IDENTITY
是shìto be; yes; correct
HSK 1Top 3
CORE MEANING
to be; yes; correct
- Part of speech
- verb
- Register
- neutral
Senses
- 1.to be (copula)HSK1
- 2.yesHSK1
FORM & BREAKDOWN
- Radical
- 日sun radical (rì)
- strokes
- 9
- Structure
- top-bottom compound
- IDS sequence
- ⿱日𤴓
- sun at the top
- legs below (per traditional analysis)
USAGE
Common words
可是kěshìbut
还是háishior; still
总是zǒngshìalways
Graded examples
我是老师，他是学生。Wǒ shì lǎoshī, tā shì xuésheng.HSK1
I am a teacher and he is a student.
RELATIONS
LEARNING
Memory aid
"是" is the word every identity sentence stands on — as steady as the daily sun (日).
- HSK version
- 3.0
- Frequency rank
- #3
- Memory aid
- memory-aid
TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-14
Sources
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01
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