In answer to questions, an abbreviation of the initial questions, in the form of the verb with or without a negative, is normally used rather than ‘yes’ or ‘no’:
你喝酒吗？
Nǐ hē jiǔ ma ？
Do you drink?
喝。
Hē 。
Yes. (lit. drink)
你抽烟吗？
Nǐ chōu yān ma ？
Do you smoke?
不抽。
Bú chōu 。
No. (lit. don’t smoke)
他来了没有？
Tā lái le méi yǒu ？
Has he turned up?
来了。
Lái le 。
Yes. (lit. has come)
你明天去不去游泳？
Nǐ míng tiān qù bú qù yóu yǒng？
Are you going swimming tomorrow?
去。
Qù 。
Yes. (lit. go)
你是不是这儿的服务员？
Nǐ shì bú shì zhè ér de fú wù yuán ？
Are you a waiter here?
是。
Shì 。
Yes. (lit. am)
你有没有手电筒？
Nǐ yǒu méi yǒu shǒu diàn tǒng ？
Have you got a torch?
对不起，没有。
Duì bú qǐ ，méi yǒu 。
Sorry, no. (lit. sorry, haven’t got)
If a modal verb is present it should be used in the answer:
你想不想去看电影？
Nǐ xiǎng bú xiǎng qù kàn diàn yǐng ？
Do you want to go to the cinema?
想。
Xiǎng 。
Yes. (lit. want)
你要上市场买东西吗？
Nǐ yào shàng shì chǎng mǎi dōng xī ma ？
Would you like to go shopping in the market?
不要。
Bú yào 。
No. (lit. not want)
我能借一下你的打火机吗？
Wǒ néng jiè yī xià nǐ de dǎ huǒ jī ma ？
May I borrow your lighter for a moment?
能。
Néng 。
Yes. (lit. may)
In answer to question-word questions, as with most languages it is possible to supply an abbreviated response containing only what is relevant to the question being asked:
她是谁？
Tā shì shuí ？
Who is she?
我的朋友。
Wǒ de péng yǒu 。
My friend.
你有几个孩子？
Nǐ yǒu jǐ gè hái zǐ ？
How many children have you got?
两个。
Liǎng gè 。
Two.
这是谁的钱包？
Zhè shì shuí de qián bāo ？
Whose purse is this?
我的。
Wǒ de 。
Mine.
火车什么时候到？
Huǒ chē shí me shí hòu dào ？
What time is the train due?
下午三点半。
Xià wǔ sān diǎn bàn 。
Half past three in the afternoon.
[1] Yip, P. C., Rimmington, D., Xiaoming, Z., & Henson, R. (2009). Basic Chinese: a grammar and workbook. Taylor & Francis.
