1 · The basic sentence
Having and existing with yǒu
to have, and there is
Yǒu means both “to have” and “there is”, and its negative is always méiyǒu.
有 means “to have”: 我有一个哥哥, “I have an older brother”. Like every Chinese verb it has one form for everybody — there is no separate “has”.
The same verb says that something exists somewhere. The place comes first, then 有, then what is there: 桌子上有一本书, “there is a book on the table”. English needs an empty “there”; Chinese simply makes the place the subject, as if “the table has a book on it”. 我们学校有很多学生 is both “our school has many students” and “there are many students at our school”.
The negative is 没有, or 没 for short, and never 不有 — this is the one verb that never takes 不. After 没有 the “one” and its measure word usually disappear: 我没有哥哥, “I have no older brother”.
English speakers often say bù yǒu by analogy with other verbs, and they translate “there is a book on the table” word for word, putting the place at the end. They also use 有 for age, copying “I have twenty years” from other languages; Chinese says 我二十岁.
The form
| to have | 我有一个妹妹。 |
| not to have: méiyǒu | 我没有妹妹。 |
| there is: place + yǒu + thing | 桌子上有一本书。 |
| there is not | 桌子上没有书。 |
| question | 你有时间吗？ |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Yǒu means “to have”, for every person.
她有两个孩子。She has two children.
For “there is”, the place comes first, then yǒu, then what is there.
冰箱里有牛奶。There is milk in the fridge.
The negative is always méiyǒu, or méi for short — never bù yǒu.
我没有钱。I haven't got any money.
After méiyǒu, “one” and its measure word usually drop out.
我没有自行车。I don't have a bicycle.
A closer look
A place as the subject
In a “there is” sentence the place is the subject, so it needs no preposition: 教室里有人, “there are people in the classroom”. Learners often add 在 in front, as they would add “in”; that is heard in speech, but the plain form is the standard one.
有 also builds many everyday adjectives from nouns: 有用, useful (“has use”), 有名, famous (“has a name”), 有意思, interesting (“has meaning”). They take 很 like any adjective: 这本书很有意思.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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you give somebody’s age
use the number and 岁 directly, without 有.
我弟弟十八岁。My younger brother is eighteen.
Age is a number phrase that works as the predicate on its own; it is not something a person “has”.
How to spot it
- 有
- 没有
- 没
Example sentences
我有一只猫。I have a cat.
我们班有二十个学生。There are twenty students in our class.
附近有超市吗？Is there a supermarket nearby?
他没有兄弟姐妹。He doesn't have any brothers or sisters.
今天我没时间。I haven't got time today.
房间里有一张床和一张桌子。There is a bed and a desk in the room.
7 more example sentences
你有笔吗？Have you got a pen?
这儿没有人。There's nobody here.
我家附近有一个公园。There is a park near my home.
我今天有很多作业。I have a lot of homework today.
这个城市没有地铁。This city has no underground.
冰箱里没有鸡蛋。There are no eggs in the fridge.
他有一个中国朋友。He has a Chinese friend.
Worth knowing (1)
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Méi and méiyǒu
Before a noun, everyday speech often uses the short form 没: 我没钱. As a one-word answer, the full form 没有 is used.
没有，我没有问题。No, I haven't got any questions.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Every other verb is negated with 不 in the present, so bù yǒu looks logical. But 有 is the exception: it only ever takes 没, in the present, the past and the future alike.
Yǒu is “have” and “there is”; its negative is méiyǒu, never bù yǒu.
Your turn
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