“Basic Grammar” has 87 exercises — the first 3 are free
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是 — Not the English 'Is'
是 — 不等于英语的 is
Something is something. Someone is someone. That is all 是 does — and putting it anywhere else is the most common beginner mistake there is.
Memory hook
是 joins two nouns. That is the whole job.
Both sides are nouns
Listen for what sits on each side of 是.
🔊 Tap any line to hear it
Memory hook
的 makes it yours — and drops for family
Fix the sentence随堂小练
No pressure — just making it stick.
你____漂亮。
Nǐ ____ piàoliang.
You are beautiful.
这杯咖啡是____。
Zhè bēi kāfēi shì ____.
This cup of coffee is mine.
她____泰国人。
Tā ____ Tàiguórén.
She is not Thai.
那____我的狗。
Nà ____ wǒ de gǒu.
That is my dog.
Look and say it随堂小练
No pressure — just making it stick.
这是我的____。
Zhè shì wǒ de ____.
This is my ____.
这是我的____。
Zhè shì wǒ de ____.
This is my ____.
这是我的____。
Zhè shì wǒ de ____.
This is my ____.
Which sentence is correct?
This lesson's characters
Two animals, and the radical that gives them both away.
to be
会two ideas joined
The sun above, and 正 — straight, upright — below. What the sun shows you is what is so. It has meant 'is' for two thousand years.
cat
形meaning + sound
犭 is a dog squashed onto its side, and it marks animals. 苗 miáo tells you how to say it — and it is very close to the noise a cat makes. Once you know 犭, a whole zoo becomes half-readable.
the possession word
形meaning + sound
The most common character in written Chinese — you will see it more than any other. It is built the usual way, 白 for meaning and 勺 for sound, but two thousand years have pulled the sound so far that 勺 sháo no longer helps you say de at all. That happens: a sound part gets you close in most characters and in a few old, very common ones it has drifted out of reach. Said light and quick, never stressed: 我de狗, not 我DE狗.
Say it out loud随堂小练
No pressure — just making it stick.
Your turn — say it
这是我的猫。
This is my cat.
Your turn — say it
那不是我的狗。
That is not my dog.
Your turn — say it
我是学生，你呢？
I'm a student — and you?
The five sentences to drill
Two nouns on either side of 是, every time. Say each one twice.
🔊 Tap any line to hear it
Drill them out loud随堂小练
No pressure — just making it stick.
Your turn — say it
我是中国人。
I am Chinese.
Your turn — say it
他是我老师。
He is my teacher.
Take these with you
Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Point at three things near you and say 这是我的___. Then point at one that is not yours and say 那不是我的___.
- Say one sentence with 是 and one with 很. If you can feel why they cannot swap, this lesson has landed.
- Ask me one question ending in 呢 next class. Two characters, and you get a whole answer back.