Questions: yes/no Questions in Mandarin Chinese
From UniLang Wiki
A simple yes/no question, similar to the english question "Are you chinese?" is, in chinese, formed the same as the non-questioning sentence "you are chinese", the only difference is the presence of the question particle 吗 (ma) and the question mark.
- 你是中国人。 (nǐ shì zhōngguó rén) - Literal: you are china person - You are Chinese
- 你是中国人吗? (nǐ shì zhōngguó rén ma?) - Literal: you are china person [QP]? - Are you Chinese?
The chinese does not really have words for "yes" and "no", unlike many other languages. The answer to a question is generally formed by repeating the verb. The answer to the question above can be formed as following:
- 是。 (shì) - Literal: am - yes
- 不是。 (bú shì) - Literal: not am - no
Another very common way of forming a yes/no question is by providing the answer choices in the question, in this case the question particle should not be used anymore, because this construction implies a question already.
- 你是不是中国人? (nǐ shì bú shì zhōngguó rén?) - Literal: You are not are china person? - Are you Chinese?
- 你是中国人不是? (nǐ shì zhōngguó rén bú shì?) - Literal: You are china person not are? - Are you Chinese
When you use this construction with an auxiliary verb you repeat that auxiliary verb, and not the main verb:
- 你会不会说汉语? (nǐ huì bú huì shuō hàn yǔ?) - Literal: you can not can speak mandarin chinese? - Can you speak mandarin chinese?
