zhè shì yínhángkǎ.

to be

Breakdown of zhè shì yínhángkǎ.

• 这zhè: this
• 银行卡yínhángkǎ: bank card

Questions & Answers about zhè shì yínhángkǎ.

What is the basic sentence structure of 这是银行卡?

It follows a very common Chinese pattern:

这 + 是 + 银行卡
this + is + bank card

So the structure is:

Topic/subject + linking verb + noun

In English, this is like This is a bank card.

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What does 这 mean here?

这 means this.

It points to something near the speaker, just like English this. In full form, you may also see:

这个 = this one / this

But in a sentence like 这是银行卡, using just 这 is very natural.

Examples:

• 这是书。 = This is a book.
• 这是我的。 = This is mine.

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Why is there no word for a or the in the sentence?

Chinese does not use articles like a, an, or the.

So 这是银行卡 could mean:

• This is a bank card
• This is the bank card

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is very normal in Chinese. You often rely on the situation rather than extra words.

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