是 shì — to be (am, is, are); yes, that is so; correct, right

Pinyin

• shì (fourth tone, falling)

to be (am, is, are); yes, that is so; correct, right

Character breakdown

• 日meaning partThe sun, overhead.
• 正meaning partno entry yet正 zhèng: straight, upright, exactly so. The bottom of 是 is this component with its last stroke drawn as a long sweep.

Mnemonic

The sun 日 standing over 正 "straight, upright". At noon the sun is exactly overhead and nothing is out of true, so the character first meant "correct" — the sense still heard in 是的 "that is right" and 不是 "that is not so". From "that is correct" it settled into the ordinary linking verb: 我是学生.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.

Words containing 是

• 是shì (fourth tone, falling)to be (A is B)
• 但是dànshì (fourth tone, falling)but, however
• 还是/還是háishi (second tone, rising)or (in a question)
• 总是/總是zǒngshì (third tone, dipping)always, invariably
• 要是yàoshi (fourth tone, falling)if, supposing

Radical 日 — other characters

• 时/時shí (second tone, rising)time; an hour; a season; when, at the time of
• 日rì (fourth tone, falling)sun; day; day of the month in a written date
• 明míng (second tone, rising)bright; clear, evident; to understand; next (明天, 明年); the Ming dynasty