Chinese Language Learning Program Lesson 132 – The shì 是 sentence in Chinese

Chinese Language Learning Program

Lesson 132 – The shì 是 sentence in Chinese

Hello, everyone. Welcome back. This is Baixue’s Chinese Language Learning Program. Last time we talked about the usage of le 了 in Chinese. Today, we will talk about The shì 是 sentence in Chinese.

Sentence with shì 是 as the predicate is shì 是 sentence in Chinese. The pattern of the shì 是 sentence is:

Subject + shì 是 + Object

wǒ men shì hǎo péng yǒu.

 我   们    是    好    朋     友。(We are good friends.)

wǒ de zhuō zi shì yuán xíng de.

我   的    桌  子  是    圆      形   的。(My table is round.)

The subject can be noun, pronoun, adjective, and even a verb, etc.

yóu yǒng shì tā de ài hào zhī yī.

  游     泳    是 他 的 爱  好    之 一。

(Swimming is one of his hobbies.)

Adverb can be placed in front of shì 是.

jīn tiān yòu shì yī gè yàn yáng tiān.

今  天    又    是 一  个  艳     阳    天。

(Today is a sunny day again.)

nǐ men dōu zuò de hěn hǎo, yóu qí shì xiǎo bái, zuò

你   们    都    做  得   很    好，尤   其  是   小    白，做

de fēi cháng bàng.

的  非     常      棒。

(You are all doing great, especially Xiao Bai, who is doing wonderful.)

The negative form of the shì 是 sentence is very easy. You just need to add bù 不 in front of shì 是.

Subject + bù shì不是 + Object

zhè běn shū bù shì wǒ de.

  这   本    书  不   是  我  的。

(This book is not mine.)

tā bù shì xué shēng.

他 不   是   学     生。(He is not a student.)

There is something I need to mention about shì 是。

1.   Shì 是 does not change its form. Not like in English, in the present, past and future, you have to change the form of “to be”. You just need to add the time adverb.

tā yǐ qián shì xué shēng.

他以   前    是   学     生。(He was a student before.)

wǒ xiàn zài shì yī shēng.

 我   现    在  是  医    生。(I am a doctor now.)

zhè lǐ jiāng lái kě néng shì tǐ yù chǎng.

  这 里   将   来 可    能    是 体 育    场。

(There will be a stadium here in the near future.)

2.   You can add some adverb between bù 不and shì 是.

zhè xiē shū bù quán shì wǒ de.

  这  些    书  不    全    是   我  的。

(These books are not all mine.)

tā bù zhǐ shì wǒ de lǎo shī, hái shì wǒ de péng yǒu.

他 不  只   是  我  的  老   师，还  是   我  的    朋    友。

(He is not only my teacher,  and also my friend.)

zhè xiē xìn jiàn bù dōu shì wǒ de.

  这  些  信    件  不    都   是  我  的。

(These letters are not all mine.)

3.   Question sentence with shì bù shì 是不是.

tā shì bù shì nǐ nán péng yǒu?

他  是  不  是 你   男    朋     友？(Is he your boyfriend?)

tā shuō de shì bù shì zhēn de?

他    说   的   是 不   是    真   的？

(Is what he said true?)

nǐ shì bù shì bù xiāng xìn wǒ?

你  是 不   是  不    相    信   我？

(You do not believe me, do you?)

nǐ bù xiāng xìn wǒ, shì bù shì?

你 不    相     信   我,  是  不   是？

(You do not believe me, do you?)

Ok, that is all for today.

xiè  xiè!

 谢   谢 ! (Thanks!)

xià  cì  jiàn

 下  次  见!  (See you next time!)