是 sentences: saying what something is
是 (shì) joins two nouns: “A is B”. Use it for names, jobs, nationalities and identifying things — never before an adjective.
Structure
主语 + 是 + 名词（短语）
Explanation
Chinese words in this text can be activated to show a dictionary gloss.
links two nouns and says that the first one is the second: a name, a job, a nationality, a thing. The subject comes first, then , then the noun that identifies it: (Wǒ shì xuésheng) “I’m a student”. To make it negative, put directly in front of : “He isn’t a teacher”. Two habits are worth building early. First, is not a general-purpose “to be”: Chinese does not say for “I’m busy” — adjectives take instead, which is the next pattern in this course. Second, is dropped with ages and prices: “I’m eighteen”, “This one is five yuan”. This pattern is one of the first things assessed at beginner level, usually together with .
Correct
Say each one out loud before moving on. The audio is a reference pronunciation, not a model to imitate exactly — match the tone contour, not the voice.
我是学生。我是學生。
Wǒ (third tone, dipping) shì (fourth tone, falling) xuésheng. (second tone, rising)···
I’m a student.
他不是老师，他是医生。他不是老師，他是醫生。
Tā (first tone, high and level) bú (second tone, rising) shì (fourth tone, falling) lǎoshī, (third tone, dipping) tā (first tone, high and level) shì (fourth tone, falling) yīshēng. (first tone, high and level)···
He isn’t a teacher — he’s a doctor.
这是我的手机。這是我的手機。
Zhè (fourth tone, falling) shì (fourth tone, falling) wǒ (third tone, dipping) de (neutral tone) shǒujī. (third tone, dipping)···
This is my phone.
Incorrect — Common mistakes
These sentences are wrong. They are printed here on purpose, each one paired with the repair and the reason, because the error you can recognise is the error you stop making.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 他是很忙。
Correct
Correct sentence: 他很忙。
Why: 是 introduces a noun, not an adjective. “He is busy” needs 很 in front of the adjective and no 是 at all.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 我是十八岁。
Correct
Correct sentence: 我十八岁。
Why: Ages, prices and dates are stated without 是 in Chinese. The number phrase works as the predicate on its own.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 这是不我的书。
Correct
Correct sentence: 这不是我的书。
Why: 不 goes in front of 是, not after it. The negator always precedes the verb it negates.
Compared with
Most errors with this pattern are not errors about this pattern — they are a neighbouring pattern arriving at the wrong moment. Read these side by side.
Learners whose first language uses one verb “to be” for both jobs and qualities tend to write 我是累 (“I am tired”). Chinese splits the job in two: 是 before a noun (我是老师), 很 before an adjective (我很累). If the word after the gap can be counted or owned, it is a noun and takes 是; if it describes a quality, it takes 很.
Adjectival predicates with 很 →Mini quiz
Question 1 / 3Total score: 0
Choose the word that correctly fills the gap.
他 ___ 我的老师。