Top 10 Most Common Chinese mistakes made by English Speakers: #2

Hey 你好! Yangyang here.

This is the ninth in a series of ten posts on the most common mistakes English speakers make when speaking Chinese.

In my years of teaching Chinese, I have come to notice that English speakers tend to make similar mistakes over and over again. Today, I am going to tell you the most common mistake #2.

The goal here is to become aware of these mistakes to help you avoid making them in the first place! 

Mistake #2: Assuming "to be" = "是 (shì)"

When people ask you "how are you", how would you answer "I am good" in Chinese? "我是好 (wǒ shì hǎo) - I am good"? Wrong.

Probably the very first thing you learned in China is that the verb "to be" in Chinese is "是 (shì)". So you automatically assume that whenever you need to say "is, am, are, were, was" you should use "是 (shì)", but this assumption is wrong!

In Chinese, adjectives such as "beautiful", "smart" and "funny" function as verbs so "beautiful" is already "to be beautiful", smart is already "to be smart" and "funny" is already "to be funny". Therefore, you don't need to say "She IS beautiful", you only need to say "She, beautiful". "Is" is assumed and should be dropped.

Also, you need to add the word "很 (hěn)" before the adjectives to provide a rhythmic balance. "很 (hěn)" means "very", but its meaning is weak here. So, from now on, do take the trouble to add "很 (hěn)" each time you say "She's pretty", "I'm happy", "He's smart."

So, "I am good" in Chinese should be "我很好 (wǒ hěn hǎo)."

Examples

She is pretty. (lit. She very pretty.)
tā hěn piào lianɡ。
她很漂亮。

I am glad to meet you. (lit. I very glad know you.)
wǒ hěn ɡāo xìnɡ rèn shi nǐ。 
我很高兴认识你。/ 我很高興認識你。

I am tired. (lit. I very tired.)
wǒ hěn lèi。
我很累。

I just mentioned although “hěn (很)” means “very,” its meaning is very weak. If you want to express the meaning that “I am VERY tired,” use the word “fēi cháng (非常) instead of “hěn (很).”

Examples

I am very good. (lit. I very good.)
wǒ fēi chánɡ hǎo。
我非常好。

She is very pretty. (lit. She very pretty.)
tā fēi chánɡ piào lianɡ。 
她非常漂亮。

I am very tired. (lit. I very tired.)
wǒ fēi chánɡ lèi。 
我非常累。

I am very very busy. (lit. I very very busy.)
wǒ fēi chánɡ fēi chánɡ mánɡ。
我非常非常忙。

The usage of “shì (是)”

Remember, in Chinese, we use “shì (是)” a lot LESS OFTEN than we use the verb “to be” in English.

In Chinese, “shì (是)” is used when talking about someone’s profession, identity or nationality. To simply put, you can think of “shì (是)” as the equal sign “=”.

Examples

I am Mary.
wǒ shì Mary。 
我是Mary。

She is a student.
tā shì xué shēnɡ。 
她是学生。/ 她是學生。

We are American.
wǒ men shì měi ɡuó rén。 
我们是美国人。/ 我們是美國人。