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Level Foundations · HSK 1

有, 没有 and 和: Having, There Is and And

有 (yǒu) is one of the first verbs you learn and one of the most useful: it means "to have", and with a place in front of it, "there is". It has one quirk that catches every learner: its negative is 没有, never 不有.

This guide also covers 和 (hé, and), which is narrower than English "and".

有 and 没有: to have

Person + 有 + thing. The negative is 没有 (méiyǒu), or casually just 没. The A-not-A question is 有没有.

  • 我有一个哥哥。

    Wǒ yǒu yí ge gēge.

    I have an older brother.

  • 我没有车。

    Wǒ méiyǒu chē.

    I don't have a car.

  • 你有没有中文书？

    Nǐ yǒu méiyǒu Zhōngwén shū?

    Do you have any Chinese books?

Place + 有: there is

Put the place first, then 有, then the thing: "on the table has a book". English puts "there is" first and the place last; Chinese reverses it.

  • 桌子上有一本书。

    Zhuōzi shang yǒu yì běn shū.

    There's a book on the table.

  • 学校旁边有一个银行。

    Xuéxiào pángbiān yǒu yí ge yínháng.

    There's a bank next to the school.

  • 这儿没有人。

    Zhèr méiyǒu rén.

    There's nobody here.

有 or 在?

Use 有 to introduce something new: "there is a bank next to the school". Use 在 to say where a known thing is: "my book is on the table". With 有 the thing comes last and often has 一个; with 在 the thing comes first and is something both speakers know about.

PatternExample
New thingplace + 有 + thing桌子上有一本书。 There's a book on the table.
Known thingthing + 在 + place我的书在桌子上。 My book is on the table.

和: and (between nouns)

和 joins nouns and pronouns: 我和你, 爸爸和妈妈. It doesn't join two sentences. To link clauses, Chinese often uses nothing at all, just a comma, or an adverb like 也 (also) or 还 (as well).

  • 我有一个哥哥和一个妹妹。

    Wǒ yǒu yí ge gēge hé yí ge mèimei.

    I have an older brother and a younger sister.

  • 我和我朋友都是学生。

    Wǒ hé wǒ péngyou dōu shì xuésheng.

    My friend and I are both students.

Common mistakes

  • ✗我不有钱。

    ✓我没有钱。

    Wǒ méiyǒu qián.

    有 is the one verb that is never negated with 不. Always 没有 or 没.

  • ✗有一本书在桌子上。

    ✓桌子上有一本书。

    Zhuōzi shang yǒu yì běn shū.

    In a "there is" sentence the place comes first and the thing last.

  • ✗我是学生和我住在北京。

    ✓我是学生，我住在北京。

    Wǒ shì xuésheng, wǒ zhù zài Běijīng.

    和 joins nouns, not sentences. Between clauses a comma is enough.

Questions learners ask

Is there a difference between 没有 and 没?

Not in meaning. 没 alone is more casual: 我没钱. At the end of a sentence or as a one-word answer, say the full 没有.

Does 没有 also mean "didn't"?

Yes, 没(有) + verb negates a completed action: 我没去 (I didn't go). See the guide on 了 and 没.

Practice this in lessons

The Foundations lessons teach this step by step, with exercises and review built in.

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