是不是

Chinese

Chinese phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

		be; yes; this	to not be
simp. and trad. (是不是)		是	不是
alternative forms		484 internet slang

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shìbùshì

  (Zhuyin): ㄕˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): si⁶ bat¹ si⁶
• Hakka (Meixian, Guangdong): si⁴ bud⁵ si⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shìbùshì [Phonetic: shìbúshì] → shìbushì (toneless variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄕˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˋ → ㄕˋ ˙ㄅㄨ ㄕˋ (toneless variant)
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shìhbůshìh
    • Wade–Giles: shih⁴-pu⁵-shih⁴
    • Yale: shr̀-bu-shr̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyhbushyh
    • Palladius: шибуши (šibuši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂʐ̩⁵¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹/ → /ʂʐ̩⁵¹ b̥u¹ ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: si⁶ bat¹ si⁶
    • Yale: sih bāt sih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: si⁶ bat⁷ si⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: xi⁶ bed¹ xi⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siː²² pɐt̚⁵ siː²²/
• Hakka
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: si⁴ bud⁵ si⁴
    • Sinological IPA: /sz̩⁵³⁻⁵⁵ put̚¹ sz̩⁵³/

Conjunction

是不是

1. whether or not

   是不是最近很忙？ [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Shìbùshì zuìjìn hěn máng? [Pinyin]

   Been busy lately?

   咱是不是該撤了？ [MSC, trad.]
   咱是不是该撤了？ [MSC, simp.]

   Zán shìbùshì gāi chè le? [Pinyin]

   Shouldn't we get going?

   我是不是对你很好？ [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Wǒ shìbùshì duì nǐ hěn hǎo? [Pinyin]

   Aren't I good to you?

   兒子很瘦削，說屁股癢，是不是有蟲了？ [MSC, trad.]
   儿子很瘦削，说屁股痒，是不是有虫了？ [MSC, simp.]

   Érzǐ hěn shòuxuē, shuō pìgu yǎng, shìbùshì yǒu chóng le? [Pinyin]

   (My) son's gotten skinny, says his bottom is itchy, has he got worms?

Synonyms

• 是否 (shìfǒu)

Interjection

是不是

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see 是 (shì),‎ 不,‎ 是 (shì).
2. isn’t it so? (used as a tag question)

Synonyms

• 對不對／对不对 (duìbùduì)
• (Cantonese) 係唔係／系唔系, 係咪／系咪
• (Hakka) 係毋係／系毋系
• (Min Nan) 是毋是