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A1 Beginner Sentence Structure

How to Say “Have” with 有 (yǒu)

有 (yǒu) is the verb “to have”: Subject + 有 + Object (我有钱 = “I have money”). Its one quirk — it's negated with 没, not 不: 没有.

Why this trips learners up

The verb you'll reach for constantly is 有 (yǒu), “to have”. The structure couldn't be simpler — Subject + 有 + Object, just like English: 我有钱 (“I have money”), 你有时间吗？(“Do you have time?”). If you can build a basic sentence, you can already use 有.

There's just one quirk, and it's famous: 有 refuses 不. Every other verb negates with 不, but 有 alone takes 没 — “don't have” is 没有, never 不有. The other thing to keep straight is that 有 (to have something) is a different tool from 的 (to mark whose something is): 我有车 says you possess a car; 我的车 just means “my car”.

The structure

Subject 有 yǒu Object
Colour key

Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.

Pattern Subject Object Time Negation Adjective Measure word Question

Examples in context

Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.

Tap a word to see its grammatical role.

wǒ 我 Subject yǒu 有 Pattern liǎng gè 两个 Measure word mèimei 妹妹 Object

I have two younger sisters.

nǐ 你 Subject yǒu 有 Pattern xiōngdì jiěmèi 兄弟姐妹 Object ma 吗 Question

Do you have any siblings?

tā 他 Subject méi 没 Negation yǒu 有 Pattern shíjiān 时间 Object

He doesn't have time.

zhège chéngshì 这个城市 Subject yǒu 有 Pattern hěn duō 很多 Adjective gōngyuán 公园 Object

This city has a lot of parks.

nǐmen 你们 Subject yǒu 有 Pattern huìyìshì 会议室 Object ma 吗 Question

Do you have a meeting room?

wǒ 我 Subject xià zhōu 下周 Time yǒu 有 Pattern yí gè 一个 Measure word zhòngyào de 重要的 Adjective miànshì 面试 Object

I have an important interview next week.

Common mistakes

Avoid: 我不有钱。 wǒ bù yǒu qián.
Say this: 我没有钱。 wǒ méiyǒu qián.

Why it happens: 有 is the one verb that won't take 不. To say you don't have something, switch to 没: 没有钱, never 不有钱. (It's such a common slip it has its own lesson.)

Avoid: 我有两妹妹。 wǒ yǒu liǎng mèimei.
Say this: 我有两个妹妹。 wǒ yǒu liǎng gè mèimei.

Why it happens: When you count something, Chinese needs a measure word between the number and the noun. “Two sisters” is 两个妹妹 (two-个-sisters), not 两妹妹. After 有 + a number, don't forget the 个 — or whatever measure word the noun takes.

Avoid: 我是一个问题。 wǒ shì yí gè wèntí.
Say this: 我有一个问题。 wǒ yǒu yí gè wèntí.

Why it happens: “Have” is 有, not 是. 是 means “to be”, so 我是一个问题 says “I am a question”. To say you have one, it's 我有一个问题. Keep 有 (have) and 是 (be) apart.

Compare & contrast

有 — “to have” (a verb)的 — “'s / my” (a link)The difference
我有一辆车。wǒ yǒu yí liàng chē.我的车wǒ de chē有 makes a whole sentence — you HAVE a car (我有车). 的 only links owner to thing inside a phrase — MY car (我的车).
他有三个孩子。tā yǒu sān gè háizi.他的孩子tā de háiziUse 有 to state that you possess something. Use 的 to label whose something is.
Rule of thumb有 is a verb: “Someone HAS something” (我有车). 的 is a link inside a noun phrase: “someone's something” (我的车). Stating that you possess it? 有. Labelling whose it is? 的.

Try it yourself

Say “I have a question” — tap the words into the right order.

Related patterns

没有How to Say “Don't Have” (没有)

The negative of 有 is special— 没有, never 不有.

 的How to Show Possession with 的 (de)

Two ways to possess: 有 (you have it) vs 的 (whose it is).

 二／两二 vs 两: The Two Words for “Two”

有 + a count uses 两, not 二: 我有两个 (“I have two”).

 还／也还 vs 也 (hái vs yě): Which “Also” to Use

还有 (“and also have”) is 还 + 有 — the everyday way to tack a second thing onto what you've got.

 只只 (zhǐ): How to Say “Only”

只有 (“only have”) caps the amount — 只 in front of 有: 我只有五块钱.

 我吃饭How to Build a Basic Chinese Sentence

有 is just a verb in the basic Subject-Verb-Object frame.

 有的How to Say “Some… Others…” with 有的 (yǒude)

有的 (“some of them”) is built on 有 — literally “there are ones that…”.

 就How to Say “Only” with 就 (jiù)

“Only have” drops the 有 after 就: 我就一个哥哥 (“I only have one brother”), which means 只有 but is never 就有.

 还有How to Say “In Addition” with 还有 (háiyǒu)

还有 is literally 还 + 有 (“there's still / there are also”); that “there's also…” is exactly the “in addition…” it carries as a connector.

 有……吗How to Say “As … As” in Chinese (有……吗)

The same 有 also compares. Beyond “to have,” A 有 B 高吗？asks “does A have B’s height,” meaning “is A as tall as B?” The comparison sense is 有 measuring whether one thing reaches another’s level.

 有的是How to Say “Plenty of” with 有的是 (yǒudeshì)

The emphatic upgrade of 有: plain 有 states possession (我有时间), while the idiom 有的是 boasts of an abundance of it (我有的是时间, “loads of time”). Built on 有, cranked up.
Quick reference card
Merry Mandarin How to Say “Have” with 有 (yǒu) grammar.merrymandarin.com

A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.

Structure
Subject + 有 + Object
Example
我有两个妹妹
I have two younger sisters.
Watch out
✗ 我不有钱。  →  ✓ 我没有钱。