不是 — that’s the full negative form to repeat.
你喜歡你的中文老師嗎你喜欢你的汉语老师吗？ (No, I don’t like her.)
Repeat the actual verb, negated: 不喜歡不喜欢, not a generic 不.
他要不要去北京？ (Yes, he is going.)
The main verb in the question is 要, so that’s what gets repeated.
你有沒有錢你有没有钱？ (No, I don’t have money.)
The full negative form of 有 is 沒有没有, not just 沒 on its own.
你吃不吃飯你吃不吃饭？ (Yes, I do eat.)
Repeat the verb 吃 by itself for “yes.”
這是垃圾嗎这是垃圾吗？ (No, this isn’t garbage.)
是 is negated as a whole word, 不是 — not just a bare 不.
