The "shi... de" construction for emphasizing details

Also known as: 是⋯⋯的结构 (shì ... de jiégòu), 是 ... 的 sentence and 是 ... 的 pattern.

The 是... 的 construction is used to draw particular attention to certain information in a sentence. It's often used to ask questions that seek specific information, or to explain a situation by emphasising a particular detail.

While not strictly tied to any "tense," the 是... 的 construction is frequently used when asking details about the past or telling details about the past.

Basic 是 ... 的 structure

A 是... 的 sentence is formed with this structure:

Subject + 是 + information to emphasized + Verb + 的

This structure can be used to emphasise any detail, but most commonly it emphasizes time, manner, or place. Don't worry if this still seems a little confusing; lots of straightforward examples are coming up!

Simple Question Examples

These are some of the most common questions asked using the 是... 的 construction and some possible answers:

• 你 是 做 什么 的 ？ (Emphasizing "do what")
• 你 是 做 什么 工作 的 ？ (Emphasizing "do what job")
• 你 是 怎么 来 的 ？ (Emphasizing "how" or "in what manner")
• 你 是 怎么 做 的 ？ (Emphasizing "how" or "in what manner")
• 是 谁 告诉 你 的 ？ (Emphasizing "who")
• 你 是 什么时候 来 的 ？ (Emphasizing "when")

You might be wondering, "can I still say the same thing without the 是 and the 的?" The answer is that in most cases, no, not really. While the 是 can sometimes be dropped, these examples sound weird without the 的. It's just a part of learning to ask questions naturally in Mandarin. You don't have to learn a "past tense," but you do have to learn this way of asking for details about the past, sooner or later.

Other Examples

Some examples where time is emphasized:

• 我们 是 昨天 来 的。 ("Yesterday" is emphasized.)
• 他 是 去年 到 北京 去 的。 ("Last year is emphasized.)

Some examples where manner is emphasized:

• 她 是 坐 飞机 去 美国 的。 ("By plane" is emphasized.)
• 他 是 跟 他 朋友 唱歌 的。 ("With his friends" is emphasized.)

Some examples where place is emphasized:

• 我 是 在 英国 学 英文 的。 ("In Britain" is emphasized.)
• 你 是 在 中国 出生 的。 ("In China" is emphasized.)

Singling out details for emphasis with 是... 的

As mentioned above, a 是... 的 construction can pick out any detail in a sentence. Whatever comes immediately after 是 is emphasized. So in the sentence below:

• 我 上 个 星期六 跟 我 家人 在 饭馆 吃饭。

We can pick out any one of the details by putting 是 in front of it:

• 我 是 上 个 星期六 跟 我 家人 在 饭馆 吃饭 的。
• 我 上 个 星期六 是 跟 我 家人 在 饭馆 吃饭 的。
• 我 上 个 星期六 跟 我 家人 是 在 饭馆 吃饭 的。

When to use 是... 的

As described above, the 是... 的 construction is used to draw attention to particular information in a sentence. Whereas a sentence without a 是 ... 的 construction might describe a situation, a sentence with a 是 ... 的 construction explains it. 是... 的 is not generally used for reporting new information, but for adding important details that make the information clearer.

You could think of 是 ... 的 as being equivalent to saying one of the following in English:

• "The situation is that"
• "It's that ..."
• "It was ... that ..."

If the sentence could be formed with one of those phrases in English, it can probably use a 是 ... 的 construction in Chinese. Usually the topic of a 是 ... 的 sentence has already been established.

Completed action

It's important to note that a 是 ... 的 construction also indicates that an action has been completed. However, this is not the purpose of a 是 ... 的 construction. The association with a completed action is more like a side effect of 是 ... 的. This means you shouldn't use 是 ... 的 just to indicate that an action is completed. Use the aspect particle 了 for that. Instead, use 是 ... 的 to draw attention to particular features of the action.

Negating 是 ... 的

是 ... 的 sentences can only be negated with 不, as 没 can not be used to negate 是. Place 不 before 是 as you would in a standard sentence.

