<blockquote>
  <p>Statement:<br>
  我妹妹来美国。= <em>My sister is coming to the States.</em><br>
  <sub>Wǒ mèimei lái Mĕiguó.</sub>   </p>
  
  <p>Yes/No Question:<br>
  你妹妹来美国吗？ = <em>Is your sister coming to the States?</em><br>
  <sub>Nĭ mèimei lái Mĕiguó ma?</sub></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Under this circumstances, both 来/不来 and 是/不是 are acceptable and can be understood with no difficulties. However, I have to disagree with your key to the exercise because 来/不来 is much more commonly used by native speaker. Chinese usually use the main verb in the questions to answer them. </p>

<p>I can understand the confusion. It is probably caused by the fact that "是/不是" means the same thing for "yes/no", "is/is not", "are/ are not" and "am/ am not". Let me use a few example to illustrate my point:</p>

<ul>
<li>你妹妹<strong>来</strong>美国吗？ Is your sister <strong>coming</strong> to the States?</li>
<li>The way Chinese commonly do is: <strong>来</strong>。It means: Yes.</li>
</ul>

<p>The full answer is: 是的，她<strong>来</strong>。Which, in English, should be:  Yes, she <strong>is</strong>. Here "is" refers to "is coming", where the main verb is"<strong>来</strong>".</p>

<ul>
<li>你妹妹是美国人吗? <strong>Is</strong> your sister American? </li>
<li>The correct way in Chinese is: <strong>是</strong>的。Also means Yes. </li>
</ul>

<p>However, this time, the main verb is "is". So the full answer is "是的，她<strong>是</strong>的。"meaning, "Yes, she is." See we have two "是" here, meaning differently (yes and is) in English. This is where you need to use "是/不是”。 </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T15:36:27.117Z
You pretty much answer my question but there is something I don't see... Which is: are there rules or guidelines or a rule of thumb to know WHEN I can use 是 too?
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T15:40:14.690Z
Other than the situation i talked above, sometimes we use 是 when the main verb in the clause is "is/are/am". eg. 你觉得我妹妹是美国人吗？ Do you think my sister is american? 是的。where the english is Yes, I do.
baoye
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-21T20:46:57.273Z
I don't think more answers are coming, and you helped me! Thank you! :)
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T15:30:34.067Z
2011-12-22T04:15:25.450Z
2011-12-22T04:15:25.450Z
baoye
<p>You can answer "对" for "Yes", and "不对" for "No".  It's also fine to answer "来/不来" (these answers are correct).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T15:15:59.997Z
2011-12-17T15:15:59.997Z
Frank
<p>In Chinese, there is no single word that exactly equates to yes and no. You have to answer with different words depending on the <strong>context/ grammar of the question</strong>. But there is still a basic rule to follow:</p>
<p>To answer yes, you just need to repeat the verb used in the question.
To answer no, you just need to say the negation word bù不/ + verb used in the question.</p>
<p>For example, the question &quot;Is your sister coming to the United States?&quot; can be phrased with those questions in Chinese.</p>
<p>1: nĭ mèi mei yào lái mĕi guó ma? 你妹妹要来美国吗？
The verb is 来, so the correct answer is 来 or 不来.</p>
<p>2: nĭ mèi mei yào lái mĕi guó, shì mɑ？你妹妹要来美国，是吗？
The verb is 是, so the correct answer 是 or 不是.</p>
<p>3: nĭ mèi mei yào lái mĕi guó, duì mɑ？你妹妹要来美国，对吗？
The verb is 对, so the correct answer is 对 or 不对.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-15T17:17:57.540Z
2020-09-15T17:42:13.780Z
2020-09-15T17:42:13.780Z
Survival Chinese with Simona
<p>I was a bit surprised at first when I discovered that Chinese doesn't have single words or expressions for "yes" or "no", and that instead we must use the verb from the question to either confirm or deny. The difficulty is not insurmountable if we can understand the verb from the question, but there seems to be exceptions, and this brings me to the object of the question.</p>

<p>I have this sentence and I need to modify as a yes/no question and then answer both positively and negatively:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><em>Statement:</em><br>
  我妹妹来美国。<br>
  <sub>Wǒ mèimei lái Mĕiguó.</sub></p>
  
  <p><em>Yes/No Question:</em><br>
  你妹妹来美国吗？<br>
  <sub>Nĭ mèimei lái Mĕiguó ma?</sub></p>
</blockquote>

<p>I answered with "来。／不来。", but looking at the key of the exercise, enough surprisingly I noticed I was wrong, since I should have answered "是。／不是。".</p>

<p>Why is 是 used here instead of 来？ Is this event contemplated in the grammar, I mean, are there rules/guidelines to know when we can use 是 even if it's not the verb used in the question?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T12:34:58.860Z
@Huang And so why is it also possible to answer 是?
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T12:52:25.713Z
I mean I will more like answer with the verb itself,but if the listener answers me with "是", I won't get surprised. That's oK. And if someone asks me "你妹妹明天来，是吗？", I wil more likely say “是" or “不是".
Huang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T12:54:04.493Z
That sentence is "Your sister is coming tomorrow, isn't she?", right? :D +1 thank you, you just taught me a new thing in Chinese :D
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T12:54:36.427Z
why? That's hard to say. In many cases, you can't find the "logic" in language. Language is not Math.
Huang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T12:57:37.343Z
@Huang Languages have logic, otherwise they wouldn't be usable... :)
Alenanno
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T13:01:43.157Z
I know. Every language has its own grammar and vocabulary, but there are some “usage" which is hard to explain. Perhaps I can't explain because I am not a linguist :)
Huang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T13:04:08.673Z
let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/2016/discussion-between-huang-and-alenanno)
Huang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2011-12-17T12:31:30.407Z
As a native speaker, I will answer with “来" and "不来", or “是" and "不是"(much less likely).
Huang
<mandarin><verbs><yes-no-questions>
Answering yes/no questions
# Answering yes/no questions

