是
Tap the pinyin to hear it
to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion)
- HSK 3.0
- Level 1
- Old HSK
- Level 1
- Strokes
- 9
- Radical
- 日 +5
- Structure
- Top–bottom 上下
- Traditional
- 是
- Common rank
- #523
- Unicode
- U+662F
Sound it out + =
Formation & memory
Break the character into parts you already know.
How to remember it
be · Heisig RSH #394
mending + tongue wagging in the mouth
Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.
Words with 是
The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 是不是 | is or is not (used to form yes-no questions) | |
| 还是 | still (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or | |
| 不是一家人不进一家门 | people who don't belong together, don't get to live together (idiom); marriages are predes… | |
| 头头是道 | clear and logical | |
| 不是东西 | (derog.) to be a good-for-nothing; worthless nobody; no-good | |
| 五百年前是一家 | five hundred years ago we were the same family (saying) (said of persons with the same sur… | |
| 一是一，二是二 | lit. one is one, two is two (idiom); fig. things are (or ought to be) perfectly clear-cut;… | |
| 有道是 | as they say, ...; as the saying goes, ... | |
| 是非自有公论 | to determine right and wrong based on public opinion (idiom); Public opinion will judge wh… | |
| 可不是 | (coll.) exactly!; indeed; that's for sure | |
| 是非不分 | unable to distinguish right and wrong (idiom) | |
| 一无是处 | (idiom) not one good point; everything about it is wrong | |
| 物是人非 | (idiom) the place is unchanged, but the faces are different | |
| 口是心非 | duplicity; hypocrisy (idiom) | |
| 是非之地 | trouble spot; sketchy area | |
| 多得是 | there's no shortage; there are plenty | |
| 是非分明 | to distinguish right from wrong (idiom) | |
| 自以为是 | to believe oneself infallible (idiom); to be opinionated | |
| 是药三分毒 | every medicine has its side effect | |
| 不是话 | see 不像話|不像话[bu4 xiang4 hua4] |
Sound family
These characters use 是 as their sound component — compare how they read.