Basic Sentences: Expressing TO BE in Mandarin Chinese
From UniLang Wiki
是 (shì) is the chinese equivalent of the English verb "to be".
Sentences like those expressing religion, nationality, etc... use this verb:
- 我是中国人 (wǒ shì Zhōngguó rén) - Literal: I am china person - I am chinese
However, when specifying profession the verb 当 (dàng) or 做 (zuò) is used:
- 我当老师 (wǒ dàng lǎoshī) - I am a teacher
- 我做老师 (wǒ zuò lǎoshī) - I am a teacher
Edit HoYin: Outside China the expression 我是老师 is perfectly acceptable. Note that the expressions 我当老师 and 我做老师 are considered formal, though they do appear in informal contexts.
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Negation
The negation of this is made with 不 (bù):
- 我不是中国人 (wǒ bú shì Zhōngguó rén) - Literal: I not am china person - I am not chinese
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A longer sentence
Let us look at a bigger sentence using 是 (shì):
- 我是你的中文老师 (wǒ shì nǐ de Zhōngguó lǎoshī) - Literal: I am your [DP] china teacher - I am your chinese teacher
