Grammar Word ‘是’：The ‘be’ in Chinese

Text

A：你好！

B：你好！

A：你是老师吗？

B：不是，我不是老师，我是学生。她是老师。

A：谢谢。

B：不客气。你是老师吗？

A: Hello!

B: Hello!

A: Are you a teacher?

B: No, I am not a teacher, I am a student. She is a teacher.

A: Thank you.

B: You’re welcome. are you a teacher?

Words

你好 ni hão – Hello, Hi
好 hão – Good, fine, nice
你 nǐ – You, thee
我 wǒ – I, me
是 shi – be, is, am, are
吗 ma -question indicator
不 bù -not, no
学生 xué shēng – student, pupil
老师 lǎo shī – teacher, tutor, instructor
谢谢 xiè xiè -thank, thanks

Grammar - 是

1. The role of ‘是’

‘是’ is a very important word in Chinese grammar. It functions as a linking verb, similar to “be” in English. It connects the subject with a noun, pronoun, or an adjective complement to express identity, description, or classification.

2. The Affirmative Form

The affirmative form of the sentence using “是” is very straightforward. It follows the pattern: Subject + 是 + Noun. Here are some examples:

Example 1:

- 我是老师。
- (Wǒ shì lǎo shī.)
- I am a teacher.

This means “I am a teacher.” In this sentence, “我 (wǒ)” is the subject which represents “I”, and “老师 (lǎo shī)” is the noun meaning “teacher”.

Example 2:

- 她是学生。(Tā shì xué shēng.)
- She is a student.

It translates to “She is a student”. Here, “她 (tā)” is the subject for “she”, and “学生 (xué shēng)” is the noun for “student”.

3. The Negative Form

The negative form of this kind of sentence has the structure: Subject + 不 + 是 + Noun. Let’s look at some examples:

Example 3:

- 我不是学生。(Wǒ bù shì liú xué shēng.)
- I am not a student.

This sentence means “I am not an student”. The negative word “不 (bù)” is added before “是” to make the sentence negative.

Example 4:

- 他不是老师。(Lǐ Jūn bù shì lǎo shī.)
- He is not teacher.

It means ” He is not a teacher”. Here, we can clearly see how the structure works to make a negative statement.

Exercise

1. Feel free to write more sentences and add them to the comments.

- 我是…
- 我不是…
- 你是…
- 你不是…
- 他是…
- 她不是…

2. Click this link for listening practice: https://chineselearnhub.com/greeting/

3. Click to know more about self-introduction: (1) nationalities and (2) name.