How to say 是

  • Traditional characters: 是
  • Pinyin (Taiwan standard): shì
  • Zhuyin (bopomofo): ㄕˋ
  • Meaning: to be / am / is / are

Hear it in a Taiwan accent:

是 in example sentences

Real lines from CiaoSpeak’s graded stories, each with pinyin, an English translation and Taiwan-accent audio.

對！我是學生！你是不是老師？

duì wǒ shì xué shēng nǐ shì bú shì lǎo shī

Yep, I'm a student! And you — are you a teacher?

From the story 你是老師嗎？ (Are You a Teacher?)

我不是老師！我是學生！

wǒ bú shì lǎo shī wǒ shì xué shēng

I'm not a teacher! I'm a student!

From the story 你是老師嗎？ (Are You a Teacher?)

誰是老師？

shéi shì lǎo shī

Who is the teacher?

From the story 你是老師嗎？ (Are You a Teacher?)

她是老師！

tā shì lǎo shī

SHE is!

From the story 你是老師嗎？ (Are You a Teacher?)

呃…沒有派對！沒有！我是說…明天要工作。

è méi yǒu pài duì méi yǒu wǒ shì shuō míng tiān yào gōng zuò

Uh... no party! None! I mean... I have to work tomorrow.

From the story 驚喜派對 (The Surprise Party)

Where 是 is taught

  • Unit level: TOCFL Novice 2 (CiaoSpeak’s placement, not the official TOCFL word list)
  • Unit: Sentence Basics
  • Lesson: Simple Sentences
  • Taught just before: 知道
  • Taught just after: 學生