[Learn beginner Chinese with grammar] Difference of : Yes / No / 是 shì / 不是 bú shì

Related lessons:

Do Chinese answers use Yes and No?

In English, people often answer questions with “yes” or “no.” In Chinese, the answer usually depends on the statement in the question.

For many questions, Chinese speakers do not simply translate “yes” as「是 shì」or “no” as「不是 bú shì」. Instead, they often answer by confirming or denying the statement.

Chinese	Basic idea	English feeling
是 ♬	That is correct.	Yes, that is right.
不是 ♬	That is not correct.	No, that is not right.
對 ♬	Correct.	Right. / Yes.
不對 ♬	Incorrect.	Wrong. / No.

For beginners, it is helpful to think of「是」as “that is correct” and「不是」as “that is not correct,” especially when answering negative questions.

1. Positive questions are usually easy

When the question is positive, English and Chinese answers often feel similar.

Question	Pinyin	English
你開心嗎？ ♬	nǐ kāixīn ma	Are you happy?

Answer	Pinyin	English
是，我很開心。 ♬	shì, wǒ hěn kāixīn	Yes, I am very happy.
不是，我不開心。 ♬	bú shì, wǒ bù kāixīn	No, I am not happy.

In daily conversation, many people may answer more naturally with the adjective itself:

Natural answer	Pinyin	English
開心。 ♬	kāixīn	Yes, I am happy.
不開心。 ♬	bù kāixīn	No, I am not happy.

2. Negative questions are different from English

The main problem appears with negative questions, such as “Aren’t you happy?”

Question	Pinyin	English
你不開心嗎？ ♬	nǐ bù kāixīn ma	Aren’t you happy? / Are you not happy?

In English, if you are happy, you may answer, “Yes, I am.” But in Chinese, you are denying the statement「你不開心」, so the Chinese answer is often「不是」or「不」.

3. If you are happy

If someone asks「你不開心嗎？」and you are actually happy, you are saying that the statement “you are not happy” is wrong.

Chinese answer	Pinyin	Natural English meaning
不是，我很開心。 ♬	bú shì, wǒ hěn kāixīn	No, that’s not right. I am very happy.
不，我很開心。 ♬	bù, wǒ hěn kāixīn	No, I am very happy.

This can feel opposite from English. The important point is: Chinese is responding to the statement「你不開心」, not directly translating English “yes.”

4. If you are not happy

If someone asks「你不開心嗎？」and you are not happy, you are confirming the statement “you are not happy.”

Chinese answer	Pinyin	Natural English meaning
是，我不開心。 ♬	shì, wǒ bù kāixīn	Yes, that’s right. I am not happy.
對，我不開心。 ♬	duì, wǒ bù kāixīn	Right, I am not happy.

Here,「是」or「對」means that the negative statement is correct.

5. A simple way to remember

Question	Your real meaning	Chinese answer	English feeling
你不開心嗎？ ♬	I am happy.	不是，我很開心。 ♬	No, I am happy.
你不開心嗎？ ♬	I am not happy.	是，我不開心。 ♬	Yes, I am not happy.

When answering in Chinese, ask yourself: “Is the statement in the question correct?”

• If the statement is correct, answer「是」or「對」.
• If the statement is not correct, answer「不是」or「不對」.

6. More natural answers in daily Chinese

In real conversation, Chinese speakers often do not need「是」or「不是」. They may answer directly with the real situation.

Question	Short answer	Full meaning
你不開心嗎？ ♬	我很開心。 ♬	No, I am actually happy.
你不開心嗎？ ♬	我不開心。 ♬	Yes, I am not happy.

This is often the clearest way for beginners: answer with the full sentence instead of only saying「是」or「不是」.

Quick review

Chinese	Core meaning	Example
是 ♬	That is correct.	是，我不開心。 ♬
不是 ♬	That is not correct.	不是，我很開心。 ♬
對 ♬	Correct. / Right.	對，我不開心。 ♬
不對 ♬	Incorrect. / Not right.	不對，我很開心。 ♬

Useful vocabulary

Chinese	Pinyin	English
是 ♬	shì	to be; correct in this context
不是 ♬	bú shì	not to be; not correct in this context
對 ♬	duì	correct; right
不對 ♬	bú duì	incorrect; not right
開心 ♬	kāixīn	happy
不開心 ♬	bù kāixīn	unhappy; not happy
很 ♬	hěn	very
嗎 ♬	ma	question particle
問題 ♬	wèntí	question; problem
回答 ♬	huídá	to answer; answer