Auxiliary Verbs

是 shì (= be)

In Chinese 是 shì (= be) is used less often than in English, because the adjective-verbs contain the "be" already, e.g. 大 dà (= be-big).

The negation of 是 shì (= be) is 不是 bú shì (= not be).

是 shì is used in the following situations:

Listen:

Listen:

我	不	是	德	国	人	。
wǒ	bú	shì	dé	guó	rén	_
I	not	be	virtue	country	person	_
I, me, my	no, not, after negative question: yes	to be, correct, yes	a German			。
I am not German.

Listen:

When mentioning numbers (age, money), one can drop 是 shì (= be) in a normal sentence. Yet, it is not wrong if one mentions it.

这	本	书	（	是	）	五	块	钱	。
zhè	běn	shū	_	shì	_	wǔ	kuài	qián	_
this	origin	book	_	be	_	five	piece	money	_
this	grammatical: measure word, foundation, original, current, this	book	（	to be, correct, yes	）	five	grammatical measure word: yuan, piece	money	。
This book costs five yuan.

Listen:

If 是 shì (= be) is negated, one must always mention it.

这	本	书	不	是	五	块	钱	。
zhè	běn	shū	bú	shì	wǔ	kuài	qián	_
this	origin	book	not	be	five	piece	money	_
this	grammatical: measure word, foundation, original, current, this	book	no, not, after negative question: yes	to be, correct, yes	five	grammatical measure word: yuan, piece	money	。
This book doesn't cost five yuan.

Listen:

Listen:

我	不	是	二	十	岁	。
wǒ	bú	shì	èr	shí	suì	_
I	not	be	two	ten	years old	_
I, me, my	no, not, after negative question: yes	to be, correct, yes	twenty		years old	。
I am not twenty years old.

Listen: