Connecting nouns with "shi"

The verb to be is not used in Chinese the same way as it is in English. In Chinese, 是 (shì) is for connecting nouns, and is generally not used with adjectives.

Basic Sentence

Structure

The structure for connecting nouns with 是 (shì) 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 (shì) and never changes. As you can see, it's easy to form simple sentences expressing to be in Chinese. The only tricky thing about 是 (shì) in Chinese is that it's used to link two nouns, so you can't rely too much on translating directly from English when it comes to expressing the English verb "to be" in Chinese.

Examples

• 我 是 学生。Wǒ shì xuéshēng .I am a student.
• 你 是 John 吗？Nǐ shì John ma?Are you John?
• 他们 是 有钱人。Tāmen shì yǒuqiánrén.They are rich people.
• 你是 老板 吗？Nǐ shì lǎobǎn ma?Are you the boss?
• 这 是 我 男朋友。Zhè shì wǒ nán péngyou.This is my boyfriend.
• 那 是 你们 公司 吗？Nà shì nǐmen gōngsī ma?Is that your company?
• 你妈妈 是 老师 吗？Nǐ māma shì lǎoshī ma?Is your mother a teacher?
• 这 都 是 你 的 钱。Zhè dōu shì nǐ de qián.This is all your money.
• 那 是 什么 菜？Nà shì nǐ de shuǐ .That is your water.
• 我 也 是 他 的 朋友。Zhè shì wǒ de yīfu .These are my clothes.

Other Uses of 是

Be careful and take note. As you can see above, 是 (shì) is only used to link two nouns. It cannot be used to link a noun and an adjective. This is a very common mistake for people just beginning to learn Chinese. For that kind of sentence, you'll want to use a different structure with the linking word 很 (hěn).

In Chinese it is also possible to use the phrase "是不是 (shì bùshì)?". It can be used at the beginning or end of a sentence. It's meaning is quite similar to the English word: "right" or "aren't you?" This is very useful if you want to express concern for a person, or if you want to mix up your sentence structure a bit and make it more interesting. The 是不是 (shì bùshì) pattern is also part of the affirmative-negative questions.

Another way to use 是 (shì) is to use it as a tag question. You can add “是吗?” (shì ma) to the end of a question to mean the English equivalent of: "is it" or "yeah?" Using this in a question usually allows the speaker to get a confirmation answer.

Examples

• 你 还 饿 ， 是 不 是 ？ Nǐ hái è, shì bùshì?You're still hungry, aren't you?
• 他 没 听 到， 是 不 是 ？ Tā méi tīng dào, shì bùshì?He didn't hear you, right?
• 你 是 不 是 还 没 吃 饭 ？Nǐ shì bùshì hái méi chīfàn? Haven't you eaten yet?
• 你 是 不 是 中 国 人 ？ Nǐ shì bùshì Zhōngguó rén? Are you Chinese?
• 你 到 了 ， 是 吗 ？ Nǐ dàole, shì ma? You have arrived, yeah?
• 这 是 茶 ， 是 吗 ？ Zhè shì chá, shì ma? This is tea, yeah?
• 他 是 美 国 人， 是 吗 ？ Tā shì Měiguó rén, shì ma? He is American, correct?

See also

• Word order
• Simple "noun + adjective" sentences

Sources and further reading

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (p. 29)　→buy
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 47-8) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1) (p. 44) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed) (pp. 50-1) →buy
• 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册） (p. 62)→buy