This lesson teach you how to express your nationanilty.
你 是 俄罗斯人 吗? Are you Russians?
nǐ shì éluósī rén ma?
你 是 英国人 吗? Are you Britisher?
nǐ shì yīng guó rén ma?
是， 我 是 韩国人。 Yes, I am Korean.
shì wǒ shì hán guó rén.
不， 我 不 是 韩国人。 No, I’m not Korean.
bù wǒ bú shì hán guó rén.
Dialogue
A: 你 是 新西兰 人 吗 ？
Nǐ shì xīn xī lán rén ma ?
Are you New Zealanders ?
B: 我 不 是 新西兰 人 ， 我 是 中国 人 。
Wǒ bú shì xīn xī lán rén , wǒ shì zhōngguó rén .
I am not New Zealanders, I am Chinese.
A: 你 是 巴西 人 吗 ？
Nǐ shì bā xī rén ma ?
Are you Brazilian?
B: 我 不 是 巴西 人 ， 我 是 墨西哥 人 。
Wǒ bú shì bā xī rén , wǒ shì mò xī gē rén .
I am not Brazilian, I am a Mexican.
A: 你 好 ， 你 是 林志玲 吗 ？
Nǐ hǎo , nǐ shì lín zhì líng ma ?
Hello, are you lín zhì líng?
B: 我 不 是 丽丽 ， 我 是 格雷 。
Wǒ bú shì lín zhì líng , wǒ shì gé léi .
I am not lín zhì líng, I am gé léi.
Grammar
Expressing “Yes” with 是 (shì) or 是的 (shì de)
The most basic meaning of 是 (shì) is “to be” (am, is, are) as introduced in Lesson 6. Besides that, 是 (shì) can also be used alone to give an affirmative answer, translated to “Yes” in English.
In terms of expressing “Yes”, 是 (shì) and 是 (shì de) are very similar and both are very common in Chinese conversation, but some people prefer to say 是的 (shì de) more often as they consider that the tone of 是的 (shì de) sounds much more mild and soft than 是 (Shì).
Subject to be noun question marker
你 是 美国人 吗？
nǐ shì měi guó rén ma?
You are American?
是/是的， 我 是 美国人。
shì/shì de wǒ shì měi guó rén.
Yes,I am American.
Subject to be noun question marker
你 是 商人 吗？
nǐ shì shāng rén ma?
You are businessman?
是/是的， 我 是 商人。
shì/shì de wǒ shì shāng rén.
Yes,I am businessman.
Expressing “Not” or “No” with 不 (bù)
不 (bù) is a very common negative word in Chinese, and 不 (bù) should always be placed before the verb and the adjective. The structure is 不 (bù) +verb or 不 (bù) +adj. for instance:
小明 不 喝 咖啡。
xiǎo míng bù hē kā fēi.
xiǎo míng not drink coffee.
我 不 喜欢 雨天。
wǒ bù xǐ huan yǔ tiān.
I not like rainy day.
我 不 是 德国人。
wǒ bú shì dé guó rén.
I not am German.
Here”shì” is a falling tone, so the tone of “bù” should change to “bú”
我 不 胖。
wǒ bú pàng.
I not fat.
Here”pàng”isa falling tone, so the tone of “bù” should change to “bú”
Note: About Changing the Tone of 不 (bù)
In Pīn yīn (Chinese phonetics), there is a rule that if a falling tone is followed by another falling tone, which means 2 falling tones are next to each other, then the first falling tone must change to a rising tone. So the tone of bù will change to bú when followed by a falling tone.
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