有: to have; negative 没有
【一37】“有”字句 (领有)
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
Subject + 有 / 没有 + Object
有 (yǒu) means “to have”: 我有一个哥哥 (I have an older brother).
Its negative is unique: 没有 (méiyǒu), never 不有. This is one of the most common beginner mistakes!
有 also means “there is/are” when the subject is a place or a whole: 一个星期有七天 (a week has seven days). You'll see this in detail with places.
Question: 你有哥哥吗？ or 你有没有哥哥？
Examples
我有很多书。
Wǒ yǒu hěn duō shū.I have a lot of books.
他没有哥哥。
Tā méiyǒu gēge.He has no older brother.
你有中文名字吗？
Nǐ yǒu Zhōngwén míngzi ma?Do you have a Chinese name?
一个星期有七天。
Yí ge xīngqī yǒu qī tiān.A week has seven days.
Common mistakes
✗ 我不有妹妹 → ✓ 我没有妹妹.
✗ 我没有一个妹妹 → ✓ 我没有妹妹 (no number after 没有, just “no sister”).