Difference between revisions of "Connecting nouns with "shi""
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{{Grammar Box}} | {{Grammar Box}} | ||
| − | The verb ''to be'' is not used in Chinese the same way as it is in English. In Chinese, 是 is for connecting [[ | + | |
| + | The verb ''to be'' is not used in Chinese the same way as it is in English. In Chinese, 是 is for connecting [[noun]]s, and is generally not used with [[adjective]]s. | ||
== Structure == | == Structure == | ||
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| − | This is equivalent to "Noun 1 is Noun 2" in English. | + | This is equivalent to "Noun 1 '''is''' Noun 2" in English. |
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Chinese does not [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_conjugation conjugate] verbs. That is, the form of the verb is the same no matter who is doing it. In this case, it is always 是 and never changes. As you can see, it's easy to form simple sentences expressing ''to be'' in Chinese. | Chinese does not [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_conjugation conjugate] verbs. That is, the form of the verb is the same no matter who is doing it. In this case, it is always 是 and never changes. As you can see, it's easy to form simple sentences expressing ''to be'' in Chinese. | ||
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|+Simple 是 sentences | |+Simple 是 sentences | ||
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| − | ! | + | ! Noun 1 !! <em>是</em> !! Noun 2 !! |
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| 我 || <em>是</em> || 学生 || 。 | | 我 || <em>是</em> || 学生 || 。 | ||
Revision as of 03:14, 17 January 2013
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The verb to be is not used in Chinese the same way as it is in English. In Chinese, 是 is for connecting nouns, and is generally not used with adjectives.
Structure
The structure for connecting nouns with 是 is:
Noun 1 + 是 + Noun 2
This is equivalent to "Noun 1 is Noun 2" in English.
Chinese does not conjugate verbs. That is, the form of the verb is the same no matter who is doing it. In this case, it is always 是 and never changes. As you can see, it's easy to form simple sentences expressing to be in Chinese.
Examples
| Noun 1 | 是 | Noun 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 我 | 是 | 学生 | 。 |
| 她 | 是 | 医生 | 。 |
| 他 | 是 | 老师 | 。 |
| 这 | 是 | 书 | 。 |
| 那 | 是 | 杯子 | 。 |
