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

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* 他 没 听 到, <em>是 不 是</em> ? <span class="pinyin">Tā méi tīng dào, <em>shì bù shì</em>?</span><span class="trans">He didn't hear you, right? </span>
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*他 没 听 到, <em>是 不 是</em> ? <span class="pinyin">Tā méi tīng dào, <em>shì bù shì</em>?</span><span class="trans">He didn't hear you, right? </span>
* 你 <em>是 不 是</em> 还 没 吃 饭?<span class="pinyin">Nǐ <em>shì bù shì</em> hái méi chīfàn?</span><span class="trans"> Haven't you eaten yet? </span>
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*你 <em>是 不 是</em> 还 没 吃 饭?<span class="pinyin">Nǐ <em>shì bù shì</em> hái méi chīfàn?</span><span class="trans"> Haven't you eaten yet? </span>
* 你们 <em>是 不 是</em> 中 国 人? <span class="pinyin">Nǐmen <em>shì bù shì</em> Zhōngguó rén?</span><span class="trans"> Are you Chinese? </span>
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*你们 <em>是 不 是</em> 中 国 人? <span class="pinyin">Nǐmen <em>shì bù shì</em> Zhōngguó rén?</span><span class="trans"> Are you Chinese? </span>
* 你 到 了, <em>是 吗</em> ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ dàole, <em>shì ma</em>?</span><span class="trans"> You have arrived, yeah?</span>
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*你 到 了, <em>是 吗</em> ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ dào le, <em>shì ma</em>?</span><span class="trans"> You have arrived, yeah?</span>
* 你 有 两 个 孩子, <em>是 吗</em> ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ yǒu liǎng ge háizi, <em>shì ma</em>?</span><span class="trans"> You have two kids, yeah?</span>
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*你 有 两 个 孩子, <em>是 吗</em> ? <span class="pinyin">Nǐ yǒu liǎng ge háizi, <em>shì ma</em>?</span><span class="trans"> You have two kids, yeah?</span>
  
 
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Revision as of 08:51, 5 January 2017

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 xuésheng.I am a student.
  • John 吗?shì John ma?Are you John?
  • 他们 有钱 人。Tāmen shì yǒuqián rén.They are rich people.
  • 老板 吗?shì lǎobǎn ma?Are you the boss?
  • 我 男朋友。Zhè shì wǒ nánpéngyou.This is my boyfriend.
  • 你们 公司 吗?shì nǐmen gōngsī ma?Is that your company?
  • 你 妈妈 老师 吗?Nǐ māma shì lǎoshī ma?Is your mother a teacher?
  • 这 都 你 的 钱。Zhè dōu shì nǐ de qián.This is all your money.
  • 什么 菜?shì shénme cài?What food is that?
  • 我 也 他 的 朋友。Wǒ yě shì tā de péngyou.I am also his friend.


Other Uses of 是 (shì)

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 bù shì)?" 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 bù shì) 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

  • 他 没 听 到, 是 不 是Tā méi tīng dào, shì bù shì?He didn't hear you, right?
  • 是 不 是 还 没 吃 饭?shì bù shì hái méi chīfàn? Haven't you eaten yet?
  • 你们 是 不 是 中 国 人? Nǐmen shì bù shì Zhōngguó rén? Are you Chinese?
  • 你 到 了, 是 吗Nǐ dào le, shì ma? You have arrived, yeah?
  • 你 有 两 个 孩子, 是 吗Nǐ yǒu liǎng ge háizi, shì ma? You have two kids, yeah?

See also

Sources and further reading