Mandarin Chinese Grammar for Pimsleur Students/Non-adjectival stative verbs

Linking verbs
The most common use of 是 is the copula, which connects nouns, noun phrases, and/or pronouns. 是 functions as a verb, and like all other Chinese verbs, is not conjugated for person, number, or tense.

Another very important verb is 有, which means "to have." To negate any verb, including adjectival stative verbs, the negation particle 不 is placed before the verb. 有 is the only exception; it is negated with 没 instead of 不.

At this point it essential to note that 有 (yŏu) and 是 (shì) are not interchangeable, even in negative form. 没有 is interchangeable with 没 except in the question word 有没有 ("have-not-have"), which means "do(es) X have," where X is any noun or pronoun.