Chinese Has No Word for Yes or No. Here Is What It Does Instead | 是 不是 shì bú shì | Josh Edbrooke

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]To be or not to be.

[00:00:01]>> To be or not to be, that is the question. Okay.

[00:00:04]>> That is a question.

[00:00:11]>> [music] >> Hello and welcome to Talk Chinese Easy.

[00:00:19]Where I teach you Chinese with ease. My name is Xiaolan, and I'm going [music] to teach you a useful phrase of Chinese everyday. In this episode, you are going to learn how to say yes and no [music] and is it. We have Josh with us. Hey, Josh.

[00:00:34]>> Hi, Xiaolan. Nihao.

[00:00:35]>> Nihao. Right, in English it's very easy to say yes, no, isn't it?

[00:00:40]>> Yeah. Actually, this is really interesting because this is one of the things which I heard about Chinese before I started to learn it, which I think a lot of people hear. They hear in Chinese there's no direct translation word for yes and no. In English we have a lot of yes, no questions, yes, no answers. Chinese is not quite so straightforward in that respect. So, how how do we tackle that?

[00:01:01]>> Um the way to tackle that it's actually just to repeat after people ask you. So, for example, if they ask you, "Oh, do you want something?" All you need to do is to repeat that specific verb in shibushi. It's the way they will ask you, "Is it really like that or isn't it?" That's the same thing. They will use three words, shibushi, and you just pick up the first one. Say shi >> Shi.

[00:01:29]>> if it's positive.

[00:01:30]>> Right.

[00:01:30]>> And say bushi if that's negative.

[00:01:33]>> Bushi. Ah, now that's interesting because I know that bu is kind of like the negative word.

[00:01:38]So, it's kind of like saying no, but you don't usually say it on its own. Is that right? You usually say it with with the verb.

[00:01:44]>> That's right. So, let's tackle them one by one now.

[00:01:47]>> Okay.

[00:01:47]>> Okay. So, when people ask you, shibushi >> Shibushi.

[00:01:50]>> Shibushi. That means, is it or not?

[00:01:54]>> Okay. Is it or not?

[00:01:55]>> Yeah. And then shi, that is the positive way of saying yes, she is correct.

[00:02:00]>> Yes, it is.

[00:02:00]>> She.

[00:02:01]>> She is the fourth tone. She.

[00:02:04]>> She.

[00:02:04]>> She. And then of course, uh she has different ways of using it. One of them is very useful. I say, "Wo shi Xiao Lan." I am Xiao Lan.

[00:02:15]>> Wo shi Josh.

[00:02:16]>> Yes, and it means to be. So, she to be or not to be.

[00:02:21]>> To be or not to be, >> [laughter] >> that is the question. Okay.

[00:02:24]>> That is the question. So, to be or not to be, shi bu shi.

[00:02:29]>> Shi bu shi.

[00:02:30]>> Yes, and the literal meaning it's is it it or not? If you think the answer is positive, >> Shi.

[00:02:36]>> Shi. And if it's not positive, >> Bu shi.

[00:02:40]>> Bu shi.

[00:02:40]>> Bu shi.

[00:02:41]>> Bu shi. So, it's very easy. You just shi is positive, bu shi is negative. When you put it together, shi bu shi, to be or not to be.

[00:02:50]>> Oh, then that's really useful cuz you just take the positive answer, the negative answer, put them together, and it becomes a question.

[00:02:55]>> Yes.

[00:02:56]>> Yeah, okay.

[00:02:57]>> Yes, and there are other examples which were explained later on, but I'll give you some just get a pattern. Chinese is a lot of pattern, and this is why it's so easy to learn. So, when I say hao, that means good.

[00:03:10]>> Yeah.

[00:03:10]>> Bu hao is not good.

[00:03:12]>> Hao bu hao.

[00:03:13]>> Means is it good?

[00:03:14]>> Is it good?

[00:03:15]>> That's right. And then when you said hao, that's a positive answer.

[00:03:19]>> Positive reaction. Bu hao.

[00:03:21]>> Bu hao is negative.

[00:03:23]No, it's not good.

[00:03:24]>> I say yao bu yao. Yao is the verb to say I want something. Want, want, don't want. Yao bu yao.

[00:03:32]>> Yao bu yao.

[00:03:33]>> Yeah, and if you said you really want it, you say yao.

[00:03:36]>> And if you don't want it, say >> Bu yao.

[00:03:38]>> Bu yao.

[00:03:38]>> That's right.

[00:03:39]>> Okay. So, >> So, hao bu hao, shi bu shi, yao bu yao, just remember the pattern and normally you will be the person who answered if you are beginner. So, when people say shi bu shi, >> Shi.

[00:03:50]>> Or >> Bu shi.

[00:03:51]>> Shi bu shi. That's right, that's easy.

[00:03:54]Okay, told you.

[00:03:54]>> Chinese is easy. So, Josh, knee sure boo sure Josh?

[00:03:59]>> Sure.

[00:03:59]>> That's right. So, knee is you.

[00:04:01]>> You. Yeah.

[00:04:02]>> And knee sure boo sure.

[00:04:04]>> Are you?

[00:04:05]>> Are you Josh or not?

[00:04:07]>> Sure.

[00:04:08]Woah sure.

[00:04:09]>> Knee sure.

[00:04:10]Knee sure boo sure Xiao Lan?

[00:04:13]>> Boo sure.

[00:04:14]>> That's right. You are not Xiao Lan.

[00:04:16]Yeah.

[00:04:16]Okay. So, that's easy.

[00:04:17]>> Simple. Great.

[00:04:18]>> Thank you very much Josh for joining us.

[00:04:21]Today we have learned how to say yes or no.

[00:04:24]>> Sure boo sure.

[00:04:25]>> Sure boo sure. Whether or not you want it. Yao boo yao. Is that okay? How boo how. And the way to answer them is to say sure.

[00:04:36]>> Sure.

[00:04:36]>> Sure if it's positive and to say boo sure if it's negative.

[00:04:41]>> Boo sure.

[00:04:42]>> Sure boo sure. To be or not to be.

[00:04:46]Thank you for listening [music] to Talk Chinese, where we teach you one useful phrase of Chinese [music] every day. Josh, sure boo sure enjoyed this episode.

[00:04:55]>> Sure. Sure.

[00:04:56]>> Yay. Yay. Sure. Please don't forget [music] to rate us, review us, and be sure share what you have learned. Until then, zai jian.

[00:05:05]>> Zai jian.