The Verb 有 (yǒu) and How to Use It

The verb 有 (yǒu) is one of the most frequent in Chinese and has two main uses: "to have" and "there is / there are".

We'll also learn how to form negative sentences with the verb 有, since unlike other verbs, it doesn't use 不.

The verb 有 in the sense of "to have"

This is the most frequent use. People use it to talk about something they own.

• He has four kids.
  他有四个孩子。(Tā yǒu sì gè háizi.)

• We have an old car.
  我们有一辆旧车。(Wǒmen yǒu yī liàng jiù chē.)

• I have the answer!
  我有答案！Wǒ yǒu dá'àn!

有 (yǒu) in the sense of "there is/are"

• Today there's a lot of people at the museum.
  今天博物馆里有很多人。(Jīntiān bówùguǎn li yǒu hěnduō rén.)

• There are four books on the table.
  上有四本书。(Zhuō shàng yǒu sì běn shū.)

• When I was a kid, in my house there were two dogs.
  小时候，我家有两只狗。(Xiǎoshíhòu, wǒjiā yǒu liǎng zhī gǒu.)

How to deny the verb 有 (yǒu)

As we mentioned at the beginning, unlike other verbs, we don't deny 有 (yǒu) with 不 (bù) but with the partícula 没 (méi).

• She has no problem.
  她没有问题。(Tā méiyǒu wèntí.)

• We haven't money.
  我们没有钱。(Wǒmen méiyǒu qián.)

• There's no one.
  没有人。(Méiyǒu rén.)

The verb 有 can also be omitted, and you can simply say 没 (méi).

• I have no time.
  我没时间。(Wǒ méi shíjiān.)

When used in questions

In affirmative-negative questions (that is, that are answered with "yes" or "no"), the negative particle 不 (bù) is used.

However, just as the verb 有 (yǒu) uses 没 (méi) for negation, it it does the same in affirmative-negative questions.

• Do you have a car?
  你有没有车? (Nǐ yǒu méi yǒu chē?)

• Yes, (I do). 有。(Yǒu).

To summarize, then, we've seen that 有 (yǒu) is used to talk about something that you own or something that exists. We've also leared that, to deny it, the particle 没 (méi) is used.

Among the mostly used verbs, there are also the verbs 喜欢 (xǐ huān) and 爱 (ài). In this post about verbs "to like" and "to love" you'll learn more about them.

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