In this paper, the approximation problem of SISO fuzzy systems is discussed. Based on the fact that fuzzy systems can be represented by a linear combination of fuzzy basic functions (FBF's), we first give a systematic and detailed analysis of FBF's and present five properties of FBF's: structure similarity and compatibility between the membership functions and FBF's, complementarity and less fuzzility of FBF's, and composition of fuzzy systems. These properties provide a clear picture of-the shape and features of FBF's. Based on these properties of PBF's, we obtain some basic approximation properties of fuzzy systems: basic approximation property, uniform approximation property, uniform convergent property and universal approximation property. These results reveal the basic approximation mechanism of fuzzy systems and verify a few basic ideas in the design of fuzzy systems.