Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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是不是 — Checking a Guess You Already Believe
「是不是」— 确认你已经猜到的事
吗 asks. 是不是 checks: you already think you know, and you want the other person to say so. Three places it can sit, and two ways to answer.
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Memory hook
是不是 + N · 是不是 + V · ……，是不是？
Reading people
Every line is a guess being checked. Listen for where 是不是 sits — and for how the answer hands the detail back.
Tap any line to hear it
Check the guess确认一下
No pressure — just making it stick.
____你的车？——是的，这是我的车。
____ Nǐ de chē? — Shì de, zhè shì wǒ de chē.
Is this your car? — Yes, it's mine.
She has guessed right. Which reply agrees?
You're hungry, right?
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
你____没有洗澡？——是的，我昨天晚上没有回家。
Nǐ ____ Méiyǒu xǐzǎo? — Shì de, wǒ zuótiān wǎnshàng méiyǒu huíjiā.
You didn't shower, did you? — Right, I didn't go home last night.
Your turn — say it
这是不是榴莲？
Is this durian?
It is Chinese baijiu, not wine. Which reply is honest?
Finish each check with the right word from the bank.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5Look, guess, check看图猜一猜
No pressure — just making it stick.
Pair each picture with its word — then ask 这是不是……？ about it out loud.
Tap a picture, then choose its word. Picked wrong? Tap that picture and choose again. Match all the cards to finish.
Your turn — say it
你是不是美国人？
You're American, aren't you?
Is this your phone?
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
Your turn — say it
是的，我很喜欢健身。
Yes, I love working out.
This lesson's characters
Three from this lesson's guesses: the country, the hand in 手机, and the hunger you can hear.
country
会two ideas joined
A square border 囗 with something precious inside: in today's form it is 玉, jade, the stone China valued above gold. The old form kept a spear and a walled town inside the border — a country is land you defend. You have said 中国 since your first week; now you can see it: the middle 中, and the walled treasure 国. 美国, 英国, 法国 all end in the same square.
hand
象drawn from life
Five lines for five fingers, drawn palm-up with the wrist trailing below — the oldest forms look exactly like a hand held out. Squeezed into a word it becomes 手机, the machine in your hand, and 手表, the watch on your wrist. As a left-side part it shrinks to 扌: 打, 拿, 找 — anything the hand does.
hungry
形meaning + sound
The food radical 饣 says what this is about; 我, 'I', lends a sound that has drifted from wǒ to è over the centuries. Read it as a small confession: food, and me. 你饿了，是不是？ is the sentence Chinese grandmothers say before you have even sat down.
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
- Next time you are fairly sure of something about a person, do not ask with 吗 — check with 是不是. Watch their face: they will feel read, not interviewed.
- Move 是不是 to the three seats out loud: 是不是你饿了 · 你是不是饿了 · 你饿了，是不是. Same meaning, three temperatures.
- Answer the statement, not the grammar: 你是不是没有吃饭？ — 是的. Yes, I didn't. It feels wrong for a week and then it feels right forever.