是 — 不是

[Time-]

Hi all.

My Chinese teacher says that in Mandarin Chinese it's better if we don't use

shì/bu shì when answering. But sometimes I see them in my Grammar books.

Could you explain me the rule?

Thanks.

Ciao

T

[adrianlondon]

It will depend on the question

You can use 对(dui) for "correct".

[Kare]

I think it is normal to use the verb from the question to answer.

Shi does not correspond to the english word Yes and bu shi likewise does not correspond to the word No.

[Time-]

So what if I'd like to say 'yes'?

Ciao

[HashiriKata]

So what if I'd like to say 'yes'?

Reply:

It will depend on the question

(depend on the verb, to be precise)

But if you want an easy way out, " you can use 对 (dui)"

(I guess what your teacher was actually saying is don't just stick to shì/bu shì (or something else) when replying)

[Quest]

Like classical Latin, Chinese does not have "Yes" and "No", you use the verbs directly to express positive and negative answers.