In Chinese, 不 (bù) tag questions let you ask a yes-or-no question by offering both choices — no 吗 needed. You repeat the adjective or verb after 不 to form what's called an A-not-A question, such as 这个好吃不好吃？(zhè ge hǎo chī bù hǎo chī?) — "Is this tasty or not?"
The structure is straightforward: Statement + 不 + repeat the adjective or verb. The example 这个好吃不好吃？(zhè ge hǎo chī bù hǎo chī?) means "Is this tasty or not?" You can use this pattern to ask about food, weather, or plans — anything where you want confirmation. The key rule: never add 吗 (ma) at the end of an A-not-A question, because the repeated word with 不 already marks it as a question.
In this roughly 10-minute live conversation lesson, you talk out loud with AI teacher Mei Lin, who corrects your grammar and pronunciation in the flow of conversation and adapts to your level. You'll practice forming A-not-A questions about everyday topics like food and weather, building the habit of repeating the verb or adjective after 不 naturally. The first lesson is free to try.
After this lesson, you can ask natural yes-or-no questions by offering both choices. For more speaking practice, try another HSK 1 live lesson on talking about skills or another HSK 1 live lesson on expressing "too much". Browse more HSK 1 lessons to keep learning, and print handwriting worksheets with the free Chinese worksheet generator.
A 不 (bù) tag question uses an A-not-A structure: you state something, then repeat the verb or adjective after 不 to seek confirmation. For example, 这个好吃不好吃？(zhè ge hǎo chī bù hǎo chī?) means "Is this tasty or not?" Never add 吗 at the end.
Use 不 (bù) Tag Questions — Seeking Confirmation — when you want to offer both choices explicitly, such as asking if food is tasty or not, if the weather is cold, or if a friend is coming. The A-not-A form lets the listener weigh both options directly.
You practice forming A-not-A questions out loud with AI teacher Mei Lin, who corrects your grammar and pronunciation in real time and adapts to your level. The lesson targets this single pattern and takes about 10 minutes to complete.