Day 6: Asking questions
Two things about Chinese questions that break English habits hard.
⚠️ ★ You cannot ask a question by raising your voice. Pitch is spelling (Day 1) — raise it and you change the word. Chinese marks questions with a word, and your tones must survive intact while you do it.
★ And Chinese has no word for "yes" or "no". You answer by repeating the verb: — 你是学生吗? — 是。 — 你忙吗? — 忙。
1. ① 吗 — the simplest question
### Take a complete statement. Add 吗. Done.
| Statement | Question |
|---|---|
| 你是学生。 | 你是学生吗? |
| 你很忙。 | 你忙吗? (★ 很 drops in questions) |
| 他是中国人。 | 他是中国人吗? |
| 你有时间。 | 你有时间吗? |
★ Nothing moves, nothing inverts, no "do". 吗 is a neutral tone and sits at the very end.
⚠️ 很 disappears in a question. 你很忙吗 is not wrong but sounds like "are you VERY busy?" — 你忙吗? is the neutral form. (Day 5's meaningless 很 only props up statements.)
2. ★★ ② A-not-A — the natural one
### Say the verb, then 不 + the verb again.
| 你是不是学生? | Are you a student? |
|---|---|
| 你忙不忙? | Are you busy? |
| 好不好? | Is it OK? / Shall we? |
| 对不对? | Right? |
| 他去不去? | Is he going? |
| 贵不贵? | Is it expensive? |
| ★ 有没有? | Do you have (any)? — ⚠️ 有 negates with 没, not 不 |
★ A-not-A is at least as common as 吗 in speech, and often sounds more natural and more neutral. 吗 can carry a slight expectation; A-not-A is flat and open.
★ For two-syllable words, only the first syllable doubles: 喜不喜欢? (do you like it?) · 知不知道? (do you know?) · 可不可以? (may I?)
⚠️ 有 is the one verb that never takes 不. 没有, always — you meet the full 不/没 split on Day 23.
The tag questions
| 好不好? | OK? / shall we? |
|---|---|
| 对不对? | right? |
| 是不是? | isn't it? |
| 行不行? | will that work? |
★ Stick any of these on the end of a statement and you have a soft, friendly question: 我们去吃饭,好不好?
3. ★★ ③ Question words stay where the answer goes
### Put the question word in the slot the answer would occupy. Change nothing else.
| 什么 shénme | what | 这是什么? |
|---|---|---|
| 谁 shéi | who | 他是谁? |
| 哪儿 / 哪里 nǎr / nǎli | where | 你去哪儿? |
| 什么时候 shénme shíhou | when | 你什么时候去? |
| 为什么 wèishénme | why | 你为什么学中文? |
| 怎么 zěnme | how | 怎么走? |
| 怎么样 zěnmeyàng | how is it | 中国菜怎么样? |
| 多少 duōshao | how much/many | 多少钱? |
| 几 jǐ | how many (small numbers) | 几个人? |
| 哪个 nǎge | which | 你要哪个? |
你去哪儿? — literally "you go where?" ★ The answer slots straight in:我去学校。 (I go school.) Identical word order.
★ This is the same behaviour as Korean and the opposite of English, which hauls the question word to the front and then needs do-support to repair the damage. Chinese needs neither.
⚠️ Never put 吗 on a question-word question
| ❌ | ✅ |
|---|---|
| 你去哪儿? | |
| 这是什么? |
★ 吗 makes a yes/no question. A question word already makes a question. You cannot have both — and this is one of the most common beginner errors.
几 vs 多少
| 几 | expects a small number (under ~10) — ★ always with a measure word |
|---|---|
| 多少 | any number, including large — measure word optional |
几个人? (how many people?) · 几点? (what time?) · 多少钱? (how much money?)
4. ④ 还是 — "or" in a question
### 还是 háishi = "or" in a QUESTION · 或者 huòzhě = "or" in a STATEMENT
| 你喝茶还是咖啡? | Tea or coffee? |
|---|---|
| 你是学生还是老师? | Are you a student or a teacher? |
| 今天还是明天? | Today or tomorrow? |
| 我喝茶或者咖啡。 | I drink tea or coffee. (statement) |
⚠️ Do not add 吗 — 还是 already makes it a question. 你喝茶还是咖啡吗? ❌
★ English uses "or" for both. Chinese splits them, and mixing them up is immediately noticeable. The test: is it a question? → 还是.
5. ★★ There is no "yes" and no "no"
### You answer a question by repeating its verb — positive or negative.
| Question | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| 你是学生吗? | 是。 | 不是。 |
| 你忙吗? | 忙。 | 不忙。 |
| 你有时间吗? | 有。 | ★ 没有。 |
| 你去吗? | 去。 | 不去。 |
| 你喜欢吗? | 喜欢。 | 不喜欢。 |
| 好不好? | 好。 | 不好。 |
★ The verb in the question tells you what to say back. This feels strange for two days and then becomes the easiest thing in the language — you never have to decide anything.
