Learn the key pattern to talk about your occupation
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| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Mark asks, |
| "Are you a student?" |
| 你是学生吗？ |
| First is 你 (nǐ), "you." 你. 你. |
| Next is 是 (shì). Here, it's like the "are" in "are you." 是. 是. |
| After this is 学生 (xuésheng), "student." 学生. 学生. |
| Last is 吗 (ma). This is a question-marking particle. 吗. 吗. |
| This particle turns the sentence into a question. |
| All together, it's 你是学生吗？(Nǐ shì xuésheng ma?) Literally, "You are student?" But it translates as "Are you a student?" 你是学生吗？ |
| Remember this question. You'll hear it again later. |
| Now, let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Zheng says, |
| "No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor." |
| 我不是学生。我是投资商。 |
| First Zheng says, 我不是学生。(Wǒ búshì xuésheng.) "I'm not a student." 我不是学生。 |
| First is 我 (wǒ), "I." 我. 我. |
| Next is 不是 (búshì). Here, "am not" as in "I am not." 不是. 不是. |
| This starts with 不 (bù), "not." It's used to form a negative. 不. 不. |
| Next is 是 (shì). Here, "am" as in "I am not." 是 (shì). |
| Together, 不是 (búshì). Here, "am not." 不是. |
| Pronunciation note: when 不 bù is followed by a fourth tone, its tone changes from the fourth tone to the second tone. Listen to the pronunciation again. 不是. 不是. |
| All together 我不是 (wǒ búshì). "I am not." 我不是 (wǒ búshì). |
| Next is 学生 (xuésheng), "student." 学生. |
| All together, 我不是学生。(Wǒ búshì xuésheng.) "I'm not a student." 我不是学生。 |
| Finally, Zheng says, |
| 我是投资商。 (Wǒ shì tóuzī shāng.). "I'm an investor." 我是投资商。 |
| First is 我 (wǒ), "I." 我. |
| Next is 是 (shì). Here, "am" as in "I am." 是. |
| After this is 投资商 (tóuzī shāng), "investor." 投资商 . 投资商. |
| All together, it's 我不是学生。我是投资商。 |
| "I'm not a student. I'm an investor." |
| 我不是学生。我是投资商。 |
| The pattern is |
| 我不是 {occupation}。 我是 {actual occupation}。 |
| "I'm not {occupation}. I'm {actual occupation}." |
| 我不是 {occupation}。 我是 {actual occupation}。 |
| Imagine you're Emma Liu, a student. 学生 |
| Zheng asks you if you're a "teacher," 老师 (lǎoshī). 老师. 老师. |
| Say |
| "I'm not a teacher. I'm a student." |
| Ready? |
| 我不是老师。我是学生。(Wǒ búshì lǎoshī. Wǒ shì xuésheng.) |
| "I'm not a teacher. I'm a student." |
| 我不是老师。我是学生。 |
| The word 不 (bù) is a very common word that is used to negate present, future, habitual actions and adjectives. |
| In most cases, 不 is the fourth falling tone. But when 不 is followed by any word also with the fourth falling tone, it changes to the second rising tone, as in the phrase 不是 (búshì) "to be not." Because 是 is the fourth falling tone, 不 (bù) has to change its tone to 不 (bú). 不是 (búshì). |
| Other examples of 不 changed to the second tone include 不要 búyào "don't want," 不去 búqù "not going," 不重要 bú zhòngyào "not important." |
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