X 跟 Y + 有 / 没有关系
Reach for this when you want to say something is or isn't relevant to someone or something — 'this has (nothing) to do with X.' It's the everyday relevance check in spoken Chinese. Use 有关系 to claim a connection, 没关系 to deny one, and 有什么关系 as a rhetorical 'what does that have to do with anything?' It's casual, conversational, and constantly appears in arguments, news commentary, and explanations.
Structure
[X] 跟 [Y] 有 / 没有 / 有什么 关系
[X] gēn [Y] yǒu / méiyǒu / yǒu shénme guānxi
How to Think About It
Think of 关系 as an invisible thread between two things. 跟 lays the thread down, and 有/没有 decides whether the thread is actually there. The pattern doesn't describe what kind of connection — it just confirms or denies that any thread exists at all. That's why it's so common in arguments: you're not debating the nature of the link, you're disputing whether there's a link at all.
Examples
这件事跟我没有关系。
Zhè jiàn shì gēn wǒ méiyǒu guānxi.
This has nothing to do with me.
房价跟普通人有什么关系？
Fángjià gēn pǔtōng rén yǒu shénme guānxi?
What does the housing price have to do with ordinary people?
他的决定跟公司的未来有很大关系。
Tā de juédìng gēn gōngsī de wèilái yǒu hěn dà guānxi.
His decision has a lot to do with the company's future.
Common Mistake
Learners often swap 跟 for 和 in writing and that's fine, but they also drop 关系 thinking 跟 alone means 'related to.' 跟 only positions Y next to X; without 关系 the sentence is incomplete.
这跟我没有。
这跟我没有关系。
Don't Confuse With
对 [X] 来说
Use 对...来说 when you mean 'from X's perspective,' not 'related to X.' Relevance vs. point of view.
关于 [X]
关于 means 'about / regarding X' — it introduces a topic. 跟...有关系 asks whether the topic even applies.
[X] 跟 [Y] 有关
Same meaning, slightly more written. In speech 有关系 is far more natural; 有关 shows up in headlines and reports.
Practice
Fill in the blank: 这件事 ___ 我没有关系。
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跟
Fill in the blank: 房价跟普通人有什么 ___ ？
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关系
Arrange: 关系 / 我 / 跟 / 没 / 这 / 。
Show answer
这跟我没关系。
Translate to Chinese: His decision has a lot to do with our future.
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他的决定跟我们的未来有很大关系。
Write a sentence using X 跟 Y 没有关系 about a piece of news that doesn't affect you.
Show answer
这条新闻跟我的生活没有关系。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode: