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有yǒuto have; there is

HSK 1word

By Chinese Copilot · Last updated

有 (yǒu) means "to have" or "there is / there are." Use it for possession, as in "I have money," and for existence in a place, as in "there is milk at home." Negate it with 没, never with 不: say 没有, not 不有.

What does 有 mean?

  1. 1.

    to have; there isverb

  2. 2.

    (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -alverb

What does the character 有 mean?

  • 有to have; there is

How do you use 有?

Grammar patterns

  1. 1

    Subj. + 有 + Obj.

    Use 有 to say someone has something. This is the basic possession pattern.

  2. 2

    Place + 有 + Obj.

    Put a place before 有 to say there is or there are something in that place.

  3. 3

    没 + 有 (+ Obj.)

    Negate 有 with 没, never with 不. The negative form is 没有 (or short 没).

有 covers both "have" and "there is"; beginners can treat Place + 有 + Noun as English "there is/are."

Patterns

  • 有 + 没有 + Noun

    你有没有时间？

    Nǐ yǒu méiyǒu shíjiān?

    Do you have time?

  • 这里 / 那儿 + 有 + Noun

    这里有一个问题。

    Zhèlǐ yǒu yī gè wèntí.

    There is a problem here.

What are some examples of 有 in a sentence?

  1. HSK 1

    我有钱。

    Wǒ yǒu qián.

    I have money.

  2. HSK 1

    她没有车。

    Tā méiyǒu chē.

    She doesn't have a car.

  3. HSK 1

    你家有牛奶吗？

    Nǐ jiā yǒu niúnǎi ma?

    Is there milk in your house?

  4. HSK 1

    房间里有人吗？

    Fángjiān lǐ yǒu rén ma?

    Is there anyone in the room?

How is 有 different from 不?

有 must be negated with 没 (没有). Never say 不有. 不 negates other verbs and adjectives, not 有.

Only 有 fits here

我没有车。

Wǒ méiyǒu chē.

I don't have a car.

How is 有 different from 在?

有 says a place has something (there is…). 在 says someone or something is at a place. 学校有老师 means there are teachers at the school; 老师在学校 means the teacher is at school.

Only 有 fits here

学校有三个老师。

Xuéxiào yǒu sān gè lǎoshī.

The school has three teachers.

How is 有 used in a conversation?

  1. Speaker A:

    你有车吗？

    Nǐ yǒu chē ma?

    Do you have a car?

  2. Speaker B:

    没有，我没有车。

    Méiyǒu, wǒ méiyǒu chē.

    No, I don't have a car.

  3. Speaker A:

    你家有牛奶吗？

    Nǐ jiā yǒu niúnǎi ma?

    Is there milk at your place?

  4. Speaker B:

    有，家里有牛奶。

    Yǒu, jiā lǐ yǒu niúnǎi.

    Yes, there is milk at home.

  5. Speaker A:

    今天你有课吗？

    Jīntiān nǐ yǒu kè ma?

    Do you have class today?

  6. Speaker B:

    没有，我今天没有课。

    Méiyǒu, wǒ jīntiān méiyǒu kè.

    No, I don't have class today.

Can you use 有 correctly?

0 of 3 answered
  1. 1.Fill in the blank: 我___车。
  2. 2.Fill in the blank: 房间里___人吗？
  3. 3.Which sentence means "there is a problem here"?

What should you learn next?

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English glosses on this page are adapted from CC-CEDICT, published by MDBG (snapshot 2026-10-23), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Glosses were edited for learners.