<p>Most Chinese prepositions are also verbs. For example:<br>
在: to be (at) (verb), at (preposition)<br>
跟: to follow (verb), with (preposition)<br>
给: to give (verb), to, for (preposition)<br>
etc.</p>

<p>For that reason, they do carry their verb features even when acting as prepositions. And for what I've seen since I started studying Chinese, the first verb is always the one that's negated and that's inserted in the V/A-not-V/A structure. Some examples:</p>

<p>你<strong>在不在</strong>中国学中文？/我<strong>不在</strong>中国学中文。<br>
他<strong>跟不跟</strong>妈妈一起吃饭？/他<strong>不跟</strong>妈妈吃饭。<br>
你<strong>给没给</strong>女朋友打电话？/我<strong>没给</strong>女朋友打电话。<br>
他<strong>想不想</strong>去看电影？/他<strong>不想</strong>去看电影。<br>
你<strong>比不比</strong>他高？/我<strong>不比</strong>他高。<br>
你<strong>把没把</strong>书带来？/我<strong>没把</strong>书带来。<br>
<em>(if there are any mistakes in my examples, I'd appreciate if a native speaker could point them out)</em></p>

<p>As you can see, the "prepositions" are always negated.</p>

<p>You may negate other parts of the sentence, but the "neutral" negation is always negating the first verb in Chinese.</p>

<p>Hope this helps. Cheers</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-09T13:25:20.660Z
2015-04-10T13:15:22.717Z
2015-04-10T13:15:22.717Z
Enrico Brasil
<p>Let me explain it in another way:</p>

<p>"跟他一起去不去" means you are not sure about going(去) or not, but with him(跟他一起), maybe you will(去), or not(不去).</p>

<p>"跟不跟他一起去" mean yes you are definitely going(去), but with him or not -- that depends, maybe you will go with others.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-09T02:03:47.887Z
2015-04-09T02:03:47.887Z
shellbye
<p>I am confused about the Chinese equivalent of "Do you go with him". The sentence is a so-called yes/no question by many textbooks and grammar books. Using the VA-not-VA(Verb Adjective) to compose this question, I think it should be 你跟他一起去不去？But native Chinese people say: 你跟不跟他一起去？</p>

<p>The "跟" is a preposition, not a verb or adjective. Why is the VA-not-VA also applicable to preposition? </p>

<p>Also, why is 你跟他一起去不去 wrong?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-08T19:24:26.187Z
Actually both are correct, but they have different meanings. The first one means "If you are with him, do you (still) want to go?" and the second one means "Do you want to go with him".
Derek 朕會功夫
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-08T22:03:23.510Z
@Derek朕會功夫 I don't think "你跟他一起去不去" is the equivalent to "If you are with him, do you want to go". The equivalent to your sentence is: 如果你跟他一起，你去不去. The conditional aspect of your sentence cannot be omitted.
cnwang09
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-08T22:21:56.120Z
Well we often omit some parts in normal conversations since it's obvious to the listener. However if you are looking for an exact direct word-to-word translation, then yes they are not equivalent.
Derek 朕會功夫
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-09T00:30:38.693Z
@Derek朕會功夫 What I meant is: there is a conditional aspect in the sentence "If you are with him, do you want to go". But the sentence "你跟他一起去不去" doesn't have that conditional aspect in the meaning. After all , the sentence "你跟他一起去不去" is ungrammatical. My original question is: why it is ungrammatical.
cnwang09
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-09T01:16:07.680Z
It does implies a subtle conditional. You can see that after putting in some punctuation marks: 你，跟他一起，去不去？And regarding the grammar of the sentence, it's legit and I can see myself using it. It doesn't mean the simple question as you thought before, and I wouldn't put it that way when I'm writing an essay let's say, but it's not wrong.
Derek 朕會功夫
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-10T10:46:49.620Z
Another way to form y/n question is to stick 吗 at the end of sentence. So 你跟他一起去吗？also means "do you go with him". Informally, people also use 不 instead of 吗, ie 你跟他一起去不？The word 不 or 吗 has to be at the end of the sentence
jf328
<grammar><vocabulary>
Why is 跟他一起去不去 wrong but 跟不跟他一起去 right
# Why is 跟他一起去不去 wrong but 跟不跟他一起去 right

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-04-07)

I am confused about the Chinese equivalent of "Do you go with him". The sentence is a so-called yes/no question by many textbooks and grammar books. Using the VA-not-VA(Verb Adjective) to compose this question, I think it should be 你跟他一起去不去？But native Chinese people say: 你跟不跟他一起去？

The "跟" is a preposition, not a verb or adjective. Why is the VA-not-VA also applicable to preposition?

Also, why is 你跟他一起去不去 wrong?

**Tags:** grammar, vocabulary

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Actually both are correct, but they have different meanings. The first one means "If you are with him, do you (still) want to go?" and the second one means "Do you want to go with him".  
> **username_0**: @Derek朕會功夫 I don't think "你跟他一起去不去" is the equivalent to "If you are with him, do you want to go". The equivalent to your sentence is: 如果你跟他一起，你去不去. The conditional aspect of your sentence cannot be omitted.  
> **username_1**: Well we often omit some parts in normal conversations since it's obvious to the listener. However if you are looking for an exact direct word-to-word translation, then yes they are not equivalent.  
> **username_0**: @Derek朕會功夫 What I meant is: there is a conditional aspect in the sentence "If you are with him, do you want to go". But the sentence "你跟他一起去不去" doesn't have that conditional aspect in the meaning. After all , the sentence "你跟他一起去不去" is ungrammatical. My original question is: why it is ungrammatical.  
> **username_1**: It does implies a subtle conditional. You can see that after putting in some punctuation marks: 你，跟他一起，去不去？And regarding the grammar of the sentence, it's legit and I can see myself using it. It doesn't mean the simple question as you thought before, and I wouldn't put it that way when I'm writing an essay let's say, but it's not wrong.  
> **username_2**: Another way to form y/n question is to stick 吗 at the end of sentence. So 你跟他一起去吗？also means "do you go with him". Informally, people also use 不 instead of 吗, ie 你跟他一起去不？The word 不 or 吗 has to be at the end of the sentence  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-04-09. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Most Chinese prepositions are also verbs. For example:  
在: to be (at) (verb), at (preposition)  
跟: to follow (verb), with (preposition)  
给: to give (verb), to, for (preposition)  
etc.

For that reason, they do carry their verb features even when acting as prepositions. And for what I've seen since I started studying Chinese, the first verb is always the one that's negated and that's inserted in the V/A-not-V/A structure. Some examples:

你**在不在**中国学中文？/我**不在**中国学中文。  
他**跟不跟**妈妈一起吃饭？/他**不跟**妈妈吃饭。  
你**给没给**女朋友打电话？/我**没给**女朋友打电话。  
他**想不想**去看电影？/他**不想**去看电影。  
你**比不比**他高？/我**不比**他高。  
你**把没把**书带来？/我**没把**书带来。  
*(if there are any mistakes in my examples, I'd appreciate if a native speaker could point them out)*

As you can see, the "prepositions" are always negated.

You may negate other parts of the sentence, but the "neutral" negation is always negating the first verb in Chinese.

Hope this helps. Cheers


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### Answer by username_4 on 2015-04-09. Score: 0

Let me explain it in another way:

"跟他一起去不去" means you are not sure about going(去) or not, but with him(跟他一起), maybe you will(去), or not(不去).

"跟不跟他一起去" mean yes you are definitely going(去), but with him or not -- that depends, maybe you will go with others.


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