---
title: "A-not-A (whether or not) in Chinese Grammar: … or not?, With Examples"
description: "A-not-A (whether or not): … or not?. Saying a verb or adjective, then 不/没 and the same word again (能不能, 喜不喜欢) asks a yes/no question, like adding 吗. 2 real lines from stories, each word explained."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/a-not-a-2"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Chinese grammar](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar)

# A-not-A (whether or not)

… or not?

Saying a verb or adjective, then 不/没 and the same word again (能不能, 喜不喜欢) asks a yes/no question, like adding 吗.

## In stories

爸爸笑了：“你**要不要**也谢谢桌子？”

[谢谢桌子 · How to say thank you in Chinese](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-say-thank-you-in-chinese#library-word-80-83) HSK 2

所以，几乎每年冬天，都有人问：南方**要不要**也有暖气？

[一条线，两种冬天 · Why is there no heating in southern China?](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/why-is-there-no-heating-in-southern-china#library-word-278-281) HSK 5

[Read 谢谢桌子](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-say-thank-you-in-chinese#library-word-80-83)

## More patterns

- [把 + object + verb do something to … (and it ends up changed)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/ba)
- [verb (+ 了) + duration (for how long) for … (how long … lasts)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/duration)
- [verb + 得 + complement says how something is done (how well, how much, with what result)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-de-c)
- […的时候 when …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/de-shihou)
- [verb1 + 着 + verb2 (doing 2 while/by doing 1) do something while …; do it by …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-zhe-v)
- [verb + 了 + verb … briefly; … a little](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-le-v)

## What does A-not-A (whether or not) mean in Chinese?

… or not?. Saying a verb or adjective, then 不/没 and the same word again (能不能, 喜不喜欢) asks a yes/no question, like adding 吗.

## How common is A-not-A (whether or not)?

It comes up in 2 readings of the 392 stories and articles in our free Library.

## Does it correct my mistakes?

No. It shows which patterns a text uses and what each one does; it doesn’t mark errors. Paste a sentence you wrote to see whether it uses the pattern you meant.

## More free tools

- [Chinese dictionary](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-dictionary)
- [Measure words](https://mandarinthewild.com/measure-words)
- [How hard is this text?](https://mandarinthewild.com/text-level)
- [Free Chinese stories](https://mandarinthewild.com/library)

Patterns found by our own parser; lines from our free Library.