Language/Mandarin-chinese/Grammar/Connect-two-nouns-with-是-(shì)

In Chinese, 是 (shì) is used to connect nouns, and is rarely used with adjectives.

Structure

Here is the structure to connect names with 是 (shì):

Name 1 + 是 + Name 2

The Chinese language does not conjugate the verbs. As a result, the verb form is the same for all people using it, i.e. always “是 (shì)”.

It is very simple to form sentences expressing "to be" in Chinese; the only specificity of 是 (shì) is that it is used to link "two nouns" and therefore we can not really rely on literal translation from French when using the verb “to be”.

Examples

• 我 是 學生。/我 是 学生。

Wǒ shì xuéshēng.

I am a student.

• 她 是 医生。

Tā shì yīshēng.

She is a doctor.

• 他 是 老師。/他 是 老师。

Tā shì lǎoshī.

He is a teacher.

• 這 是 書。/这 是 书。

Zhè shì shū.

This's a book.

• 那 是 杯子。

Nà shì bēizi.

That's a cup.