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

Line 29: Line 29:
 
* <strong>这 些</strong> <em>是</em> <strong>花</strong>。<span class="trans">These are flowers.</span>
 
* <strong>这 些</strong> <em>是</em> <strong>花</strong>。<span class="trans">These are flowers.</span>
 
* <strong>那</strong> <em>是</em> <strong>你 的 水</strong>。<span class="trans">That is your water.</span>
 
* <strong>那</strong> <em>是</em> <strong>你 的 水</strong>。<span class="trans">That is your water.</span>
* <strong>这</strong> <em>是</em> <strong>我 的 衣服</strong>。<span class="trans">This is my clothes.</span>
+
* <strong>这</strong> <em>是</em> <strong>我 的 衣服</strong>。<span class="trans">These are my clothes.</span>
 
* <strong>你</strong> <em>是</em> <strong>我 的 朋友</strong>。<span class="trans">You are my friend.</span>
 
* <strong>你</strong> <em>是</em> <strong>我 的 朋友</strong>。<span class="trans">You are my friend.</span>
  

Revision as of 09:09, 25 February 2014

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.

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

  • 学生I am a student.
  • 医生She is a doctor.
  • 老师He is a teacher.
  • This is a book.
  • 杯子That is a cup.
  • 我 的 老板She is my boss.
  • 这 些 These are flowers.
  • 你 的 水That is your water.
  • 我 的 衣服These are my clothes.
  • 我 的 朋友You are my friend.

Be careful though. As you can see above, 是 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 the linking word 很.

See also

Sources and further reading