▎有, yǒu, (Vs), in Existential Sentence, there’s... (2) (See Existential Sentence with 有)

▎有, yǒu, (Vs), to mark the existence of a subject, there’s someone, there’s something... (3)

 

Function The verb 有 introduces the existence of an indefinite subject. The subsequent VP in the sentence describes what the subject does.

1 有人住這裡。

Yǒu rén zhù zhèlǐ.

Somebody is living here.

2 有兩個學生來找你。

Yǒu liǎng ge xuéshēng lái zhǎo nǐ.

There are two students looking for you.

3 早上有一個小姐打電話給你。

Zǎoshàng yǒu yí ge xiǎojiě dǎ diànhuà gěi nǐ.

This morning some woman phoned you.

4 昨天有一個先生來裝有線電視。

Zuótiān yǒu yí ge xiānshēng lái zhuāng yǒuxiàn diànshì.

Some man came yesterday to install cable TV.

5 有一個人在外面唱歌。

Yǒu yí ge rén zài wàimiàn chànggē.

Someone is singing outside.

 

Structures The subject in Chinese is usually a definite noun. If the subject is indefinite, it needs to be preceded by 有 to make it definite. Indefinite nouns cannot be subjects and stay behind intransitive existential verbs.

Negation：有 is always negated with 沒.

1 這間沒有人住。

Zhè jiān méi yǒu rén zhù.

There is no one living in this room.

2 沒有人要跟我去逛夜市。

Méi yǒu rén yào gēn wǒ qù guàng yèshì.

Nobody wants to go walk around the night market with me.

3 沒有學生要去故宮。

Méi yǒu xuéshēng yào qù Gùgōng.

None of the students wants to visit the Palace Museum.

Questions：

1 有人在裡面看書嗎？

Yǒu rén zài lǐmiàn kànshū ma?

Is there someone inside studying?

2 有沒有人想去 KTV 唱歌？

Yǒu méi yǒu rén xiǎng qù KTV chànggē?

Is there anyone who wants to go to KTV to sing?

3 有沒有人要跟我一起去花蓮玩？

Yǒu méi yǒu rén yào gēn wǒ yìqǐ qù Huālián wán?

Is there anyone who wants to go to Hualien with me?

4 有沒有人不喜歡吃日本麵？

Yǒu méi yǒu rén bù xǐhuān chī Rìběn miàn?

Is there anyone who doesn’t like to eat Japanese noodles?

 

Usage ‘有＋ NP ＋在＋ location’ is equivalent in basic meaning to ‘location＋有＋ NP’. However, the focuses of the two sentences are different. In sentence 1 A below, which is called an existential sentence, the focus is on ‘the cellphone’, while in sentence 2 A, the focus is ‘the floor’. Compare the following dialogues.

1 A：地上有一支手機。

Dì shàng yǒu yì zhī shǒujī.

There is a cellphone on the floor.

B：是誰的？

Shì shéi de?

Whose is it?／

2 A：有一支手機在地上。

Yǒu yì zhī shǒujī zài dì shàng.

There is a cellphone on the floor.

B：地上？為什麼放在地上？

Dì shàng? Wèishénme fàng zài dì shàng?

(On the floor? Why on the floor?)