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是 shì — “to be”

How to write and say the Chinese character 是 (shì), which means to be — with stroke order, audio, its story, and an example sentence. Theme: Little glue words.

Stroke order笔顺

是 is written with 9 strokes, in this order (the red stroke is the one being added):

The story behind it字源小故事

The sun 日 above a foot walking straight ahead — exactly right: 'to be'.

A common word常用词

Example sentence例句

This page is part of the free Chinese character explorer from Casey Foundation Chinese School — a Saturday community Chinese school in Narre Warren, Victoria, serving Berwick, Cranbourne, Hallam and families across Melbourne's southeast. New students get a free trial lesson.