DAY 7: Are you American? 你是美国人吗？

Outline

你是美国人吗?	I am American.
nǐ shì měi guó rén ma?
你是德国人吗?	Are you German?
nǐ shì měi guó rén ma?
是，我是德国人。	Yes, I am German.
shì wǒ shì dé guó rén.
不，我不是德国人。	No, I'm not German.
bù wǒ bú shì dé guó rén.

Dialogue

A:	你	是	日本	人	吗	？
	Nǐ	shì	rìběn	rén	ma	?

Are you Japanese?

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B:	我	不	是	日本	人	，	我	是	中国	人	。
	Wǒ	bú	shì	rìběn	rén	,	wǒ	shì	zhōngguó	rén	.

I am not Japanese, I am Chinese.

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A:	你	是	美国	人	吗	？
	Nǐ	shì	měiguó	rén	ma	?

Are you American?

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B:	我	不	是	美国	人	，	我	是	加拿大	人	。
	Wǒ	bú	shì	měiguó	rén	,	wǒ	shì	jiānádà	rén	.

I am not an American, I am a Canadian.

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A:	你	好	，	你	是	丽丽	吗	？
	Nǐ	hǎo	,	nǐ	shì	Lìlì	ma	?

Hello, are you Lily?

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B:	我	不	是	丽丽	，	我	是	弯弯	。
	Wǒ	bú	shì	Lìlì	,	wǒ	shì	Wān wān	.

I am not Lily, I am Wanwan.

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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?

YouareAmerican?

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是/是的，	我	是	美国人。
shì/shì de	wǒ	shì	měi guó rén.

Yes,IamAmerican.

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Subject	to be	noun	question marker
你	是	商人	吗？
nǐ	shì	shāng rén	ma?

Youarebusinessman?

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是/是的，	我	是	商人。
shì/shì de	wǒ	shì	shāng rén.

Yes,Iambusinessman.

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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 míngnotdrinkcoffee.

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我	不	喜欢	雨天。
wǒ	bù	xǐ huan	yǔtiān.

Inotlikerainy day.

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我	不	是	德国人。
wǒ	bú	shì	dé guó rén.

InotamGerman.

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Here"shì" is a falling tone, so the tone of "bù" should change to "bú"

我	不	胖。
wǒ	bú	pàng.

Inotfat.

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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.

Outline

Dialogue

Grammar

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