是 (shì) means To be (is - are - am - yes). Below are 24 of the 248 sentences on this site that use it — with pinyin, an English translation and audio. All of them were written by hand; none is machine generated.
Dictionary examples
From the graded readers
事情 是 这样的。
shìqing shì zhèyàng de / dì.
It happened like this.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · A Misunderstanding
信 是 奶奶寄来的。
xìn shì nǎinai jì lái de / dì.
It was from my grandmother.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · A Letter From Grandmother
我叫小美，我 是 学生。
wǒ jiào xiǎo měi, wǒ shì xuésheng.
My name is Xiaomei, and I'm a student.
Graded reader · HSK 1 · My Family
可 是 身体先不同意了。
kěshì shēntǐ xiān bùtóng yì le / liǎo / liào.
But my body disagreed first.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Facing Pressure
我爸爸 是 老师，他很忙。
wǒ bàba shì lǎoshī, tā hěn máng.
My dad is a teacher and he's very busy.
Graded reader · HSK 1 · My Family
From the travel phrasebook
车牌号 是 多少？
Chēpáihào shì duōshao?
What's the licence plate number?
Travel phrasebook · Taxis and ride-hailing
From the grammar library
我不 是 学生。
Wǒ bú shì xuésheng.
I am not a student.
Grammar library · HSK 1 · 是 sentences and 很 with adjectives
他 是 个好人。
Tā shì ge hǎo rén.
He is a good person.
Grammar library · HSK 1 · 的 for possession and description
这 是 第二课。
Zhè shì dì-èr kè.
This is Lesson Two.
Grammar library · HSK 1 · 二 vs 两 — two ways to say two
我妈妈 是 医生。
Wǒ māma shì yīshēng.
My mum is a doctor.
Grammar library · HSK 1 · 的 for possession and description
是 appears in 248 sentences on this site; the 24 shortest and most direct are shown. The rest are on the pages they were written for — the graded readers, the phrasebook and the grammar library.
Words that contain 是
Each of these has sentences of its own, so you can see the character doing a different job in each one.
Questions about 是
How is 是 used in a sentence?
This page shows 248 sentences using 是 (shì, "To be (is - are - am - yes)"), each with pinyin, an English translation and audio. Every one of them was written by hand for this site.
Are these sentences machine generated?
No. They come from the site's own dictionary examples, graded readers, travel phrasebook and grammar library — all written by a person. A word with no sentence gets no page here, rather than a page of invented ones.
Why do some sentences show 是 inside a longer word?
Because that is where a single character usually lives. Seeing 是 inside the words it builds is how the character stops being an isolated symbol and starts being something you can read.
Is 是 an HSK word?
Yes — 是 is on the official HSK 1 vocabulary list, and you can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 1 page.
Where can I see the full entry for 是?
The dictionary page for 是 has its stroke order, its traditional form, every sense the dictionary lists and a character-by-character breakdown. It is linked at the top of this page.
Keep going
Read the full entry for 是, write a sentence of your own and check it in the Pinyin Annotator, drill it with HSK 1 flashcards, or search the whole sentence bank for another word.
Another word
Chinese, pinyin or English. Tone marks optional.