You know 有 as "have" and as "there is." This page is about a third, extremely common construction built from the same verb: 有 + Noun + Verb, which lets one sentence say "there is an X that does Y" or "have an X to do." 我有事要做 ("I have things to do"), 有人敲门 ("someone's knocking"), 有很多话想说 ("have a lot to say"). What makes this pattern special is that the noun after 有 doesn't just get introduced and stop there — it pivots straight into the next verb, playing a role in that clause too. English usually needs a relative clause ("something that I have to do," "someone who is knocking"); Chinese just lines up 有, the noun, and the verb, with nothing in between.
The pattern: 有 + Noun + Verb
The frame is: 有 introduces a noun, and a verb (often with a modal) immediately follows to say what happens to or with that noun. Read literally, 我有事要做 is "I-have-things-to-do."
| 有 + Noun |
| Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 有事 (yǒu shì) | 要做 (yào zuò) | have something to do |
| 有话 (yǒu huà) | 想说 (xiǎng shuō) | have something to say |
| 有人 (yǒu rén) | 敲门 (qiāo mén) | someone is knocking |
| 有问题 (yǒu wèntí) | 想问 (xiǎng wèn) | have a question to ask |
我有事要做，先走了。
wǒ yǒu shì yào zuò, xiān zǒu le
I've got things to do, I'm off. (informal) — 有 introduces 事, and 要做 says what to do with it.
我有很多话想跟你说。
wǒ yǒu hěn duō huà xiǎng gēn nǐ shuō
There's a lot I want to say to you. (informal) — 有 + 很多话 + (想…说); the modal 想 sits before the verb, as always.
我有个问题想问你。
wǒ yǒu ge wèntí xiǎng wèn nǐ
I've got a question I'd like to ask you. (informal) — the neat way to say 'a question to ask'; no relative clause needed.
The noun is a pivot: it belongs to both verbs
Here's the mechanics worth understanding, because it's what lets you build these freely. The noun after 有 does double duty — it's the object of 有 and a participant in the following verb. Grammarians call this a pivotal (兼语) structure, and it's the same machinery behind pivotal sentences like 我请你吃饭.
Look at what role the pivot plays:
- 有人敲门 — 人 is the object of 有 ("there is a person") and the subject of 敲 ("the person knocks"). The pivot is the one knocking.
- 有事要做 — 事 is the object of 有 ("have a matter") and the notional object of 做 ("do the matter"). The pivot is the thing done.
Either way, you never need a linking word like English "that" or "who." You just place the noun once, between the two verbs, and let it face both directions.
有人找你，在门口等着呢。
yǒu rén zhǎo nǐ, zài ménkǒu děng zhe ne
Someone's looking for you — they're waiting at the door. (informal) — 人 is the subject of 找; 有人 = 'there's someone who…'.
今天没有作业要写，太好了。
jīntiān méi yǒu zuòyè yào xiě, tài hǎo le
No homework to do today, great. (informal) — negate the whole thing with 没有: 'there isn't any homework to write'.
有人 / 有的 — introducing an indefinite subject
A special favourite is 有人 (yǒu rén) — literally "there-is-person," the natural Chinese for "someone" / "somebody" as a brand-new subject. English can start a sentence with the bare pronoun "someone"; Chinese prefers to first introduce that someone with 有, then let them act. This is why "someone's at the door" is 有人敲门, not a sentence beginning with a lone word for "someone."
有人在楼下叫你。
yǒu rén zài lóuxià jiào nǐ
Someone's calling you from downstairs. (informal) — 有人 introduces the caller, who then does the calling.
车里有东西在响，你听。
chē li yǒu dōngxi zài xiǎng, nǐ tīng
Something's making a noise in the car — listen. (informal) — 有东西 introduces an unidentified thing that's then doing the 响.
The same 有 opens the paired pattern 有的…有的… ("some… others…"), which splits a group into parts. It's a preview here — it has its own page — but notice it's built from exactly this "有 introduces an indefinite subset" logic:
有的人喜欢喝茶，有的人喜欢喝咖啡。
yǒu de rén xǐhuan hē chá, yǒu de rén xǐhuan hē kāfēi
Some people like tea, others like coffee. (neutral) — 有的…有的… partitions a group; same 有 introducing indefinite subsets.