(Asked by: username_0 on 2011-12-17)

I was a bit surprised at first when I discovered that Chinese doesn't have single words or expressions for "yes" or "no", and that instead we must use the verb from the question to either confirm or deny. The difficulty is not insurmountable if we can understand the verb from the question, but there seems to be exceptions, and this brings me to the object of the question.

I have this sentence and I need to modify as a yes/no question and then answer both positively and negatively:

> *Statement:*  
> 我妹妹来美国。  
> Wǒ mèimei lái Mĕiguó.
>
> *Yes/No Question:*  
> 你妹妹来美国吗？  
> Nĭ mèimei lái Mĕiguó ma?

I answered with "来。／不来。", but looking at the key of the exercise, enough surprisingly I noticed I was wrong, since I should have answered "是。／不是。".

Why is 是 used here instead of 来？ Is this event contemplated in the grammar, I mean, are there rules/guidelines to know when we can use 是 even if it's not the verb used in the question?

**Tags:** mandarin, verbs, yes-no-questions

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: As a native speaker, I will answer with “来" and "不来", or “是" and "不是"(much less likely).  
> **username_0**: @username_1 And so why is it also possible to answer 是?  
> **username_1**: I mean I will more like answer with the verb itself,but if the listener answers me with "是", I won't get surprised. That's oK. And if someone asks me "你妹妹明天来，是吗？", I wil more likely say “是" or “不是".  
> **username_0**: That sentence is "Your sister is coming tomorrow, isn't she?", right? :D +1 thank you, you just taught me a new thing in Chinese :D  
> **username_1**: why? That's hard to say. In many cases, you can't find the "logic" in language. Language is not Math.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Languages have logic, otherwise they wouldn't be usable... :)  
> **username_1**: I know. Every language has its own grammar and vocabulary, but there are some “usage" which is hard to explain. Perhaps I can't explain because I am not a linguist :)  
> **username_1**: let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/2016/discussion-between-username_1-and-username_0)  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2011-12-17. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

> Statement:  
> 我妹妹来美国。= *My sister is coming to the States.*  
> Wǒ mèimei lái Mĕiguó.
>
> Yes/No Question:  
> 你妹妹来美国吗？ = *Is your sister coming to the States?*  
> Nĭ mèimei lái Mĕiguó ma?

Under this circumstances, both 来/不来 and 是/不是 are acceptable and can be understood with no difficulties. However, I have to disagree with your key to the exercise because 来/不来 is much more commonly used by native speaker. Chinese usually use the main verb in the questions to answer them.

I can understand the confusion. It is probably caused by the fact that "是/不是" means the same thing for "yes/no", "is/is not", "are/ are not" and "am/ am not". Let me use a few example to illustrate my point:

* 你妹妹**来**美国吗？ Is your sister **coming** to the States?
* The way Chinese commonly do is: **来**。It means: Yes.

The full answer is: 是的，她**来**。Which, in English, should be: Yes, she **is**. Here "is" refers to "is coming", where the main verb is"**来**".

* 你妹妹是美国人吗? **Is** your sister American?
* The correct way in Chinese is: **是**的。Also means Yes.

However, this time, the main verb is "is". So the full answer is "是的，她**是**的。"meaning, "Yes, she is." See we have two "是" here, meaning differently (yes and is) in English. This is where you need to use "是/不是”。

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: You pretty much answer my question but there is something I don't see... Which is: are there rules or guidelines or a rule of thumb to know WHEN I can use 是 too?  
> **username_2**: Other than the situation i talked above, sometimes we use 是 when the main verb in the clause is "is/are/am". eg. 你觉得我妹妹是美国人吗？ Do you think my sister is american? 是的。where the english is Yes, I do.  
> **username_0**: I don't think more answers are coming, and you helped me! Thank you! :)  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2011-12-17. Score: 2

You can answer "对" for "Yes", and "不对" for "No". It's also fine to answer "来/不来" (these answers are correct).


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2020-09-15. Score: 0

In Chinese, there is no single word that exactly equates to yes and no. You have to answer with different words depending on the **context/ grammar of the question**. But there is still a basic rule to follow:

To answer yes, you just need to repeat the verb used in the question.
To answer no, you just need to say the negation word bù不/ + verb used in the question.

For example, the question "Is your sister coming to the United States?" can be phrased with those questions in Chinese.

1: nĭ mèi mei yào lái mĕi guó ma? 你妹妹要来美国吗？
The verb is 来, so the correct answer is 来 or 不来.

2: nĭ mèi mei yào lái mĕi guó, shì mɑ？你妹妹要来美国，是吗？
The verb is 是, so the correct answer 是 or 不是.

3: nĭ mèi mei yào lái mĕi guó, duì mɑ？你妹妹要来美国，对吗？
The verb is 对, so the correct answer is 对 or 不对.


---

