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Vocabulary

Grammar

Chinese Names

In this lesson, we learn how to say "something is something" in Chinese. The first thing you need to know is that the sentence structure of Chinese is very similar to that of English in that they both follow the pattern of Subject-Verb-Object (SVO). But unlike many Western languages, verbs in Chinese aren't conjugated and noun and adjective endings don't change. They are never affected by things such as time or person.

这(/那)是什么？

This sentence means "What's this/that?":

1. 这是什么？(What's this?)
2. 那是什么？(What's that?)

The sentences, if broken down literally, shows that the ordering of words differs in English and Chinese:

The order of the sentences may seem a little bit tricky, but don't worry about that, we will discuss this later.

A　是　B

This sentence means "A is B."

"是" (shì), the equational verb to be, can be used as the English is or equals. When used in a simple Subject-Verb-Object sentence, the subject defines the object. Since Chinese verbs never change, no other forms for shì exist such as was or am in English. Also, articles like a and the are absent in Chinese. They are not translated.

For example:

1. 这是书 (zhe4 shi4 shu1): this is (a) book.
2. 那是杂志 (na4 shi4 za2 zhi4): that is (a) magazine.

A　不是　B

This sentence means "A is not B." in which shì is negated when preceded by "不" (bu). "不" literally means "no", "not".

For example:

• 这不是书 (zhe4 bu2 shi4 shu1): this is not (a) book.

Now, we come back to the "what's this/that?" questions. We already see that the order is a bit tricky comparing to the English question order. But comparing to the latter pattern "A　是　B", we find the similarity: their orders are identically the same. In fact, like particles, question words make statements into questions without changing the order of the sentence. To make one, simply substitute the QW in for place the subject would be in the answer.

Comparison:

1. 这是书。(This is (a) book.)
2. 这是什么？(This is what?)

1. 那是杂志。(That is (a) magazine.)
2. 那是什么？(That is what?)

吗

"吗"(ma) is a final interrogative particle used to form a question sentence. Adding this character at the end of a statement transforms the sentence into a question.

Example 1:

• 这是书 (zhe4 shi4 shu1)。(This is (a) book.)

  ↓

  • 这是书吗 (zhe4 shi4 shu1 ma)？(Is this (a) book?)

Example 2:

• 这不是杂志 (zhe4 bu2 shi4 za2 zhi4)。(This is not (a) magazine.)

  ↓

  • 这不是杂志吗(zhe4 bu2 shi4 za2 zhi4 ma)？(Isn't this (a) magazine?)

是/不

"是" (shi4) can be used to answer a simple yes/no question. In this case, "是" means yes, whilst "不" (bu2) or "不是" (bu2 shi4) means no (literally, not is).

How to answer yes/no questions correctly in Chinese? Usually, it's the same as in English, but pay attention if the questions are negative, like "Isn't this a book?". In Chinese, you answer to the questions, not the fact. If the question itself is a negative answer, use "不是" or simply "不", vice versa. For example:

• A: 这不是书吗？zhe4 bu2 shi4 shu1 ma? (Isn't this (a) book? = This is not a book, right?)
  • B: 是，这不是书。shi4, zhe4 bu2 shi4 shu1. (No, this is not (a) book. = You are right; this is not a book.)
  • B: 不，这是书。bu4, zhe4 shi4 shu1. (Yes, this is (a) book. = You're wrong; this is a book.)

A asks if that's a book in a negative way. If the object is not a book, you should nevertheless approve A's saying first. So we use "是" to acknowledge that A is correct, and then say "this is not (a) book" to emphasis A is right; In the case of that is a book, you should deny A's saying first, using "不" (no) to point out A is wrong, then make a new statement by noting that "这是书" (this is (a) book). One more example:

• 他今天晚上不来参加宴会了，对吗？(He's not going to the party tonight, is he?)
  • 不，他肯定要来。(Yes, he's definitely coming.)
  • 是 啊，他很忙呢！(No, he's so busy!)

的

Character "的"(de) indicates that the previous word has possession of the next one. In English it functions like 's or like the word of but with the position of possessor and possessee switched. For example:

1. 史密斯(Shǐ mì Sī)的书(shū: book) <-> Smith's book
2. 王明的钢笔 <-> Wang Ming's pen
3. 约翰** (Yuēhàn: John)的朋友** (péngyǒu: friend) <-> John's friend or a friend of John's

Exercise

1. Replace the underline words, and practice.
   1. 史密斯是美国人。
      • 英国人
      • 法国人
   2. 这不是杂志。
      • 书
      • 笔记本*
      • 铅笔
2. Replace the underline words, and then answer the questions with both positive answers and negative answers.
   • Example:
   • 史密斯是法国人吗？
     • 是，史密斯是法国人。
     • 不，史密斯不是法国人。
   1. 那是杂志吗？
      • 钢笔
      • 铅笔
      • 报纸*
   2. 王明是学生吗？
      • 律师
      • 老师*
      • 作家*
3. Translate the following English into Chinese.
   1. Wang Ming is not a teacher. Wang Ming is a student. Wang Ming is a Chinese. Wang Ming is not an American.
   2. Smith is a lawyer. Smith is not a writer. Smith is an American. Smith is not a French.
   3. This is Smith's book. That is Wang Ming's pen.

Further reading

Read the following article, and then answer the questions in Chinese.

你好(nǐhǎo, hello)，我(wǒ, I)是王明。我是学生，我是中国人。这是史密斯。史密斯是我的¹ 朋友，史密斯是律师。那是史密斯的妻子(qīzi, wife)，安娜(Ana)。安娜是我的英语(yīngyǔ, English language)老师。

1."我　的" means "my", we will discuss this in the next lesson.

Questions:

1. Who is "I"?
2. What does Smith do?
3. Who is Ana?
4. What does Ana do?

Useful phrases

Translation for the text