Open-ended things: 有 + 什么 + Verb + 的
A very natural extension uses a question word (什么 "what", 谁 "who") as the noun, giving "anything / anyone to…". Tack a 的 on the end and the whole verb phrase turns into "something you can V" — 有什么想吃的 ("anything you'd like to eat"), 有什么要问的 ("anything to ask"). This is one of the most useful conversational frames in the language, the polite Chinese equivalent of "is there anything you…?"
你有什么想吃的吗？我去买。
nǐ yǒu shénme xiǎng chī de ma? wǒ qù mǎi
Is there anything you'd like to eat? I'll go get it. (informal) — 有 + 什么 + 想吃 + 的 = 'anything to eat'.
周末有没有什么好玩的地方可以去？
zhōumò yǒu méi yǒu shénme hǎowán de dìfang kěyǐ qù?
Any fun places we could go this weekend? (informal) — 有没有 + 什么…地方 + 可以去; the pattern scales up to whole phrases.
Note too the idiom 有事 on its own, without an explicit second verb — it means "to be busy / have something come up," with the "something to attend to" left implicit: 我今天有事，改天吧 ("I'm tied up today, another time"). It's the same 有 + noun frame with the verb understood.
我今天有事，改天再聊。
wǒ jīntiān yǒu shì, gǎitiān zài liáo
I'm tied up today — let's chat another day. (informal) — 有事 alone means 'have something on / be busy'.
Common Mistakes
1. Dropping 有. English "I have things to do" hides its "have," but in Chinese 有 is the backbone of the pattern and can't be left out.
❌ 我事要做。
Incorrect — the pattern needs 有 to introduce the noun. Say 我有事要做.
✅ 我有事要做。
wǒ yǒu shì yào zuò
I have things to do. — 有 + Noun + Verb.
2. Building a relative clause instead. Beginners translate "someone who is knocking" into a 的 clause. The idiomatic pattern is 有 + Noun + Verb, with no 的 and no relativiser.
❌ 有一个敲门的人。
Marginal — 'there is a knocking person' is stiff and misses the point. For 'someone's knocking' say 有人敲门.
✅ 有人敲门。
yǒu rén qiāo mén
Someone's knocking. — the natural 有 + Noun + Verb, no relative clause.
3. Putting the verb before the noun. The order is fixed: 有, then the noun, then the verb phrase.
❌ 我有要做事。
Incorrect — the noun comes right after 有. Say 我有事要做.
✅ 我有事要做。
wǒ yǒu shì yào zuò
I have things to do. — noun (事) before the verb phrase (要做).
4. Using 是 to introduce the someone. "There's someone…" is 有人, not 是人.
❌ 是人找你。
Incorrect — introduce the person with 有: 有人找你.
✅ 有人找你。
yǒu rén zhǎo nǐ
Someone's looking for you. — 有人 introduces an indefinite subject.
Key Takeaways
- 有 + Noun + Verb means "have / there is an X to do" or "there's an X that does Y": 我有事要做, 有人敲门.
- The noun after 有 is a pivot — it's the object of 有 and simultaneously the subject or object of the following verb, so no "who/that" is needed.
- 有人 is the everyday way to say "someone" as a new subject: 有人找你, 有人敲门.
- Any modal (要, 想, 可以) sits before the second verb, as usual: 有话想说, 有问题想问.
- Negate the whole pattern with 没有: 没有作业要写.
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- Existential 有: There Is / There AreHSK 1 — 有 (yǒu) also means 'there is / there are' in the frame Place + 有 + Thing — 桌子上有一本书 'there's a book on the table'. The place comes first, the (usually new) thing comes after 有, and the negative is 没有, never 不有.
- Pivotal Sentences (兼语句)HSK 2 — In a 兼语句 the object of the first verb is at the same time the subject of the second — 我请他来, 老师让我们读课文 — with 请/让/叫/使/派 as the pivotal verbs and no 'to' before the second verb.
- Presentative Verbs: 来了一个人HSK 3 — Verbs of appearance and disappearance flip the word order to introduce a brand-new entity after the verb: 来了一个人 (someone showed up), 走了两个学生 (two students left). The fresh, indefinite noun comes AFTER the verb — Chinese's 'there came a…' construction.
- Existence with 有 (There Is/Are)HSK 1 — 'There is/are' is a location-first frame: Place + 有 + (Number-MW) + indefinite Noun — 桌子上有一本书 'there's a book on the table', 前面有一家商店 'there's a shop up ahead'; the new thing is indefinite and comes last.