Chinese word

有

Pronunciation

Pinyinyǒu

Meaning

  • verbhave

Example

他有一本书。tā yǒu yì běn shū

He has a book.

Illustration for 有 (have)

More examples

明天你有时间吗？míng tiān nǐ yǒu shí jiān ma

Do you have time tomorrow?

Core concept

Marks something as held by a person or present in a place, linking possession, qualities, and existence.

Common phrases

  • 有时间yǒu shí jiān

    have time

  • 有钱yǒu qián

    have money

  • 有东西yǒu dōng xī

    have something

Similar words

没有méi yǒu: Indicates that something does not exist or that someone does not have something.
在zài: Indicates where a person or thing is located.

Definition in Chinese

表示某人或某物具有某物或某种属性，也可表示某物在某处存在，亦常作为简短的肯定回答或用于引出数量和存在情况。biǎo shì mǒu rén huò mǒu wù jù yǒu mǒu wù huò móu zhǒng shǔ xìng yě kě biǎo shì mǒu wù zài mǒu chù cún zài yì cháng zuò wéi jián duǎn de kěn dìng huí dá huò yòng yú yǐn chū shù liàng hé cún zài qíng kuàng

Word origin

有 (yǒu, "have") comes from an old character showing a hand holding meat, so its original idea of possessing something extends naturally to having qualities and things being present.

Usage tips

  • English uses have for ownership but usually there is or there are for existence, while Chinese uses the same word in both patterns.

Other meanings

  • there isverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word