是 (shì): is, yes
是 (shì) is a Chinese character meaning “is, yes.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 日 (structural) and 疋 (structural). It ranks #3 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 是 to speak 日 directly 疋. Its radical form 日 (sun) appears in many related characters such as 日 (rì, sun, day), 早 (zǎo, early, morning), 时 (shí, time, hour).
Definitions
- is, yes
Etymology & Origin
ideographicTo speak 日 directly 疋
Decomposition: ⿱日疋 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 是 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 是
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 但是conjunction | dàn shì | but | 2 |
| 就是particle/adverb/conjunction | jiù shì | exactly | 4 |
| 只是adverb/conjunction | zhǐ shì | merely | 3 |
| 还是adverb/conjunction | hái shi | still (as before) | 2 |
| 可是conjunction | kě shì | but | 3 |
| 总是adverb | zǒng shì | always | 3 |
| 是否adverb | shì fǒu | whether (or not) | 4 |
| 算是verb/adverb | suàn shì | considered to be | 6 |
| 要是conjunction | yào shi | (coll.) if | 4 |
| 于是conjunction | yú shì | thereupon | 4 |
| 或是adverb/conjunction | huò shì | or | 5 |
| 老是adverb | lǎo shi | always | 4 |
| 倒是adverb | dào shi | contrary to what one might expect | 6 |
| 凡是adverb | fán shì | each and every | 6 |
| 要不是conjunction | yào bu shì | if it were not for | 5 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 是的interjection | shì de | yes, that's right |
| 真是interjection | zhēn shi | indeed |
| 正是verb | zhèng shì | is precisely |
| 而是conjunction | ér shì | rather |
| 也就是说phrase | yě jiù shì shuō | in other words |
| 是不是conjunction | shì bu shì | is or is not (used to form yes-no questions) |
| 不是verb | bù shì | no |
| 是非noun | shì fēi | right and wrong |
| 自以为是 | zì yǐ wéi shì | to believe oneself infallible (idiom) |
| 一无是处 | yī wú shì chù | (idiom) not one good point |
| 就是说adverb | jiù shì shuō | in other words |
| 便是verb | biàn shì | (emphasizes that sth is precisely or exactly as stated) |
| 乃是verb | nǎi shì | equivalent to either 是 or 就是 |
| 这就是说 | zhè jiù shì shuō | in other words |
| 有的是verb | yǒu de shì | have plenty of |
是 appears in 100 compound words: 12 as the first character, 61 as the last, and 27 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 是 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (37)
to go one's own way (idiom); to act independently without asking others
each acting what they think is right; each going their own way; to vary; to differ
Showing 12 of 37 idioms containing 是.
Example Sentences
这是一个很好的机会，我们应该好好把握。
Zhè shì yí gè hěn hǎo de jīhuì, wǒmen yīnggāi hǎohao bǎwò.
This is a great opportunity; we should seize it well.
马年话马丨龙马精神的“龙马”究竟是什么?
mǎ nián huà mǎ 丨 lóng mǎ jīng shén de lóng mǎ jiū jìng shì shén má ?
The year of the horse talk about the horse丨the dragon horse spirit of the "dragon horse" what exactly is it?
你还是曾经那个少年!苏翊鸣斩获中国队首金
nǐ hái shì céng jīng nā gě shǎo nián ! sū 翊 míng zhǎn huò zhōng guó duì shǒu jīn
You're still the same teenager! Su Yiming wins China's first gold.
请停留3秒 为这5位空军勇士献花!今天是万家团圆的..
qǐng tíng liú miǎo wéi zhè wèi kōng jūn yǒng shì xiàn huā ! jīn tiān shì mò jiā tuán yuán de . .
Please stay for 3 seconds to lay flowers for these 5 Air Force warriors! Today is the day of family reunion...
...核桃、叠衣服、穿烤肠,银河通用春晚机器人是怎么“..
. . . hé táo dié yī fú chuān kǎo cháng , yín hé tōng yòng chūn wǎn jī qì rén shì zěn má . .
...walnuts, folding clothes, grilling sausages—how does the Galaxy Universal Spring Festival Gala robot manage to...
那是幢高楼，不是吗？
Nà shì zhuàng gāolóu, bù shì ma?
That is a high building, is it not?
是什么时候完成的？
Shì shénme shíhou wánchéng de?
When was it finished?
你是美国人还是法国人？
Nǐ shì Měiguórén háishi Fǎguórén?
Are you American or French?
我这样想是对的吗？
Wǒ zhèyàng xiǎng shì duì de ma?
Am I correct in thinking thus?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 是 (shì) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 是 have?
What is the radical of 是?
What are the components of 是?
What are common words containing 是?
What characters sound the same as 是 (shì)?
Is 是 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 是 with real-time feedback
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