Some examples:

• 我们 不 是 坐 火车 来 的。
• 他 不 是 用 毛笔 写 的 信。
• 你 不 是 跟 她 出去 的。

Note that negating a 是 ... 的 construction creates the implication that the action in the sentence was carried out, and only the detail emphasized by 是 ... 的 is being denied. So, in the last sentence, the implication is that 你 didn't go out with 她, but did go out with someone. So negative 是 ... 的 constructions would work nicely in the final scenes of detective dramas.

是 ... 的 and questions

是 ... 的 constructions can be made into questions in the usual three ways to form questions in Chinese:

• With a question particle
• With a question word
• With positive-negative inversion

Some examples:

• 你 是 用 手枪 杀害 他 的 吗？
• 他 是 坐 飞机 去 意大利 的 吗？

• 你 是 跟 谁 出去 的？
• 你 是 怎么 来 北京 的？

• 你们 是 不是 去年 认识 的？
• 你的 自行车 是 不是 被 这 个 人 偷走 的？

是 is often optional

Although this structure is called the 是 ... 的 construction, the 是 is nearly always optional. You will often hear this structure with 是 omitted, so be aware. The only time 是 is required in this construction is when it's being negated. Other than that, 是 is commonly omitted.

Some examples:

• 他 （是） 昨天 来 的。
• 我们 （是） 两 个 月 以前 认识 的。
• 我 （是） 用 中文 问路 的。

Where to put 的 in a 是 ... 的 construction

Up till now we've said that 的 appears at the end of the sentence in a 是 ... 的 construction. This is very often the case. However, if there's an object, 的 can appear before the object.

For example:

• 我 是 在 英国 学习 的 英语。

Note that if the object is a person, 的 has to go at the end of the sentence. Otherwise it can go before the object or at the end of the sentence.

Sometimes this arrangement is useful for avoiding ambiguity in the sentence.

More 是 ... 的 emphasis examples

The 是 ... 的 construction is very versatile and can be used to pick out a large variety of details in a sentence. Have a look at the examples below to get a stronger grasp of how this structure can be used.

Focusing on time

• 我 是 上 个 星期五 来 的。
• 那 时候，我 是 每 天 坐 车 上班 的。
• 我们 是 十 年 以前 认识 的。

Focusing on place

• 她 是 在 美国 学习 英文 的。
• 他们 是 在 图书馆 认识 的。
• 我们 是 在 家里 喝醉 的。

Focusing on manner

• 我 是 跟 我 朋友 出去 玩 的。
• 我 是 开车 回家 的。
• 他 是 很 快地 到 他 家 来 的。

Focusing on instrument

• 我 是 用 法文 写 的 信。
• 他 小 的时候 是 用 筷子 吃饭 的。
• 她 是 用 电脑 学习 汉语 的。

Focusing on agent

• 他 是 被 谁 杀害 的？
• 我的 钱包 是 被 男人 偷走 的。
• 你的 玩具 是 被 你 妹妹 弄破 的。

See also: 被 sentence

Focusing on target

• 你 是 给 谁 做 的 饭？
• 我 是 为 你 回来 的。
• 他 是 对 你 感 兴趣 的。

See also

• 的 (modal particle)
• Adding Emphasis with "jiushi"

Sources and further reading

Books

• A Practical Chinese Grammar For Foreigners (外国人实用汉语语法) (pp. 577-9) →buy
• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 54-5) →buy
• Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 46-7, 173-80) →buy
• Chinese Grammar - Broken down into 100 items - Basic and Intermediate Levels (汉语语法百项讲练 - 初中级) (pp. 319-22) →buy
• Contemporary Chinese 2 (当代中文2) (pp. 46) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 14-6) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 2 (pp. 152-4) →buy
• Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar (pp. 587-94) →buy
• Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar: A Practical Guide (pp. 233-5) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 2 (新实用汉语课本2) (pp. 88-9, 153) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 4 (新实用汉语课本4) (pp. 204-5) →buy
• Short-term Spoken Chinese: Threshold Vol. 2 (汉语口语入门篇下) (pp. 66-8) →buy

Websites

• University website: The shi ... de construction
• East Asia Student: The 是 … 的 construction in Mandarin