how do I explain what "is" is?

Question

my five year old reads a couple words from a children's dictionary everynight before bedtime, so she has been thinking about the meaning of words and asked what is "is". and is is not in her dictionary.can you please help me explain this? her dad responded "it's just is."

Answer 1

Tell him it is like "equals" or "same as". That might make sense to him.

Answer 2

That is a strange question for a 5-year-old to ask. They usually ask about bigger words. "Is" is just a word that we use without thinking (from the point of view of a child, I mean).

Answer 3

Will be a wee bit difficult to explain to a 5yr old
Is,is a saxon word(ist)Latin(est)Greek(esti)Sanskrit(asti)
The 3rd person singular of the verb To be

Answer 4

"Is" can be a word that can be described as a state of being. "Is" can mean to be; the way that someone describes something or someone.

For example, we say that the sky "is" blue.
Or we can say that there "is" a sky. And when we say that, we mean that it exists - a state of being.

"Is" also means a way to be.

Answer 5

Say it is a word that doesn't have a meaning. Then give her a few examples such as "a" and "an". Say that *God (if you belive in God...) never gave all the words a meaning so some of the words in the world are "special". It worked for many of my sibilings.


* = change as needed...

Answer 6

If she knows what Am or Was is say... Is is a better way of saying am or was

Answer 7

how about present tense of 'was', or the present tense of something that exists/ is present

Answer 8

3rd person present singular of "be"