When it comes to making an emphatic phrase in Chinese, some students don’t understand the rules very well. In this article, I am going to explain how to use the Chinese emphatic structure 是……的.

 

First of all, let me tell you the meanings from sample sentences. The translations of the sample sentences below are from the Chinese language textbook 今日汉语 EL CHINO DE HOY:

 

  • 我是在北京学的汉语。 
  • Wǒ shì zài běijīng xué de hànyǔ.
  • I studied Chinese in Beijing.

 

  • 是何塞给我打的电话。
  • Shì hé sài gěi wǒ dǎ di diànhuà.
  • It was Jose who gave me a call.

 

  • 他是昨天晚上来的。
  • Tā shì zuótiān wǎnshàng lái de.
  • He came over last night.

 

The 是……的 structure can place emphasis on the time, method, way, object, place, purpose or the person who makes the action. The complete structure is shown below:

 

Subject + 是 + [ time / method / way / objects / place / purpose / the person who makes the action ] + verb (+object) + 的 (+object)

 

Now, I’ll show you samples of its applications one by one:

 

  • 你是什么时候去的？/ Nǐ shì shén​​me shíhou qù de? / (When did you go there?)
    • This sentence place the emphasis on time.
  • Possible reply: 我是去年去的 / Wǒ shì qùnián qù de. / (I went there last year).

 

  • 你是怎么去的？ / Nǐ shì zěnme qù de? / (How did you go there?)
    • This sentence place the emphasis on method or way.
  • Possible reply: 我是坐飞机去的 / Wǒ shì zuò fēijī qù de / (I flew there by plane).

 

  • 你是和谁一起去的？/ Nǐ shì hé shuí yīqǐ qù de? / (Who did you go there with?)
    • This sentence place the emphasis on objects.
  • Possible reply: 我是和家里人一起去的 / Wǒ shì hé jiālǐ rén yīqǐ qù de / (I went there with my family).

 

  • 你是在哪里买的这个包？/ Nǐ shì zài nǎlǐ mǎi de zhège bāo? (Where did you buy this bag?)
    • This sentence place the emphasis on the place.
  • Possible reply: 我是在商店里买的这个包 / Wǒ shì zài shāngdiàn lǐ mǎi de zhège bāo / (I bought this bag in a shop).

 

  • 你是来做什么的？ / Nǐ shì lái zuò shénme de? / (What’s your purpose of coming here?)
    • This sentence place the emphasis on purpose.
  • Possible reply: 我是来上课的 / Wǒ shì lái shàngkè de. / (I came here for my class).

 

  • 这盆花是谁送的？ / Zhè pénhuā shì shuí sòng de? / (Who sent this vase of flowers?)
    • This sentence place the emphasis on the person who made the action.
  • Possible reply: 这盆花是老师送的 / Zhè pénhuā shì lǎoshī sòng de. / (It was [my] teacher that sent [me] these flower).

 

The following sections are going to be practical examples for you to practice on. I strongly urge you to try these practice exercises and not to look at the answers straightaway before trying these yourself, in order to get the full value of this article.

 

 

Answering Questions Using 是……的

 

Now let’s use Chinese emphatic structure 是……的 to complete these exercises below:

 

用“是……的”回答下列问题 / Yòng “shì……de” huídá xiàliè wèntí / Use 是……的 to answer the following questions.

 

  1. 马丁的生日晚会是几点开始的? / Mǎdīng de shēngrì wǎnhuì shì jǐ diǎn kāishǐ de? / What time will Martin’s birthday party be starting from?
  2. 你是什么时候去的王老师家? / Nǐ shì shénme shíhou qù de wáng lǎoshī jiā? / When will you go over to teacher Wang’s home?
  3. 王大伟是在哪儿学的西班牙语? / Wángdàwěi shì zài nǎ'er xué de xībānyá yǔ? / Where did David Wang learn his Spanish?
  4. 王大伟是属马的吗? / Wángdàwěi shì shǔ mǎ de ma? / Is David Wang born in the year of the Horse?
  5. 马丁是不是一九七八年生的? / Mǎdīng shì bùshì yījiǔqībā niánshēng de? / Was Martin born in 1978?
  6. 昨天晚上你是几点钟睡觉的? / Zuótiān wǎnshàng nǐ shì jǐ diǎn zhōng shuìjiào de? / What time did you go to sleep at last night?
  7. 这个办公室是张明的吗? / Zhège bàngōngshì shì zhāng míng de ma? / Is this Zhang Ming’s office?
  8. 这张画儿是谁画的? / Zhè zhāng huà er shì shuí huà de? / Whose painting is this?

