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Does this work for questions phrased in the negative? Ni bu hui shuo zhongwen ma? (You can't speak Chinese?) could be responded to with "bu hui", "hui", or "dui

• pierrec 12y ago
  Yes, it also works for questions phrased in the negative, and 对/不对 (dui / bu dui) ("that's right"/"that's not right") does not make any sense as a response to that question, you need to use 会/不会 (hui/ bu hui) ("I can"/"I can't"). It's all very explicit compared to most languages. But another, perhaps more natural way of negatively phrasing the question would be "你不会说中文，是吗？" or "你不会说中文，对吗？" or even the odd formulation that you mention "你不会说中文，对不对？" (You don't speak Chinese, right?), in which case you could respond with 对/不对 ("that's right"/"that's not right").
  • pierrec 12y ago
    It's too late to edit, but I now realize that what I wrote is pretty confusing. Especially the part with "You don't speak Chinese, right?" which should be between quotes. It's the translation of the previous sentence, not something that I'm actually asking... And I should add that I don't speak Mandarin fluently, but I'm still confident about the above.
    • evincarofautumn 12y ago
      I studied Chinese in college for a few years. Everything you wrote is correct.