The two near-equivalents
| 对 duì | "correct" — ★ agreeing with a statement |
|---|---|
| 不对 bú duì | that's not right |
| 是 shì | "it is so" — works as a general yes |
| 嗯 èn | mm-hm |
— 你是美国人,对吗? — 对。★ 对 is the closest thing Chinese has to "yes", and it specifically means "what you said is right."
⚠️ Do not try to build "yes". 是的是的 works but sounds odd from a beginner; repeating the verb is what natives do, and it is simpler.
6. Dialogue
小明: 你是学生吗?Alex: 是。你呢? 你是不是学生?小明: 不是,我工作。Alex: 你做什么工作?小明: 我是工程师。你学什么?Alex: 我学中文。小明: 中文难不难?Alex: 很难! 但是很有意思。小明: 你为什么学中文?Alex: 因为我喜欢中国文化。小明: 你什么时候来中国的?Alex: 去年。小明: 我们去吃饭吧,好不好?Alex: 好! 吃中国菜还是西餐?小明: 中国菜! 你能吃辣吗?Alex: 不能。一点儿都不能。
★ All four question types, and every answer repeats the verb:你是学生吗 → 是 · 难不难 → 很难 · 你能吃辣吗 → 不能.★ And 你做什么工作 / 你学什么 / 为什么 / 什么时候 — every question word sits exactly where its answer goes. Nothing moved.
7. Exercises
A. Add 吗.
- 你是学生。 2. 他很忙。 3. 你有时间。 4. 这是茶。
B. ★ Make it A-not-A.
- 你是学生。 2. 你忙。 3. 他去。 4. 这个贵。 5. 你喜欢。 6. 你有时间。
C. ★ Write the question for each answer.
- ___ — 我去学校。
- ___ — 他是我朋友。
- ___ — 这是茶。
- ___ — 因为我喜欢中国文化。
- ___ — 三十块。
D. ⚠️ What's wrong?
- 你去哪儿吗?
- 你喝茶还是咖啡吗?
- 这是什么吗?
E. ★ Answer without using "yes" or "no".
- 你是学生吗? (yes)
- 你忙吗? (no)
- 你有时间吗? (no)
- 你喜欢中国菜吗? (yes)
F. 几 or 多少?
- ___ 个人? 2. ___ 钱? 3. ___ 点?
G. 还是 or 或者?
- 你喝茶___咖啡? 2. 我喝茶___咖啡。 3. 今天___明天?
Answers
A. 1. 你是学生吗? 2. 你忙吗? (很 drops) 3. 你有时间吗? 4. 这是茶吗? B. 1. 你是不是学生? 2. 你忙不忙? 3. 他去不去? 4. 这个贵不贵? 5. 你喜不喜欢? 6. 你有没有时间? C. 1. 你去哪儿? 2. 他是谁? 3. 这是什么? 4. 你为什么学中文? 5. 多少钱? D. ★ All three have 吗 on a question that already is one — delete 吗 from each. E. 1. 是。 2. 不忙。 3. 没有。 4. 喜欢。 F. 1. 几 2. 多少 3. 几 G. 1. 还是 2. 或者 3. 还是
8. Today's 10 sentences (flashcards)
- 你是学生吗? Nǐ shì xuésheng ma? — Are you a student?
- 你忙不忙? Nǐ máng bu máng? — Are you busy?
- 这是什么? Zhè shì shénme? — What is this?
- 他是谁? Tā shì shéi? — Who is he?
- 你去哪儿? Nǐ qù nǎr? — Where are you going?
- 你什么时候去? Nǐ shénme shíhou qù? — When are you going?
- 你为什么学中文? Nǐ wèishénme xué Zhōngwén? — Why are you learning Chinese?
- 多少钱? Duōshao qián? — How much is it?
- 你喝茶还是咖啡? Nǐ hē chá háishi kāfēi? — Tea or coffee?
- 好不好? Hǎo bu hǎo? — OK?
9. 📲 Upload to LangNote
Upload sections 2, 3 and 5 plus section 8 → study language Chinese.
| Mission | What to do with it today |
|---|---|
| 🎧 Podcast | Today's key mission. Listen for the fact that questions do not rise |
| ✍️ Dictation | 吗 and 呢 are neutral-tone and easy to lose |
| 🗣 Shadowing | All ten questions — ★ keep the tones flat and correct, do not let the ends rise |
| 🎭 Role-play | Ask fifteen questions and let the tutor ask back |
| 📖 Vocab | The question words, and ★ the "repeat the verb" answers as pairs |
★ The habit to break this week: your voice going up at the end of a question.Record yourself asking 你是学生吗? — if the 吗 is higher than the 生, your tones are being overwritten by an English reflex. Say it flat.
Tomorrow is the week 1 review — tones, pinyin, characters, 是/很, and questions.
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