1.2 Basic Sentences & 是 (shì)

Word order

Chinese basic word order is Subject–Verb–Object, like English: 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ) = I love you. Verbs do not conjugate — 我是/你是/他是 all use 是.

The verb 是 (shì)

是 (shì) = 'to be,' used to link two nouns: 我是学生 (wǒ shì xuésheng) = I am a student. Negate with 不 (bù): 我不是老师 (I am not a teacher).

Pronouns

我 (wǒ) = I, 你 (nǐ) = you, 他/她 (tā) = he/she (same sound), 我们 (wǒmen) = we, 他们 (tāmen) = they. Add 们 (men) to make pronouns plural.

Key terms

Word order

Subject–Verb–Object (我爱你)

是 (shì)

'to be,' links two nouns: 我是学生

不 (bù)

negator: 不是 = is not

我 / 你 / 他·她

wǒ / nǐ / tā — I / you / he·she

们 (men)

pluralizes pronouns: 我们, 你们, 他们

Try an AP-style question

Which is correct? "I am a student."

1. 我学生是。
2. 我是学生。
3. 是我学生。
4. 我很学生。