The Chinese language lacks a direct translation of the words “yes” and “no.” This causes a lot of confusion amongst foreigners studying the language. It’s also the source of a lot of cultural misunderstandings for people traveling or living in the country. In a follow up to Steve’s written post, this short video tries to clear the air a bit by showing some different examples of ways to answer yes/no questions in Chinese.

是 – shì –  to be

你是学生吗？- Nǐ shì xué shēng ma? – Are you a student?

是 – shì – (I) am

我是学生 – Wǒ shì xué shēng – I am a student

不是 – bú shì – (I) am not

我不是学生 – Wǒ bú shì xué shēng

你是美国人吗？- Nǐ shì měi guó rén ma? – Are you American?

我是美国人 – Wǒ shì měi guó rén – I am American.

我不是美国人，我是英国人 – Wǒ bú shì měi guó rén, wǒ shì yīng guó rén – I am not American, I am English.

你知道吗？ – Nǐ zhī dào ma? – Do you know?

我知道 – Wǒ zhī dào – I know

我不知道 – Wǒ bù zhī dào – I don’t know

你会说中文吗? – Nǐ huì shuō zhōng wén ma? – Can you speak Chinese?

会 – huì – (I) can

不会 – bú huì – (I) can’t

我会说中文 – Wǒ huì shuō zhōng wén – I can speak Chinese

我不会说中文 – Wǒ bú huì shuō zhōng wén – I can’t speak Chinese

你有问题吗？ – Nǐ yǒu wèn tí ma? – Do you have a question?

有 – yǒu – have

没有 – méi yǒu – don’t have

我有问题 – Wǒ yǒu wèn tí – I have questions

我没有问题 – Wǒ méi yǒu wèn tí – I don’t have questions

你吃饭了吗? – Nǐ chī fàn le ma? – Have you eaten?

我吃了 – Wǒ chī le – I’ve eaten

我没吃 – Wǒ méi chī – I have not eaten

你去过上海吗? – Nǐ qù guò shàng hǎi ma? – Have you been to Shanghai?

我去过 – Wǒ qù guò – I have been

我没去过 – Wǒ méi qù guò – I have not been

你喜欢中文吗? – Nǐ xǐ huan zhōng wén ma? – Do you like Chinese?

我很喜欢中文 – Wǒ hěn xǐ huan zhōng wén – I really like Chinese!

There’s loads more that Transparent Chinese can do to help you build up your Chinese language abilities… just check the website.