Give a translation of this sentence into Pinyin. Do you have one brother, or two brothers?

Question

  Do you have one brother, or two brothers?

Answer 1

The direct translation is…

ni2 you3 yi2 ge5 xiong1 di4 huo4 liang3 ge5 xiong1 di4?


However, the correct way to ask a person if they have brothers in Chinese is:

ni2 you3 ge1 ge5 huo4 di4 di5 ma1?


If you would like to know how many brothers they have including older and/or younger brother(s), you would say:

ni2 you3 ji3 ge5 ge1 ge5? ji3 ge5 di4 di5?


Lastly, if you are asking if they have brothers and sisters (older and younger), you would say:

ni2 you3 ji3 ge5 xiong1 di4 jie3 mei4?


*ji3 (how many) ge5 (measure word) = how many


xiong1 = ge1 ge5 = older brother

di4 (di5) = younger brother


jie3 (jie5) = older sister

mei4 (mei5) = younger sister

Answer 2

A general translation can be "ni you yi ge xiongdi, hai shi liang ge xiongdi?"

 

xiong di, means brothers. 

 

However, be aware that in Chinese people usually specify younger and older brothers.  Younger brother is "didi", older brother is "gege".  

 

So, if you know it is for younger/older brother, you can say "ni you yi ge gege, haishi liang ge gege?"

 

If you don't know, you can use "xiongdi" (older bother + younger brother) as a general term. 

Answer 3

你有一个兄弟，还是两个兄弟？

Answer 4

ni2 you3 yi3 ge4 xiong1 di4, hai2 shi4 liang2 ge4 xiong1 di4?

The numbers indicate the tones of different characters.

Answer 5

I agree that Mian P's is the smoothest translation that still retains the meaning.

 

Do you have one brother or two brothers"

 

ni you yi ge xiongdi, hai shi liange ge xiongdi?

 

 

The important difference between Chao's answer and Mian's answer is that one typically uses hai shi to mean "or" when asking a question and huo to mean "or" when making a statement. You can still use huo to ask a question if you want, but it may be less clear to the listener.

 

Examples:

 

Do you like spicy food or salty food?

ni xihuan chi la de, hai shi xian de?

 

I can eat spicy or salty food.

wo la de huo xian de dou keyi chi.