算是 — counts as, qualifies as. The optional 是 pins it to the category named.

grammar → 算是

TSUMUGU · TBCL 4 (est.) · 語法

算是 grammar point · tier 1 · counts as 算（是） (reckons into a category)

· suàn(shì)

Weighs a thing and judges it falls inside a category — counts as, qualifies as. The optional 是 pins it to the category named.

字源 FORM what the parts do

算 lays bamboo counting rods (竹) over an implement worked in two hands (具) — the tally laid out and reckoned. 是 follows as the copula, optional, pinning the reckoning to the category named. Together: weigh it up, and it lands in this box.

故事 STORY a scene to remember it by

A thing is set on the scale and the weight read off; the needle settles inside the line that marks the class, and it is let through as one of them.

字源記憶法

框 · Frame

[topic] 算（是） [category / quality]

觸 · Trigger

You judge that something makes the cut for a category — borderline or generous, but a fair reckoning puts it in.

序 · The move

1Name the thing being weighed (the topic).Is this a verdict you are reaching by reckoning, not a flat fact already obvious? If it plainly is or plainly isn't, use 是 / 不是, not 算是.

2Put 算 before the category or quality; add 是 to pin it to a noun-like category, drop it before a bare adjective.算強颱 (drops 是 before the adjective-noun), 算是運氣很好 (keeps 是 before the assessed quality) — both read.

3State the category or quality it qualifies as.Swap in plain 是 and you assert flat identity; 算（是） keeps the on-reckoning, by-a-fair-count flavor — a verdict, not a definition.

例 · Examples

1尖峰時刻jiānfēng shíkè — rush hour, peak time竟然jìngrán — unexpectedly, to one's surprise沒塞車sāichē — traffic jam，我們算是suànshì — counts as, qualifies as運氣很好。

Rush hour and no traffic jam at all — we count as pretty lucky.

界 · Boundary

是

是 asserts flat identity — X is Y, settled (他是醫生). 算（是） returns a verdict reached by reckoning — X makes the cut as Y, borderline or generous (這次算是強颱). Definition vs fair count.

就算

Same 算, different job. 算（是） is a verdict (counts as). 就算 opens a concession — even if, granting that (就算下雨，我也去). Reckon-into-a-class vs grant-for-argument.

✗ 我算很好 (a bald quality, no 是, no fuller assessment, reads incomplete) → ✓ 我算是運氣很好 (是 pins the assessed quality) / ✓ 這算好 (a short bare adjective keeps 算 alone, drops 是)

✗ 他算是是老師 (是 doubled) → ✓ 他算是老師

✗ 這個答案算是對的 when the answer is exactly right → ✓ 這個答案是對的 (no reckoning involved → plain 是; 算是 would imply only roughly right)

English 'counts as' / 'is sort of' tempts learners to wedge 算是 anywhere a hedge feels nice. Chinese 算（是） carries a real verdict — the thing genuinely lands in the category on a fair count, not just a softener; for a flat fact use 是.