Difference between revisions of "Connecting nouns with "shi""

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* <strong></strong> <em>是</em> <strong>学生</strong>。<span class="pinyin"><Strong>Wǒ </strong> <em>shì</em> <strong>xuéshēng </strong>.</span><span class="trans">I am a student.</span>
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* 我 <em>是</em> 学生。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ <em>shì</em> xuéshēng .</span><span class="trans">I am a student.</span>
* <strong></strong> <em>是</em> <strong>医生</strong>。<span class="pinyin"><Strong>Tā </strong> <em>shì</em> <strong>yīshēng </strong>.</span><span class="trans">She is a doctor.</span>
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* 她 <em>是</em> 医生。<span class="pinyin">Tā <em>shì</em> yīshēng .</span><span class="trans">She is a doctor.</span>
* <strong></strong> <em>是</em> <strong>老师</strong>。<span class="pinyin"><Strong>Tā </strong> <em>shì</em> <strong>lǎoshī </strong>.</span><span class="trans">He is a teacher.</span>
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* 他 <em>是</em> 老师。<span class="pinyin">Tā <em>shì</em> lǎoshī .</span><span class="trans">He is a teacher.</span>
* <strong></strong> <em>是</em> <strong>书</strong>。<span class="pinyin"><Strong>Zhè </strong> <em>shì</em> <strong>shū </strong>.</span><span class="trans">This is a book.</span>
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* 这 <em>是</em> 书。<span class="pinyin">Zhè <em>shì</em> shū .</span><span class="trans">This is a book.</span>
* <strong></strong> <em>是</em> <strong>杯子</strong>。<span class="pinyin"><Strong>Nà </strong> <em>shì</em> <strong>bēizi </strong>.</span><span class="trans">That is a cup.</span>
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* 那 <em>是</em> 杯子。<span class="pinyin">Nà <em>shì</em> bēizi .</span><span class="trans">That is a cup.</span>
* <strong></strong> <em>是</em> <strong>我 的 老板</strong>。<span class="pinyin"><Strong>Tā </strong> <em>shì</em> <strong>wǒ de lǎobǎn </strong>.</span><span class="trans">She is my boss.</span>
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* 她 <em>是</em> 我 的 老板。<span class="pinyin">Tā <em>shì</em> wǒ de lǎobǎn .</span><span class="trans">She is my boss.</span>
* <strong>这 些</strong> <em>是</em> <strong>花</strong>。<span class="pinyin"><Strong>Zhèxiē </strong> <em>shì</em> <strong>huā </strong>.</span><span class="trans">These are flowers.</span>
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* 这 些 <em>是</em> 花。<span class="pinyin">Zhèxiē <em>shì</em> huā .</span><span class="trans">These are flowers.</span>
* <strong></strong> <em>是</em> <strong>你 的 水</strong>。<span class="pinyin"><Strong>Nà </strong> <em>shì</em> <strong>nǐ de shuǐ </strong>.</span><span class="trans">That is your water.</span>
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* 那 <em>是</em> 你 的 水。<span class="pinyin">Nà <em>shì</em> nǐ de shuǐ .</span><span class="trans">That is your water.</span>
* <strong></strong> <em>是</em> <strong>我 的 衣服</strong>。<span class="pinyin"><Strong>Zhè </strong> <em>shì</em> <strong>wǒ de yīfú </strong>.</span><span class="trans">These are my clothes.</span>
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* 这 <em>是</em> 我 的 衣服。<span class="pinyin">Zhè <em>shì</em> wǒ de yīfú .</span><span class="trans">These are my clothes.</span>
* <strong></strong> <em>是</em> <strong>我 的 朋友</strong>。<span class="pinyin"><Strong>Nǐ </strong> <em>shì</em> <strong>wǒ de péngyǒu </strong>.</span><span class="trans">You are my friend.</span>
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* 你 <em>是</em> 我 的 朋友。<span class="pinyin">Nǐ <em>shì</em> wǒ de péngyǒu .</span><span class="trans">You are my friend.</span>
  
 
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Revision as of 08:03, 11 August 2015

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

  • 学生。shì xuéshēng .I am a student.
  • 医生。shì yīshēng .She is a doctor.
  • 老师。shì lǎoshī .He is a teacher.
  • 书。Zhè shì shū .This is a book.
  • 杯子。shì bēizi .That is a cup.
  • 我 的 老板。shì wǒ de lǎobǎn .She is my boss.
  • 这 些 花。Zhèxiē shì huā .These are flowers.
  • 你 的 水。shì nǐ de shuǐ .That is your water.
  • 我 的 衣服。Zhè shì wǒ de yīfú .These are my clothes.
  • 我 的 朋友。shì wǒ de péngyǒu .You are my friend.

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?
  • 是 不 是 还 没 吃 饭 ?shì bùshì hái méi chīfàn? Haven't you eaten yet?
  • 是 不 是 中 国 人 ? 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

Sources and further reading