How is 是 pronounced?

是 is pronounced “shì” in pinyin.

What HSK level is 是?

是 belongs to HSK 1 in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.

How do you write 是?

Follow the stroke-order animation above; 是 is written using standard stroke order. Practice it in the writing trainer.

HSK 1verb

是

shì

是 (shì) means “to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion)”. It is an HSK 1 Chinese character in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.

Stroke order

Practice writing

Example

他是我的老师。

Tā shì wǒ de lǎoshī.

He is my teacher.

Words containing 是

还是hái shistill (as before); had better; unexpectedly; or 但是dàn shìbut; however 就是jiù shìexactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也) even; even if 只是zhǐ shìmerely; only; just; nothing but; simply; but; however 可是kě shìbut; however; (used for emphasis) indeed 总是zǒng shìalways 是否shì fǒuwhether (or not); if; is or isn't 凡是fán shìeach and every; every; all; any 要是yào shi(coll.) if 于是yú shìthereupon; as a result; consequently; thus; hence 而是ér shìrather 正是zhèng shìis precisely

More HSK 1 vocabulary

HSK 1 →

爱àito love; to be fond of; to like; affection; to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen)的deof; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute); (used to form a nominal expression); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); also pr. [dì] or [di] in poetry and songs 八bāeight; 8 爸爸bà ba(coll.) father; dad 了le(completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)我wǒI; me; my 杯子bēi zicup; glass 你好nǐ hǎohello 北京běi jīngBeijing, capital of the People's Republic of China 你nǐyou (informal, as opposed to courteous 您)在zàito exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)本běnroot; stem; origin; source; this; the current; original; inherent; originally; classifier for books, periodicals, files etc

Frequently asked questions

What does 是 mean?: 是 (shì) means “to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion)”. It is an HSK 1 word.
How is 是 pronounced?: 是 is pronounced “shì” in pinyin.
What HSK level is 是?: 是 belongs to HSK 1 in the HSK 3.0 vocabulary.
How do you write 是?: Follow the stroke-order animation above; 是 is written using standard stroke order. Practice it in the writing trainer.

Updated: 2026-05-27