MANDARIN SENTENCE PATTERN

Identity with 是

Say who someone is or what something is.

Subject + 是 (shì) + noun phrase

Use 是 to identify or classify something. It links a subject to a noun phrase such as a job, nationality, or category.

For a negative statement, put 不 before 是. In natural speech 不 changes to a rising tone before a fourth tone: 不是 is pronounced bú shì.

Examples

我是学生。

Wǒ shì xuésheng.

I am a student.

她是老师。

Tā shì lǎoshī.

She is a teacher.

这不是我的书。

Zhè bú shì wǒ de shū.

This is not my book.

Describing a quality usually does not use 是: 她很好, not 她是很好.