 

 

Here Are The Answers

 

  1. 马丁的生日晚会是晚上7点半开始的。/ Mǎdīng de shēngrì wǎnhuì shì wǎnshàng qī diǎn bàn kāishǐ de. / Martin’s birthday party starts at 7:00pm at night.
  2. 我是昨天上午去的王老师家。/ Wǒ shì zuótiān shàngwǔ qù de wáng lǎoshī jiā. / I went to teacher Wang’s home yesterday morning.
  3. 王大伟是在北京大学学的西班牙语。/ Wángdàwěi shì zài běijīng dàxué xué de xībānyá yǔ. / David Wang learned Spanish at Beijing University.
  4. 王大伟是属马的。/ Wángdàwěi shì shǔ mǎ de. / David Wang was born in the year of the Horse.
  5. 马丁是一九七八年生的。/ Mǎdīng shì yījiǔqībā niánshēng de. / Martin was born in 1978.
  6. 昨天晚上我是11点钟睡觉的。/ Zuótiān wǎnshàng wǒ shì shíyīdiǎn zhōng shuìjiào de. / I went to bed last night at 11:30pm.
  7. 这个办公室不是张明的。/ Zhège bàngōngshì bùshì zhāng míng de. / This is not Zhang Ming’s office.
  8. 这张画儿是马丁的朋友画的。/ Zhè zhāng huà er shì mǎdīng de péngyǒu huà de. / This painting was drawn by Martin’s friend.

 

 

Asking Questions Using 是……的

 

用“是……的”句就划线部分进行提问，并做出回答。/ Yòng “shì……de” jù jiù huá xiàn bùfèn jìnxíng tíwèn, bìng zuò chū huídá.

 

Now, use 是……的 to ask questions seen in the underlined sections of the sentences below:

 

  1. 爸爸开车去公司了。 / Bàba kāichē qù gōngsīle. / Dad drove to the office.
  2. 我爷爷前天去乡下了。 / Wǒ yéye qiántiān qù xiāngxiàle. / My grandfather went back to his hometown the day before yesterday.
  3. 他在商业大厦买了一条裤子。 / Tā zài shāngyè dàshà mǎile yītiáo kùzi. / He bought a pair of pants at a commercial building.
  4. 我昨天和妹妹一起看电影了。 / Wǒ zuótiān hé mèimei yīqǐ kàn diànyǐngle. / I watched a movie yesterday with my little sister.
  5. 奶奶把伞给小明送来了。 / Nǎinai bǎ sǎn gěi xiǎomíng sòng láile. / Grandma brought the umbrella for Xiao Ming.

 

 

Here Are The Answers

 

  1. 爸爸是怎么去公司的？ / Bàba shì zěnme qù gōngsī de? / How did dad go to work?
  2. 你爷爷是什么时候去乡下的？ / Nǐ yéye shì shénme shíhou qù xiāngxià de? / When did your grandfather go back to his hometown?
  3. 他是在哪儿买的这条裤子？ / Tā shì zài nǎ'er mǎi de zhè tiáo kùzi? / Where did he buy his pants?
  4. 你昨天是和谁一起看电影的？ / Nǐ zuótiān shì hé shuí yīqǐ kàn diànyǐng de? / Who did he go watch the movies with?
  5. 是谁把伞给小明送来的？ / Shì shuí bǎ sǎn gěi xiǎomíng sòng lái de? / Who brought the umbrella for Xiao Ming?

 

So, now you know how to use emphatic 是……的 structure! When you complete a sentence with this structure, please be sure to know which element you want to place an emphasis on.

 

The elements that can be emphasized can be:

  • time
  • method
  • way
  • objects
  • place
  • purpose
  • the person who performed the action

 

Once you know this, put each part in the right position according to the complete structure I offered above. That's it! I hope that reading this article has helped all of you understand how to correctly use the emphatic phrase 是……的.


References:

 

Hero image by Riku Lu (CC0 1.0)