是 shì is; yes; correct

Made up of [日 rì sun; day radical 72, 正 zhèng correct; straight; upright ]
Made with 9 strokes.
Combines the character for 'correct' and the sun at midday. It implies that things visible under the light of the sun are in order rather than visions and phantoms of the night.
Ancient small seal form Small seal

Related characters


Also uses 日 rì component: 白 bái (bright) 曾 céng (once) ; 昌 chāng (prosperous) ; 春 chūn (spring) ; 旦 dàn (dawn) ; 婚 hūn (to marry) ; 间 jiàn (gap) ; 间 jiān (between) ; 景 jǐng (bright) ; 旧 jiù (old) ; 明 míng (bright) ; 莫 mò (do not) ; 普 pǔ (general) ; 晴 qíng (clear sky) ; 时 shí (time) ; 暑 shǔ (heat) ; 晚 wǎn (evening) ; 香 xiāng (fragrant) ; 星 xīng (star) ; 阳 yáng (yang) ; 易 yì (easy) ; 音 yīn (sound) ; 影 yǐng (picture) ; 早 zǎo (early) ; 照 zhào (according to) ; 者 zhě (in process of) ; 桌 zhuō (table) ; 最 zuì (most) ; 昨 zuó (previous)
Also uses 正 zhèng component: 征 zhēng (journey)

Sounds same

事 shì (matter) ; 市 shì (market) ; 世 shì (life) ; 礻 shì (spirit) ; 士 shì (bachelor) ; 氏 shì (clan name) ; 示 shì (to show) ; 室 shì (room)

Different tone

狮 shī (lion) ; 师 shī ; 失 shī (to lose) ; 尸 shī (corpse) ; 诗 shī (poem) ; 施 shī (to grant) ; 十 shí (ten) ; 时 shí (time) ; 石 shí (rock) ; 实 shí (real) ; 饣 shí (food) ; 食 shí (eat) ; 史 shǐ (history) ; 始 shǐ (to begin) ; 矢 shǐ (arrow) ; 豕 shǐ (pig)

< Previous 豕 shǐ Next 事 shì >

Pronunciation

Sound file kindly provided by shtooka.net ➚ under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License

stroke order for 是
Stroke order for character 是, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚

Proverbs

姜是老的辣 jiāng shì lǎo de là Experience gives wisdom
口是心非 kǒu shì xīn fēi To say the opposite of what you really think
失败是成功之母 shī bài shì chéng gōng zhī mǔ Learning from mistakes
头头是道 tóu tóu shì daò Logically and rigorously argued
一身是胆 yī shēn shì dǎn Fearless, intrepid. A heroic disposition.
实事求是 shí shì qiú shì Base judgment on the true facts of the situation and not rumor or custom.

Phrases

她 是 美 国 人 tā shì měi guó rén She is an American
他 们 不 是 法 国 人 tā mén bù shì fǎ guó rén They are not French
你 是 英 国 人 吗 nǐ shì yīng guó rén mǎ Are you English?
这 是 我 的 张 票 zhè shì wǒ de zhāng piào This is my ticket
还 是 hái shì Or