Connecting nouns with "shi"

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. In terms of sentence elements, the structure is:

Subject + 是 + Object

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

Simple 是 sentences

Subject	是	Object
我	是	学生	。
她	是	医生	。
他	是	老师	。
这	是	书	。
那	是	杯子	。

See also

• Word order
• Simple "noun + adjective" sentences

Sources and further reading

Books

• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (pp. 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) (pp. 44) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 1 (新实用汉语课本1)(2nd ed) (pp. 50-1) →buy