zhè shì wǒ de zhèngjiànzhào.

I

Breakdown of zhè shì wǒ de zhèngjiànzhào.

• 是shì: to be
• 这zhè: this
• 的de: possessive particle

Questions & Answers about zhè shì wǒ de zhèngjiànzhào.

Why is the sentence ordered 这 是 我 的 证件照? Is it the same as English word order?

Yes—this sentence follows a very familiar pattern:

• 这 = this
• 是 = is
• 我的证件照 = my ID photo / document photo

So the structure is basically:

This + is + my + photo

That makes it one of the more straightforward Mandarin sentence patterns for English speakers.

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What does 的 (de) do in this sentence?

的 marks possession or attribution. In 我的证件照:

• 我 = I / me
• 我的 = my
• 证件照 = ID photo / document photo

So 我的证件照 literally means my document photo.

A good way to think of 的 is that it often works like the English possessive 's or words like my, your, his, her in noun phrases.

Examples:

• 我的书 = my book
• 他的手机 = his phone
• 老师的名字 = the teacher’s name

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Can I leave out 的 and say 这是我证件照?