你有几个朋友？
Nî you ji ge pengyou?
How many friends do you have?

有 you
Pronounced like “yo”

有 means to have, to possess

有 is another way to show that someone or something possesses something. It can only be used, however, for tangible objects.

我有两本书。
Wô you liang ben shu.
I have two books.

你有几个朋友？
Nî you ji ge pengyou?
How many friends do you have?

*我有两个朋友。
Wô you liang ge pengyou.
I have two friends.

* This sentence brings us to an interesting example of how to answer questions. Remember 几 from this lesson and the “How Old Are You? 你几岁？” lesson? It means “how many” or “how much”. The easiest way to answer a question in Chinese is to replace the question word, like 几 with the appropriate word.

你有几个朋友？
我有两个朋友。