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 (shì... de) 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 emphasizing 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 be emphasized + Verb + 的

This structure can be used to emphasize any detail, but most commonly it emphasizes time, manner, or place. Don't worry if this still seems a little confusing; lots of helpful 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 怎么 来 的 ？ (Emphasizing "how" or "in what manner") How did you come?
• 你 是 怎么 做 的 ？ (Emphasizing "how" or "in what manner") How did you do it?
• 是 谁 告诉 你 的 ？ (Emphasizing "who") Who was it that told you?
• 你 是 什么时候 来 的 ？ (Emphasizing "when") When did you come?

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.)We came yesterday.
• 他 是 去年 到 北京 去 的。 ("Last year is emphasized.)He went to Beijing last year.

Some examples where manner is emphasized:

• 她 是 坐 飞机 去 美国 的。 ("By plane" is emphasized.)She went to America by plane.
• 我 是 从 香港 转机 到 上海 的。 ("from Hong Kong" is emphasized") I'm coming to Shanghai from Hong Kong.

Some examples where place is emphasized:

• 我 是 在 英国 学 英文 的。 ("In Britain" is emphasized.)I studied English in Britain.
• 你 是 在 中国 出生 的。 ("In China" is emphasized.)You were born in China.

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。I ate with my family in a restaurant last Saturday.

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。("last Saturday" is emphasized.)
• 我 上 个 星期六 是 跟 我 家人 在 饭馆 吃饭 的。("with my family" is emphasized.)
• 我 上 个 星期六 跟 我 家人 是 在 饭馆 吃饭 的。("in a restaurant" is emphasized.)

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。We didn't come by train.
• 这个 电话 不 是 打给他的。This phone call isn't to him.
• 我们 不 是 去 看她 的。We didn't go to see her.

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
• Within affirmative-negative questions

Some examples:

• 你 是 用 手枪 杀害 他 的 吗？Did you use a pistol to murder him?
• 他 是 坐 飞机 去 意大利 的 吗？Did you take a plane to Italy?

• 你 是 跟 谁 出去 的？Who did you go out with?
• 你 是 怎么 来 北京 的？How did you come to Beijing?

• 你们 是 不是 去年 认识 的？Did you meet each other last year?
• 你的 车 是 不是 你弟弟 开 走 的？Was your car driven away by your brother?

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。He came yesterday.
• 我们 （是） 两 个 月 以前 认识 的。We met two months ago.
• 我 （是） 用 中文 问路 的。I used Chinese to ask the way.

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 加拿大 学 的 英语。(the 的 comes before the object 英语)I studied English in Canada.
• 我 是 在 加拿大 学 英语 的。(the 的 comes after the object 英语)I studied English in Canada.

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.

• 我 是 在 法国 认识 的 她。(the 的 cannot come before the object 她)I met her in France.
• 我 是 在 法国 认识 她 的。(the 的 can only come after the object 她)I met her in France.

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

给你们一个例子。如果我只告诉你们这个对话：

• A: 他说什么了？
• B: 他说这个地方不能抽烟。

如果你没有语境，你看到这个句子有两种可能：1. 可能有很多地方，只是这个地方不能抽烟。2.可能只有一个地方但是这个地方不能抽烟。 所以，如果你要让这个意思更清楚，”是...的“结构可以帮助你：

• A: 他说什么了？
• B: 他说是这个地方不能抽烟的。 他们之前知道很多地方，也知道有的地方能抽烟有的地方不能抽烟，所以现在确定的是”这个地方“不能抽烟。

• A: 他说什么了？
• B: 他说这个地方是不能抽烟的。他们在一个地方吃饭唱歌玩游戏，但是有一件事情不能做，就是”抽烟“。

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。("last Friday" is emphasized.)I came last Friday.
• 那 时候，我 是 每 天 坐 车 上班 的。("every day" is emphasized.)Back then, I rode my bicycle to work every day.
• 我们 是 十 年 以前 认识 的。("ten years ago" is emphasized.)We met each other ten years ago.

Focusing on place

• 她 是 在 美国 学习 英文 的。("in America" is emphasized.)She studied English in America.
• 他们 是 在 图书馆 认识 的。("in the library" is emphasized.)They met each other in the library.
• 我们 是 在 家里 喝醉 的。("in the house" is emphasized.)We got drunk in the house.

Focusing on manner

• 我 是 跟 我 朋友 出去 玩 的。("with my friends" is emphasized.)I went out to hang with my friends.
• 我 是 开车 回家 的。("by car" is emphasized.)I came home by car.
• 他 是 花 了 半 个 小时 到 他 家 的。("took him half an hour" is emphasized.)

It took him half an hour to get to his home.

Focusing on instrument

• 我 是 用 法文 写 的 信。("used French" is emphasized.)I used French to write the letter.
• 他 小 的时候 是 用 筷子 吃饭 的。("used chopsticks" is emphasized.)When he was younger, he used chopsticks to eat.
• 她 是 用 电脑 学习 汉语 的。("used the computer" is emphasized.)She used a computer to study Chinese.

Focusing on agent

• 他 是 被 谁 杀害 的？("by whom" is emphasized.)Who was he killed by?
• 我的 钱包 是 被 男人 偷走 的。("by a man" is emphasized.)My wallet was stolen by a man.
• 你的 玩具 是 被 你 妹妹 弄破 的。("by your sister" is emphasized.)Your toy was broken by your sister.

See also: 被 sentence

Focusing on target

• 你 是 给 谁 做 的 饭？("who" is emphasized.)Who did you make food for?
• 我 是 为 你 回来 的。("for you" is emphasized.)I came back for you.
• 他 是 对 你 说 的 这件事？("to you" is emphasized.)

See also

• 的 (modal particle)
• Adding emphasis with "jiushi"
• Uses of "shi... de"

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 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 119-121) →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
• 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课下册） (p. 530)→buy
• 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册） (p. 205)→buy

Websites

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