Also known as: 正反问句 (zhèng-fǎn wènjù) and alternative questions.
A common way to form questions in Chinese is to first use a verb in
the positive, then repeat the same verb in its negative form, similar to how in
English we can say, "Do you have money or not?" or "Have you or
have you not been to the park?" This sentence pattern feels a lot more
natural in Chinese than those admittedly awkward English equivalents, however.
Verb-Not-Verb
Structure
Verb + 不 + Verb
Examples
✔ 是 不 是 ？
Shì bù shì?
Is it (or not)?
✔ 他们 来 不 来 ？
Tāmen lái bù lái?
Are they going to come or not?
✔ 你 想 不 想 我 ？
Nǐ xiǎng bù xiǎng wǒ?
Do you or do you not miss me?
✔ 我们 要 去 酒吧， 你 去 不 去 ？
Wǒmen yào qù jiǔbā, nǐ qù bù qù?
We are going to the bar.Do you want to go?
✔ 我 去 买 咖啡 ，你 要 不 要 ？
Wǒ qù mǎi kāfēi, yào bù yào?
I‘m going to buy coffee.Do you want some?
Note that the question provides the listener with both possible
answers: it's either "Verb" or "不 (bù)
Verb."
Verb-Not-Verb with an Object
Structure
If you want to add an object after the verb, the general sentence
structure is:
Subj. + Verb + 不 + Verb + Obj.
Examples
✔ 你 回 不 回 家？
Nǐ huí bù huí jiā?
Are you coming back home or not?
✔ 她 吃 不 吃 鱼？
Tā chī bù chī yú?
Does she eat fish?
✔ 你们 要 不 要 米饭？
Nǐmen yào bù yào mǐfàn?
Do you want rice?
✔ 你爸爸 喝 不 喝 酒？
Nǐ bàba hē bù hē jiǔ?
Does your dad drink alcohol or not?
✔ 今天 老板 来 不 来 办公室？
Jīntiān lǎobǎn lái bù lái bàngōngshì?
Is the boss coming to the office today?
Adjective-Not-Adjective
Structure
It can also be done with adjectives (adjectives often behave
like verbs in Chinese):
Adj. + 不 + Adj.
Examples
✔ 好 不 好 ？
Hǎo bù hǎo?
Is it good? (or "good or not good?")
✔ 热 不 热 ？
Rè bù rè?
Is it hot?
✔ 他 帅 不 帅 ？
Tā shuài bù shuài?
Is he handsome?
✔ 这里 的 咖啡 贵 不 贵 ？
Zhèlǐ de kāfēi gùi bù gùi?
Is the coffee expensive here?
✔ 中国 菜 辣 不 辣 ？
Zhōngguó cài là bù là?
Is Chinese food spicy?
Again, the question provides the listener with both possible answers:
it's either "Adjective" or "不 (bù) Adjective."
These are something like adding tag questions in English, in this case
"Are you an adult or not?" If you wanted to translate it very
literally, it would be, "Are you or are you not an adult?" In any
case, the structure is a very common way to ask questions in Chinese.
Two-character verbs or adjectives in positive-negative questions
All of the verbs used so far have been single-character verbs. Using
two-characters verbs in positive-negative questions is slightly trickier. You
usually put 不 (bù) after just the first character, then put the entire
verb. For example 喜不喜欢 (xǐ bù xǐhuan) is the usual question form of 喜欢
(xǐhuan). You can repeat the whole two-character verb twice, but it's more
common (and more elegant) to insert 不 (bù) after the first character (and
the same is generally true of two-character adjectives).
Structure
It can be done with verbs:
[First Character of Verb] + 不 + Verb
It can also be done with adjectives:
[First Character of Adj.] + 不 + Adj.
Examples
✔ 喜欢 不 喜欢
? ☞(the whole word is repeated)
Xǐhuan bù xǐhuan?
Do you like it?
✔ 喜 不 喜欢
? ☞(only the first character is repeated)
Xǐ bù xǐhuan?
Do you like it?
✔ 高兴 不 高兴
? ☞(the whole word is repeated)
Gāoxìng bù gāoxìng?
Are you happy?
✔ 高 不 高兴
? ☞(only the first character is repeated)
Gāo bù gāoxìng?
Are you happy?
✔ 他 女朋友 漂亮 不 漂亮？☞(the whole word is repeated)
Tā nǚpéngyou piàoliang bù piàoliang?
Is his girlfriend pretty?
✔ 他 女朋友 漂 不 漂亮？☞(only the first character is repeated)
Tā nǚpéngyou piào bù piàoliang?
Is his girlfriend pretty?
✔ 中国 菜 好吃 不 好吃？☞(the whole word is repeated)
Zhōngguó cài hǎochī bù hǎochī?
Is Chinese food good?
✔ 中国 菜 好 不 好吃？☞(only the first character is repeated)
Zhōngguó cài hǎo bù hǎochī?
Is Chinese food good?
✔ 那 个 地方 好玩 不 好玩？☞(the
whole word is repeated)
Nà ge dìfang hǎowán bù hǎowán?
Is that place fun?
✔ 那 个 地方 好 不 好玩？☞(only
the first character is repeated)
Nà ge dìfang hǎo bù hǎowán?
Is that place fun?
有
in positive-negative questions
Structure
Because the verb 有 (yǒu) is negated with 没 (méi) and
not 不
(bù), the structure for positive-negative questions with 有 (yǒu)
is:
Subj. + 有没有 + Obj.
The possible answers are: "有 (yǒu)" or "没有
(méiyǒu)."
The questions could be be asking about current possession ("do you
have it or not?"), or to ask about verbs in the past ("did
you do it or not?").
Examples
✔ 你哥哥 有 没有 女 朋友？
Nǐgēge yǒu méiyǒu nǚpéngyou?
Does your older brother have a girlfriend?
✔ 你们 有 没有 孩子？
Nǐmen yǒu méiyǒu háizi?
Do you have children?
✔ 你 有 没有 见 过 Obama？
Nǐ yǒu méiyǒu jiàn guo Obama?
Have you met Obama?
✔ 奶奶 有 没有 坐 过 飞机？
Nǎinai yǒu méiyǒu zuò guo fēijī?
Has grandma been on a plane?
✔ 他 有 没有 上 过 大学？
Tā yǒu méiyǒu shàng guo dàxué?
Has he been to college?
