Lesson 1 - 是 ('to be')

Before we proceed to learn the language, there are some important words you would have to know.

1. 我 (wo3) - I, me
2. 你 (ni3) - You
3. 他 (ta1) - Him
4. 她 (ta1) - Her
5. 男生 (nan2 sheng1) - Boy
6. 女生 (nv3 sheng1) - Girl

Now to lesson proper, to form your first sentence, 是 (shi4) is a word that you cannot be without. 

是, means 'to be', and corresponds to English as 'is', 'are', 'was', 'were' or 'am'.

Let's take a look at the following examples using the words you learnt earlier.

1. 我 是 男生。 (wo3 shi4 nan2 sheng1) - I am a boy.
2. 你 是 女生。 (ni3 shi4 nv3 sheng1) - You are a girl.

However,  unlike English, 是 cannot be used before a verb.
For example, 'I am running' does not correspond to 我 是 跑步. (wo3 shi4 pao3 bu4).

Let's learn more nouns.

1. 学生 (xue2 sheng1) - Student
2. 老师 (lao3 shi1) - Teacher 
3. 医生 (yi1 sheng1) - Doctor

 And more examples:

1. 我 是 老师。(wo3 shi4 lao3 shi1) - I am a teacher.
2. 你 是 学生。(ni3 shi4 xue2 sheng1) - You are a student.
3. 她 是 医生。 (ta1 shi4 yi1 sheng1) - She is a doctor.
4. 我 是 Alan。(wo3 shi4 Alan) - I am Alan.
5. 你 是 林小丽。(ni3 shi4 lin2 xiao3 li4) - You are Xiao-Li Lin.

To negate the sentence, add 不(bu4) in front of 是(shi4). 

1.  我 不是 女生。(wo3 bu4 shi4 nv3 sheng1) - I am not a girl.

Try to make some sample sentences and write them in the comments below!