有 (yǒu) is widely used in Mandarin, frequently used to express the existence (or absence) of things in a certain place or location. It is similar to the English phrase "There is…" or "There are…", but with some differences.

Structure

The structure of sentences using有 (yǒu) typically follows this pattern:

Place + 有 (yǒu) + (Quantity) + Object

Example

桌子上有一个杯子。

[zhuō zi shàng] yǒu yí gè bēi zi

There is a cup on the table.

Now let's analyze each part of the sentence.

1.【桌子上】有一个杯子。

[zhuō zi shàng] yǒu yí gè bēi zi

There is a cup [on the table].

The first part of the sentence indicates a place.

There are two ways to indicate a place in Chinese:

(1) Use a noun that directly refers to a place ("Beijing", "Shanghai", "China", etc). In this case, the nouns do not need to be followed by words like 上, 下, or 里. 上 (shàng), 下 (xià), and 里 (lǐ) can be translated into English as prepositions ("on", "under", "in").

(2) Use a noun for an object ("table", "chair", "box", etc) and add 上, 下, or 里 after it to turn it into a place ("on the table", "on the chair", "in the box").

2. 桌子上【有】一个杯子。

zhuō zi shàng [yǒu] yí gè bēi zi

[There is] a cup on the table.

The second part is the verb 有 (yǒu, to have), meaning "to have," but in this context, it means "to exist". So it translates as "There is... / There are..." in English.

3. 桌子上有【一个】杯子。

zhuō zi shàng yǒu [yí gè] bēi zi

There is [a] cup on the table.

This part is flexible, but if you want to show quantity, you can use phrases like "a lot" (很多, hěn duō), or a number with a measure word.

4. 桌子上有一个【杯子】。

zhuō zi shàng yǒu yí gè [bēi zi]

There is a [cup] on the table.

The last part is the object, which can be any person or thing. In this example, the object is a cup (杯子, bēi zi).

More examples

路上【有】一个咖啡厅。

lù shàng yǒu yí gè kā fēi tīng。

There is a cafe on the street.

咖啡厅里【有】很多桌子。

kā fēi tīng lǐ yǒu hěn duō zhuō zi

There are many tables in the cafe.

桌子上【有】一个盘子。

zhuō zi shàng yǒu yí gè pán zi

There is a plate on the table.

盘子上【有】一杯咖啡。

pán zi shàng yǒu yì bēi kā fēi

There is a cup of coffee on the plate.

咖啡杯里【有】一个勺子。

kā fēi bēi lǐ yǒu yí gè sháo zi

There is a spoon in the coffee cup.

Source: That's Mandarin

For any concerns regarding copyright infringement, please reach out to us at intlservices@shanghai.gov.cn.