Pinyin: shì

English: to be

HSK Level: 1 (147 words at this level)

Tone Pattern: 4th (falling)

When to use: Use 是 when you want to talk about to be. This word appears in everyday Mandarin conversations and is part of the HSK 1 core vocabulary of 147 words.

The character 是 is part of the HSK 1 vocabulary list with 147 words. Mastering this word helps build the foundation for reading, writing, and speaking Mandarin Chinese.

This character has a specific stroke order and radical decomposition. AI Lingo Chat's application includes animated stroke order diagrams and native-speaker audio for all 3587 words across all 6 HSK levels.