"这是不是王老师的妻子？"
Translation:Is this Teacher Wang's wife?
40 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
If this is the translation, how do you ask: "Is this not Teacher Wang's wife?"
Mine too. I got it incorrect. I said "Is this not teacher Wang's wife?" There are so many ways to say it in English.
Your answer, "Is this not Teacher Wang's wife?" was marked incorrect; because, that answer is incorrect.
A correct answer is, simply, "Is this Teacher Wang's wife?" because, that is what the Chinese question asks. Putting "not" between "this" and "Teacher" changes the question from a simple, straightforward, "affirmative" or "positive" question into a negative question, which the Chinese question is not:
这是不是王老师的妻子 means "Is this Teacher Wang's wife?"
这是不是王老师的妻子 does not mean "Is this not Teacher Wang's wife?"
DuoLingo is correct to accept "Is this Teacher Wang's wife?" and is correct to reject "Is this not Teacher Wang's wife?"
"Is this Teacher Wang's wife?" and "Is this not Teacher Wang's wife?" are not two ways to ask the same question in English: the two questions differ in tone, implication, and expectation.
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The site below says 是不是 can be used to ask a regular yes/no question or to ask for confirmation for something you already believe is true.
If I already believe someone is teacher wang's wife, then I would ask: "Isn't this Teacher Wang's wife?"
However, the phrase 是不是 (shì bú shì) can also be added on to the end of a sentence to confirm something you think is true. For example, if you’re pretty sure someone is from Taiwan, you can confirm by asking:
你是台湾人，是不是？
nǐ shì Táiwān rén, shì bú shì ?
You’re Taiwanese, aren’t you?
In English, "You’re Taiwanese, aren’t you?" means the same thing as "Aren't you Taiwanese?" and "Are you not Taiwanese?"
Although the site says to use 是不是 at the end of a statement, I've also seen other opinions that say it can be used for confirmation questions when it is not at the end.
My question is for a native speaker.
Can 这是不是王老师的妻子？mean both:
- Is this Teacher Wang's wife?
- Isn't this Teacher Wang's wife?
Or do you only use 这是王老师的妻子，是不是？to say "Isn't this Teacher Wang's wife"?
Also please let me know what region you are from. Thank you.
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/chinese/2015/07/09/shi-chinese/
I'm brazilian don't speak English very well however i can understand perfectly what you want to say about shibushi thank you for your explanation
Shibushi is a verbal form never seen before. Therefore your explanation is not clear. You just say this is correct, this is not. What does shibushi mean? Why dont we use ma at the end of the question?
I also answered this correctly. ..the only difference being a small case letter t in teacher
Types of Questions: Yes-No using 吗 ma; 是否 shìfǒu question; or with verb-not-verb structure that is formed by repeating the first verb of the verb phrase in affirmative and negative form.
I'd appreciate an explanation as to how the meaning of this differs from: Zhe shi wang laoshi de qizi ma?
Hey! There are two ways of asking questions in Mandarin -
"Is that your wife?" (Ma at the end)
Or "is or isn't that your wife?"
I prefer using the form you quoted - I think most people tend to use that from my experience.
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There's three, actually! The third way is by intonation. It sounds very easy, but it actually is the hardest one of these because you have to keep the right tones at the same time you keep raising your voice higher until the end. Maybe some day I'll be able to do it...
The meaning is completely the same. Are you going to use 是不是 or normal statement+吗 is your choice. I translated this sentence as 'Is this wife of teacher Wang?' and my answer was denied. I suppose I could say it like that in English, right?
If you were going to ask it that way I'd say, "Is this the wife of Teacher Wang?"
Why is my answer wrong " is this not teacher wang's wife? Can't i use negation when it's 是不是
Verb + 不 + Verb
is a common way to formulate questions asking confirmation in 中文.
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I typed "Is that" instead of "Is this" and it was marked as a wrong answer. Is there a hard distinction between the two in Mandarin?
"That" and "this" have different words "is this/is that"= 这是， depending on a question particle being in the word. "That is/is that"= 那是
这=this 那=that
sorry， i typed it wrong_ correction to first sentence : "is this/this is"= 这是 ”is that／that is”= 那是
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Why does the sentence not have negative in it? "Is this not Teacher Wang's wife?" How do we know that it is a question, and not an assertion?
这是不是王老师的妻子？means "Is this Teacher Wang's wife?"
这是王老师的妻子吗？ also means "Is this Teacher Wang's wife?"
We know that the first sentence is a question because the verb is immediately followed by the negation of the verb: 是不是; we know that the second sentence is a question because the sentence ends in 吗.
The 是不是...? construction and the 是...吗? construction are simply two functionally equivalent ways of asking the same question: they mean exactly the same thing, and neither implies a negative: neither sentence means "Is this not Teacher Wang's wife?"; rather:
这不是王老师的妻子吗？(without the first 是, but with 吗 at the end) does mean "Is this not Teacher Wang's wife?"
这是王老师的妻子。 means "This is Teacher Wang's wife," and is a positive assertion rather than a question (是 rather than 是不是, and no 吗 at the end).
这不是王老师的妻子。 means "This is not Teacher Wang's wife," and is a negative assertion rather than a question (不是 rather than 是不是, and no 吗 at the end).
The 是不是...? and 是...吗? forms are used for questions that can be answered with a simple affirmation or negation. In the case of either 这是不是王老师的妻子？ or 这是王老师的妻子吗？, the answer would be either 是 (for "yes") or 不是 (for "no").
why do they use "bu" here, if the question is "is that teacher Wang's wife"? .. i mean then it should be "isn't that Wang's wife?" right? can anyone give me the correct answer please!
I dont understand why my answer was denied i used "Is this not teacher Wang's wife?" Which makes sense to me at least in English.
I typed Wong by mistake and it was marked wrong, but I also typed "Is THAT teacher Wong's wife?" Is there a different word for this and that? Sometimes the answer tells me there is a typo and gives me credit.
This is 这个 (simpl.) / 這個 (trad.), it reads "zhe4ge".
That is 那个 (simpl.) / 那個 (trad.), it reads "na4ge".
Notice that the same difference exists between here/there, these/those, etc.
When I read it: This to be not to be Wang Teacher wife?
Than I write what it expects in English Me: Is that Teacher Wang's wife ? (incorrect)
Duolingo: Is this Teacher Wang's Wife ? (correct)
I guess I am going to have to play the English one too !
Your mistake is on the "That" that is 那 = More distance ( emotional or spatial, ex: over there) than "This" 这 (here)
