是 and 有 — To Be and To Have

By the end of this lesson, you will use 是 (shì) for equations of identity and 有 (yǒu) for possession and existence — and know when NOT to use either.

是 (shì) — The Equation Verb

是 means "is/am/are" but only for equations — A = B statements where you're saying two things are the same or one belongs to a category.

Using 是

Subject + 是 + [noun or noun phrase]

Chinese	Pinyin	English
我是学生。	Wǒ shì xuésheng.	I am a student.
她是老师。	Tā shì lǎoshī.	She is a teacher.
这是书。	Zhè shì shū.	This is a book.
他是中国人。	Tā shì Zhōngguórén.	He is Chinese.
北京是中国的首都。	Běijīng shì Zhōngguó de shǒudū.	Beijing is China's capital.

When NOT to Use 是

This is a common mistake. 是 is not used with adjectives (unlike English "to be"):

English	Wrong	Correct
I am tall.	我是高。	我很高。 (Wǒ hěn gāo.)
She is beautiful.	她是漂亮。	她很漂亮。 (Tā hěn piàoliang.)
The weather is good.	天气是好。	天气很好。 (Tiānqì hěn hǎo.)

With adjectives, Mandarin uses the adjective directly as a predicate — no "to be" verb needed. The word 很 (hěn — very) is typically added before the adjective (often as a structural requirement, not for emphasis).

有 (yǒu) — To Have / There Is

有 has two main uses:

Use 1: Possession (Subject + 有 + object)

我有一本书。 (Wǒ yǒu yī běn shū.) — I have a book. 她有两个孩子。 (Tā yǒu liǎng gè háizi.) — She has two children. 你有手机吗？ (Nǐ yǒu shǒujī ma?) — Do you have a phone?

Use 2: Existence — "There Is/Are"

(Location) + 有 + [thing that exists]

桌上有一杯茶。 (Zhuō shàng yǒu yī bēi chá.) — On the table there is a cup of tea. 这里有餐厅吗？ (Zhèlǐ yǒu cāntīng ma?) — Is there a restaurant here? 学校附近有公园。 (Xuéxiào fùjìn yǒu gōngyuán.) — Near the school there is a park.