Many beginning learners of the Chinese language want to know how to say yes or no in Chinese. Most believe that there should be exact equivalents to the English yes or no (understandably so, since most languages DO have matching words for these affirmative and the negative responses.)

Unfortunately, saying yes or no in Chinese is actually a little more difficult than just learning a single word that is the equivalent to the English yes or no.

First, you need to understand the situation when a yes or no response is necessary -- and that is: when someone asks you a closed-ended question. A closed-ended question is a question that can only be answered with a yes or a no. For example: Do you like China? or Do you have an older brother?

Using these two closed-ended questions as examples, let's learn how to say yes or no in Chinese.

Here's how to say yes in Chinese:

To say yes in Chinese you simply need to repeat the verb that was said in the question. For example:

Person A:

Ni3 xi3 huan5 zhong1 guo4?

Do you like China?

Person B:

Xi3 huan5

Like.

(Xi3 huan5 is the verb "to like.")

Person A:

Ni3 you3 ge1 ge5?

Do you have an older brother?

Person B:

You3

Have.

(You3 is the verb "to have.")

Here's how to say no in Chinese:

Saying no in Chinese is done by simply negating the verb used in the question. For example:

Person A:

Ni3 xi3 huan5 zhong1 guo4?

Do you like China?

Person B:

Bu4 Xi3 huan5

Not like.

(Bu4 is one way to negate a Chinese verb. Xi3 huan5 is the verb "to like.")

Person A:

Ni3 you3 ge1 ge5?

Do you have an older brother?

Person B:

Mei2 you3

Not have.

(Mei2 is another way to negate a Chinese verb. You3 is the verb "to have.")

Now that you know how to say yes or no in Chinese, all that is left to do is to practice this pattern with many more Chinese verbs. Just remember that you cannot use bu4 or mei2 interchangeably. Check a Chinese-English dictionary to discover which one is used with which verbs.

Discover more at Say It In Chinese!
To learn more about the Chinese language, be sure to check out Say It In Chinese! Say It In Chinese is a new kind of Chinese online dictionary that allows you to search for the most common expressions in Chinese and to learn the details of how to use them correctly!
(Don't forget that you can view the How do you say Yes/No in Chinese? web page as well!) http://www.sayitinchinese.com/say-in-chinese/say-yes-say-no.php