feihong Posted September 25, 2011 at 04:50 PM Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 at 04:50 PM Looking online, I've seen 是否问题 and also 是非题 (I think this maybe has more of the meaning of true/false question). Does anyone know which one sounds better? And is there an alternative I don't know about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted September 25, 2011 at 05:13 PM Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 at 05:13 PM use 是非題. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feihong Posted September 25, 2011 at 06:13 PM Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 at 06:13 PM @skylee: Thanks! Can 是非题 also be used for the kind of questions on a test that ask you for a true/false answer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbradfor Posted September 25, 2011 at 08:56 PM Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 at 08:56 PM How would one say "true" and "false", versus "yes" and "no", in Chinese? Is there even such a distinction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted September 25, 2011 at 11:38 PM Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 at 11:38 PM Sorry I don't think I understand the difference between a yes/no question and a true/false question. I can only think of the term 是非題. IMO 是否問題 is not acceptable. Perhaps other members could provide more information on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted September 26, 2011 at 12:02 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 at 12:02 AM 是非题 applies to both a yes/no question and a true/false question. Nonetheless, you could also use 真假题 to refer to a true/false question. In certain contexts, say in mathematics, 真假命题 is more appropriate. And if it is a TV show involving a quiz of true/false questions, I would go with 真真假假, which fits the context better. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter2010 Posted September 26, 2011 at 12:04 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 at 12:04 AM And is there an alternative I don't know about? 判断题 and 对错题 are acceptable as well. How would one say "true" and "false", versus "yes" and "no", in Chinese? Is there even such a distinction? literally, they are 真、假、是、非 respectively. You may want to distinguish 对错 (right and wrong) as well I guess. Their differences are subtle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feihong Posted September 26, 2011 at 03:02 AM Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 at 03:02 AM @skylee True/false questions usually refer to test questions. They deal with objective truth. The only acceptable answers are true or false. A yes/no question can be objective. The number of acceptable answers is greater: yes, no, irrelevant, yes but..., no but... @Peter2010 Can you say 否 instead of 非？I played this video game in Chinese where the computer would answer 是, 否, or 与此无关. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guoke Posted September 26, 2011 at 04:04 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 at 04:04 AM yes/no question = 一般疑问句 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter2010 Posted September 26, 2011 at 06:12 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 at 06:12 AM Can you say 否 instead of 非？ Yes, you can. PS In classical Chinese, 是 is paired with 非 while 然 is paired with 否 . e.g 处定是非，辩然否 --- 王充《论衡·定贤》 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted September 27, 2011 at 02:15 PM Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 at 02:15 PM I had assumed by "yes/no question" you meant it in the context that I'd always seen it in language learning, or just talking about language, and it's in opposition to "wh-word questions". For instance: Yes/no question -- Can you help me with this? Wh-word question -- Where did you go? This is dfferent from "true or false: The Battle of Sekigahara took place in 1136." where you have to state the factual validity of something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liuzhou Posted September 27, 2011 at 03:35 PM Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 at 03:35 PM Both my bilingual linguistics dictionaries give 一般疑问句 for yes-no question, as Guoke gave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaiknees Posted January 16, 2012 at 02:27 PM Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 at 02:27 PM Sorry if this is a little off-topic. Recently I realized quite often (I live in a city in Guangdong province) that in yes/no-questions the 吗 is replaced by 不, for example "可以不?" or "你明天过来不?". I think until a few months ago I have never realized that, but recently I have the impression that almost everybody does this... Has it become more common recently or is just my impression wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iriya Posted January 16, 2012 at 03:08 PM Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 at 03:08 PM It's standard Mandarin. 你来不来 -> 你来不. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesley Zhu Posted April 9, 2012 at 06:51 PM Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 at 06:51 PM “判断题，对错题” 比较常见。“是非题”也可以。“是否问题”是不对的，我从来没见过。 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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