How to use 不愧是
Subject + 不愧是 / 不愧为 + role / reputation
不愧是 praises someone or something for living up to a role, reputation, or expected standard. The speaker points to evidence that the label is deserved. The meaning is closer to truly worthy of the name than a literal statement about feeling no shame. It can recognize skill, character, achievement, or a quality associated with an established identity.
Place the role or reputation after 不愧是, often after a sentence explaining what impressed the speaker. 不愧为 is a more formal related expression. Praise of another person is especially common; self-directed uses require care because they may sound boastful or playful. The construction itself does not make a strict grammatical ban on referring to oneself.
Examples with pinyin and English
她第一次参加就拿了冠军，不愧是专业选手。
She won on her first attempt. She really lives up to being a professional.
The achievement provides evidence for the praised role.
这道题他一下就解出来了，不愧是数学老师。
He solved this problem immediately. He certainly deserves his title as a math teacher.
The skill matches the standard associated with the profession.
这家店的服务真好，不愧是老店。
The service here is excellent. It lives up to its long-established reputation.
不愧是 can praise a business as well as a person.
What to remember
- Give evidence for the praise in context.
- Name the deserved role or reputation after 不愧是.
- Consider the social tone of self-directed praise.
Practise the pattern
Use one example as a model. Change the people, objects or situation, keeping the grammar pattern in the same order. Read the explanation again to check how your sentence uses the construction.
Look up the grammar words
Source and editorial notes
Explanation and examples written for Laowai using the grammar curriculum as a topic reference. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.