How to say “be” in Chinese
be
“Be” in Chinese is 是, shì: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.
How to pronounce it
是 is read shì. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On top, 日 “sun”.
Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “是”.
Examples
Sentences from the course lessons with 是. Tap the sound icon to listen.
- 我是学生wǒshìxuéshengI’m a student.
- 他是老师tāshìlǎoshīHe’s a teacher.
- 我是俄罗斯人wǒshìÉluósīrénI’m from Russia.
- 你是哪国人nǐshìnǎguórénWhich country are you from?
- 我不是中国人wǒbúshìZhōngguórénI’m not from China.
- 我们是学生wǒmenshìxuéshengWe’re students.
More characters by topic — happiness, luck, strength, nature — on the page “Chinese characters with meanings”.
More words from the lesson “I, you, he”
Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say “be” in Chinese?
“Be” in Chinese is 是, pinyin shì.
What does 是 mean?
是 (shì) means “be”.
How do you write 是?
是 is 1 character. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 是?
是 is read shì. Tones: shì — fourth tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“be” in the lesson “I, you, he”
This word is from the topic “Meeting people” of HSK 1. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.
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