How do you ask an A-not-A question in Mandarin Chinese?

To ask a yes-no question in Mandarin Chinese, it is common to use the A-not-A structure. You may have thought that we simply add 吗 (transcribed ma), the question marker, at the end of a sentence. Although this is true, there are other ways of asking yes-no questions (such as using an A-not-A structure) in addition to adding 吗 (transcribed ma). For example:

In the first example, 是不是 (transcribed shìbushì, meaning “are or are not”) is used in the form of A (是, affirmative)-not-A (不是, negative), and is placed in the middle of the sentence. In the second example, 对不对 (transcribed duìbuduì, meaning “right/aren’t you?”) is placed at the end of the sentence, which is a “tag question” (close to the English equivalent of “It’s cold today, isn't it?”). The speaker of the tag question here is almost certain that “you” are a teacher, but just asks for confirmation.

There are two patterns of A-not-A: “A-不 (transcribed bù, meaning “not”)-A” and “A-没 (transcribed méi, meaning “not”)-A.”

Let’s find out more about A-not-A questions in Mandarin Chinese.

The affirmative-negative question is a question combining both a positive form and a negative form. Let’s compare the following sentences:

The first two sentences above are often interchangeable, although they have different forms (吗 vs. 要不要). The third sentence is a tag question, which means the speaker has an answer already but is double checking if the answer is correct.

Unlike in English, where tag questions are formed based on the auxiliary verb of the sentence and on whether it is positive or negative, one way of forming tag questions in Mandarin is the A-not-A form. Apart from 对不对 (transcribed duìbuduì, meaning “right?”) and 是不是 (transcribed shìbushì, meaning “isn’t it?”), other phrases that can function as tag questions are: 好不好 (transcribed hǎobuhǎo, meaning “OK?”), 有沒有 (transcribed yǒumeiyǒu, meaning “wasn’t it, didn’t you?”), etc., all expressing the speaker’s request for confirmation (是不是), consent (好不好), evaluation of the truth of the sentence (对不对), or acknowledgement (有沒有). In other words, tag questions in Mandarin do not depend on the form of the verb of the sentence but rather on what the speaker wants to express.

You can also form tag questions with the Mandarin particle 吗 (ma).

A-not-A can also be in the form of A-没 (transcribed méi, meaning “not”)-A. The A-没-A can be used in the following two situations:

• A-没-A is used for past events. For example:

  你昨天去没去看他?

  Transcription: Nǐ zuótiān qùmeiqù kàn tā?

  Translation: Did you go to see him yesterday?

• A-没-A is used with 有 (transcribed yǒu, meaning “to have”) to ask “is/are there” type of questions. The negation word for 有 (transcribed yǒu, meaning “to have”) is 没, not 不 (transcribed bù). When answering an A-没-A question, use 有 (transcribed yǒu) for “yes” and 没有 (transcribed méiyǒu) for “no.”

The form of A-not-A may change according to the number of characters for A in A-not-A.

When A in A-not-A has two characters, you can follow two patterns: you can repeat the whole two-character word twice (锻炼不锻炼 (transcribed duànliànbuduànliàn)) or repeat only the first character (锻不锻炼 (transcribed duànbuduànliàn)). What is the difference between the two patterns? Well, the second pattern is said to be more common (and more elegant).

There are other ways of asking questions. For example, you can use an alternative question, which provides alternative items combined with the conjunction A 还是 (transcribed háishì) / 或者 (transcribed huòzhě, meaning “or”) B.

When asking an A-not-A question, keep the following in mind:

• A-not-A is a way of asking yes-no questions in Mandarin Chinese. For example:

  你是不是学生?

  Transcription: Nǐ shìbushì xuésheng?

  Translation: Are you a student?

• A-not-A occurs in two positions: in the middle of a sentence or at the end of a sentence. For example:

  你去不去 (in the middle) 图书馆?

  Transcription: Nǐ qùbuqù túshūguǎn?

  Translation: Are you going to the library?

  or:

  你去图书馆, 对不对 (at the end)?

  Transcription: Nǐ qù túshūguǎn, duìbuduì?

  Translation: You are going to the library, right/aren’t you?

• When A in A-not-A is a one-character word, simply repeat A. For example:

  你去不去?

  Transcription: Nǐ qùbuqù?

  Translation: Are you going?

• When A in A-not-A has two characters, A and B, use AB-not-AB or A-not-AB. For example:

  你喜欢不喜欢这本书? (transcribed Nǐ xǐhuanbuxǐhuan zhèběn shū?)

  or:

  你喜不喜欢这本书 ?

  Transcription: Nǐ xǐbuxǐhuan zhèběn shū?

  Translation: Do you like this book?

• When 有 (transcribed yǒu, meaning “to have”) or past events are involved, we use 没 (transcribed méi, meaning “not”) instead of 不 (transcribed bù, meaning “not”). For example:

  你有没有学生证?

  Transcription: Nǐ yǒumeiyǒu xuéshengzhèng?

  Translation: Do you have a student ID card?

  or:

  昨天你有没有打电话?

  Transcription: Zuótiān nǐ yǒumeiyǒu dǎ diànhuà?

  Translation: Did you phone yesterday?

Ready for practice? Yep, I bet you are! Jump into the activity to practice how to use A-not-A questions in Mandarin.