是 sentences — and why adjectives take 很, not 是
使用 是 to link two nouns: 他是老师 — he is a teacher. Never use it before an adjective: "I am fine" is 我很好, not 我是好. Chinese adjectives already work as verbs, so they need no "to be".
Structure
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Noun + 是 + Noun
A is B — identity between two nouns.
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Noun + 不是 + Noun
A is not B.
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Noun + 很 + Adjective
A is (very) adjective — no 是 at all.
How it works
是 (shì) is an equals sign between two nouns. 他是老师。 He = teacher. 这是我的书。 This = my book. Negate it with 不是, and question it with 吗 or the A-not-A form 是不是.
Adjectives are a different species. In Chinese an adjective is a verb — 好 means "to be good", not just "good" — so putting 是 in front of it is like saying "I am am-good". The correct sentence is simply 我好… except that a bare adjective sounds like a comparison ("I'm good — implying someone else isn't"), so a filler degree word is added.
That filler is usually 很. In 我很好 the 很 is largely colourless — it means "I'm fine", not "I'm very well". If you genuinely want "very", stress it in speech or reach for 非常 (extremely) or 真 (really).
Negation drops 很: 我不好, not 我不很好. And one special case keeps 是: when an adjective is followed by 的 it has become a noun phrase, so 这本书是新的 is fine.
Examples
Quick drill — 5 questions
Five fill-in-the-gap questions built from the example sentences above. No sign-up, no score kept — just a check that the pattern has actually landed.
Choose the word that belongs in the gap:
Common mistakes
| ✗ Wrong | ✓ Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 我是好。 | 我很好。 | Adjectives are already verbs in Chinese. 是 links nouns only. |
| 我不很忙。 | 我不忙。 | The filler 很 disappears under negation — 不 does the job on its own. |
| 今天是很热。 | 今天很热。 | One verb per predicate: either 是 + noun, or degree word + adjective. Never both. |
是 sentences and 很 with adjectives — frequently asked questions
Why is there no 是 in 我很好?
Because 好 is not an adjective the way English uses the word — it is a stative verb meaning "to be good". Adding 是 would give you two verbs in one predicate. Chinese therefore says 我很好 (wǒ hěn hǎo), literally "I very good".
Does 很 in 我很好 really mean "very"?
Usually not. In front of a plain adjective, 很 is a neutral filler that keeps the sentence from sounding like a comparison — 我很好 is just "I'm fine". For a real "very", use 非常 (fēicháng, extremely), 真 (zhēn, really), or stress 很 in speech.
When do adjectives keep 是?
When the adjective is followed by 的 and has become a noun phrase: 这本书是新的 (zhè běn shū shì xīn de) — "this book is a new one". This is the 是…的 pattern, not an exception to the rule.
How do I say "is not" in Chinese?
Put 不 in front: 不是 (bú shì). Note the tone change — 不 is 4th tone by itself but becomes 2nd tone before another 4th tone, so 不是 is pronounced bú shì.
Next, learn
Put it to work
Drill the vocabulary for this level on the HSK 1 word list, rebuild scrambled sentences in the Sentence Builder, read graded stories that use this pattern in the story library, or follow a step-by-step route through the whole site in Guided Learning Paths.