English hands you two little words, "yes" and "no," that answer almost any question, so when someone asks 你去吗？("Are you going?") your instinct is to reach for the Chinese equivalent — and the dictionary points at 是 (shì). Out comes 是。 It sounds off, and often plain wrong. Chinese has no all-purpose yes/no word. To answer a yes/no question you echo the verb of the question: 你去吗？→ 去 ("yes, going") or 不去 ("no"). The answer word is not fixed — it changes with every question, because you are confirming or denying the specific action asked about. 是 is not "yes"; it's the verb "to be," and it only answers a question that actually contains 是. Reframe the whole task as "confirm the verb," and the mistake disappears. The pragmatics of this echo pattern live at answering by echoing the verb.
The error: 是 is not "yes"
❌ 是。
Wrong reply to 你去吗?('Are you going?') — Chinese has no general 'yes'; echo the question's verb instead: 去。
去。
qù
Yes (I'm going). — the reply to 你去吗? is simply the verb 去 itself.
不去。
bú qù
No (I'm not). — 'no' is 不 + the same verb, 不去 — never a bare 不.
Adjective questions echo the adjective
The same logic covers 你饿吗？ Chinese adjectives behave like verbs (they need no 是), so the reply is the adjective, not 是.
饿，饿死了！
è, è sǐ le
Yes, I'm starving! (informal) — the reply to 你饿吗? echoes 饿, never 是.
不饿，我刚吃过。
bú è, wǒ gāng chī guo
No, I just ate. (informal) — 'no' is 不 + the adjective, 不饿.
When 是 is the right answer
是 is a perfectly good reply — but only when the question's verb is 是. Answering a 是-question with 是 is echoing the verb, exactly like every other case.
是，我是留学生。
shì, wǒ shì liúxuéshēng
Yes, I'm an international student. (neutral) — correct, because 你是学生吗? actually uses 是.
不是，我是老师。
bú shì, wǒ shì lǎoshī
No, I'm a teacher. (neutral) — the 'no' echoes 是, giving 不是.
有-questions take 有 / 没有
A question built on 有 ("have / there is") is answered with 有 or 没有 — and here the negator switches from 不 to 没, because 有 is negated only by 没.
——你有零钱吗？——有，给你。
nǐ yǒu língqián ma? —— yǒu, gěi nǐ
'Got any change?' 'Yeah, here.' (informal) — a 有-question's 'yes' is 有.
没有，我只有一百的。
méiyǒu, wǒ zhǐ yǒu yìbǎi de
No, I've only got a hundred[-yuan note]. (informal) — the 'no' to 有 is 没有, never 不有.
The one table that settles it
Pick the verb or adjective out of the question; that word (plus its negator) is your whole answer.
| Question | "Yes" | "No" |
|---|---|---|
| 你去吗？ | 去 | 不去 |
| 你饿吗？ | 饿 | 不饿 |
| 你是学生吗？ | 是 | 不是 |
| 你有车吗？ | 有 | 没有 |
| 你会游泳吗？ | 会 | 不会 |
| 你吃了吗？ | 吃了 | 没吃 / 还没 |
The same echo answers an A-not-A question — 你去不去？ is still answered 去 or 不去, because the A-not-A frame is just a 吗-question with the choice spelled out.
——你累不累？——不累，我们继续吧。
nǐ lèi bu lèi? —— bú lèi, wǒmen jìxù ba
'Are you tired?' 'Nope, let's keep going.' (informal) — A-not-A gets the same verb-echo answer.
Backchannels: 对, 嗯, 对啊
When you're agreeing with a statement rather than answering a verb-question, Chinese does have handy confirmers. 对 (duì) means "right / correct" and is the closest thing to a general "yes." 嗯 (èn) is a soft "mhm."
对，就是他！
duì, jiùshì tā
Right, that's him! (informal) — 对 confirms a statement, the nearest thing to an all-purpose 'yes'.
嗯，我知道了。
èn, wǒ zhīdào le
Mm, got it. (informal) — 嗯 is a light acknowledgment, like 'mhm'.
Common Mistakes
1. Using 是 as a universal "yes." It only answers a question whose verb is 是.
❌ ——你忙吗？——是。
Wrong — 忙 is the verb here, not 是; answer 忙 or 不忙.
✅ ——你忙吗？——忙，最近特别忙。
nǐ máng ma? —— máng, zuìjìn tèbié máng
'Are you busy?' 'Yeah, really busy lately.' (informal) — echo the adjective 忙.
2. Answering with a bare 不. "No" needs the verb after it — a lone 不 sounds cut off.
✅ ——你想去吗？——不想，太远了。
nǐ xiǎng qù ma? —— bù xiǎng, tài yuǎn le
'Do you want to go?' 'Not really, it's too far.' (informal) — 不 + the verb 想, not a bare 不.
3. Saying 不有 for the "no" of a 有-question. 有 is negated by 没, so the answer is 没有.
✅ ——你有伞吗？——没有，忘带了。
nǐ yǒu sǎn ma? —— méiyǒu, wàng dài le
'Do you have an umbrella?' 'No, I forgot it.' (informal) — 没有, never 不有.
4. Echoing the wrong word after 吗 questions with a verb phrase. Echo the main verb, not the object.
✅ ——你会说中文吗？——会，会一点儿。
nǐ huì shuō zhōngwén ma? —— huì, huì yìdiǎnr
'Can you speak Chinese?' 'Yes, a little.' (informal) — echo the modal 会, the true head of the question.
Key Takeaways
- Chinese has no all-purpose yes/no — you answer by echoing the verb or adjective of the question.
- "Yes" = that verb/adjective (去, 饿, 会); "no" = its negator + that word (不去, 不饿, 不会).
- 是 is not "yes" — it's the verb "to be," and it only answers a question that contains 是.
- A 有-question takes 有 / 没有 (never 不有), since 有 is negated by 没.
- For confirming a statement, 对 ("right") and 嗯 ("mhm") work as general backchannels.
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- A-not-A Questions (是不是, 去不去)HSK 1 — A second neutral way to ask yes/no: juxtapose the positive and negative of the verb or adjective — 去不去, 好不好, 是不是. The middle 不 is toneless, 有 uses 没 (有没有), and you never add 吗.
- Doubling a Question Word with 吗 (*你去哪儿吗)HSK 1 — 吗 turns a statement into a yes/no question, so it can't be added to a sentence that already asks — one with 谁/什么/哪儿/怎么, an A-not-A verb, or a 还是 choice is already a question, and 吗 is one marker too many.