Emphasizing place with 是…的

The final category of things you can emphasize with 是…的 is place - where the action happened. As you might have guessed, you put the place right after 是 to emphasize it. Some examples:

我是在日本上的中学。

Wǒ shì zài rìběn shàng de zhōngxué .

I went to middle school in Japan.
⇒ It was in Japan that I went to middle school.

我们是在西安认识的。

Wǒmen shì zài Xī'ān rènshi de.

We met in Xi'an.
⇒ It was in Xi'an that we met.

我是在报纸看到的。

Wǒ shì zài bàozhǐ kàn dào de.

I saw it in the newspaper.
⇒ It was in the newspaper that I saw it.

Hopefully that has given you a general idea of what the 是…的 structure is and how it's used. Read on for more usage scenarios and details!

That pesky alternate word order is back again! We've put it in a couple of times here to make you aware of it before we explain it in more detail below.

Emphasizing other details with 是…的

Besides time, manner and place, there are all sorts of other things you can talk about with 是…的. Here are a few examples:

我是来学中文的。

Wǒ shì lái xué Zhōngwén de.

I've come to study Chinese.

那台电脑是三千块买的。

Nà tái diànnǎo shì sānqiān kuài mǎi de.

That computer cost 3000 kuai.

这个项链是我奶奶送给我的。

Zhège xiàngliàn shì wǒ nǎinai sòng gěi wǒ de.

This necklace was given to me by my grandma.

这个故事是老张给我讲的。

Zhège gùshì shì Lǎo Zhāng gěi wǒ jiǎng de.

Lao Zhang told me this story.

Hopefully you can now see how versatile and useful the 是…的 construction is.

Negating 是…的

Negating 是…的 is super easy: just put 不 in front of 是 and that's it! You can use this to emphasize what was not true about an action. Some examples:

我不是坐飞机去香港的。

Wǒ bùshì zuò fēijī qù xiānggǎng de.

I didn't go to Hong Kong by plane.
⇒ It wasn't by plane that I went to Hong Kong.

这件事情不是你告诉我的。

Zhè jiàn shìqíng bùshì nǐ gàosu wǒ de.

You didn't tell me about this.
⇒ It wasn't you who told me about this.

我不是在越南学的越南语。

Wǒ bùshì zài Yuènán xué Yuènányǔ de.

I didn't learn Vietnamese in Vietnam.
⇒ It wasn't in Vietnam that I learnt Vietnamese.

As you can see, negating 是…的 is very straightforward, and now you've got a whole new set of options in your tool kit!

That's the third time you've seen the alternate word order, with the object after 的. We'll explain it soon, we promise!

Asking questions with 是…的

A very common use of 是…的 is to ask questions. You can form question sentences using 是…的 just as you would normally form questions in Chinese. Let's have a look at a few ways.

是…的 with 吗

The simplest way to ask questions is probably with a tag word (aka question particle) like 吗. You just place this on the end of the sentence as normal to turn it into a yes/no question:

他是上个学期来的吗？

Tā shì shàng gè xuéqí lái de ma?

Did he get here last semester?
⇒ Was it last semester that he got here?

她是跟她爸爸去杭州的吗？

Tā shì gēn tā bàba qù hángzhōu de ma?

Did she got to Hangzhou with her dad?
⇒ Was it with her dad that she went to Hangzhou?

你是在公园里看到他的吗？

Nǐ shì zài gōngyuán lǐ kàn dào tā de ma?

Did you see him in the park?
⇒ Was in it in the park that you saw him?

As you can see, it's very easy to make 是…的 sentences into question by simply adding 吗 at the end. This is a good way to ask questions about particular details of an action, as you can see in the examples.

是…的 in positive-negative questions

The next way you can form questions with 是…的 is to use positive-negative questions. These are the questions where you say the verb then immediately give its negated form. As you might expect, these are formed as 是不是 for 是…的 sentences. Some examples:

你是不是刚到的？

Nǐ shì bùshì gāng dào de?

Did you just get here?
⇒ Was it just now that you got here?

他是不是用铅笔写的？

Tā shì bùshì yòng qiānbǐ xiě de?

Did he write it with a pencil?
⇒ Was it with a pencil that he wrote it?

你们是不是在首尔认识的？

Nǐmen shì bùshì zài Shǒu'ěr rènshi de?

Did you meet in Seoul?
⇒ Was it in Seoul that you met?

That's all there is to it! Forming positive-negative questions with 是…的 is quite easy to get used to.

是…的 with question words

Another way you can form questions with 是…的 is to use question words. As you might know already, Chinese question words tend to be quite straightforward. You just put them in the place of the thing you want to know in the sentence, and that's it. You don't need to re-order the sentence or anything like that.

Some example sentences for 是…的 with question words:

她是什么时候去蒙古的？

Tā shì shénme shíhou qù ménggǔ de?

When did she go to Mongolia?
⇒ When was it that she went to Mongolia?

这个菜是怎么做的？

Zhège cài shì zěnme zuò de?

How is this dish made?
⇒ What is it that this dish is made with?

你们是在哪里认识的？

Nǐmen shì zài nǎlǐ rènshi de?

Where did you meet?
⇒ Where was it that you met?

这件事是谁告诉你的？

Zhè jiàn shì shì shuí gàosu nǐ de?

Who told you about this?
⇒ Who was it that told you about this?

Again, once you know the structure, it's quite easy to combine it with other things you know. You'll soon find that your Chinese “tool kit” is full of options in this way.

The object often comes after 的 in 是…的

Here's that explanation we kept promising of those sentences where the object comes after 的!

When the 是…的 construction is used, the object very often comes after 的, rather than before it as shown in the examples above. This is very common with the 是…的 construction for most objects (pretty much everything except people).

This isn't a huge change, but it's another thing you've got to take note of with 是…的. Have a look at some example sentences to see how this works:

我是上个月来的北京。

Wǒ shì shàngge yuè lái de Běijīng.

I came to Beijing last month.

他是用钢笔写的信。

Tā shì yòng gāngbǐ xiě de xìn.

He wrote the letter with a fountain pen.

我是在食堂吃的饭。

Wǒ shì zài shítáng chī de fàn.

I ate in the canteen.

If you take away the object, you can see how these sentences work: 我是上个月来的 still makes sense on its own. So all that's happening is that a complete sentence (with 是…的) is having an object added to it.

The object can come after 的 if it's a place or a ‘thing’, but not if it's a person. As usual, we'd say it's best not to try and memorise any rules about this. Instead, read and listen to as much Chinese as possible, and keep practising! Then you'll get a natural feel for it all.

Be careful when putting the object after 的!

If you're on the ball, you might have spotted a little danger with putting the object after 的 in a 是…的 sentence. You could end up saying that the subject is the object, rather than emphasizing something else in the sentence. For example:

我是昨天买的猪。（ ！）

Wǒ shì zuótiān mǎi de zhū.

"I am the pig that was bought yesterday."

That sentence could mean “I bought the pig yesterday”, but it could also be misinterpreted. To make sure you say the right thing, it might be better to phrase such sentences like this:

我是昨天买猪的。

Wǒ shì zuótiān mǎi zhū de.

I bought the pig yesterday.

Even this version could also have another meaning though:

“I was the person who bought the pig yesterday.”

Just remember to be careful if you're putting the object after 的 in a 是…的 sentence.

是 is often dropped from the 是…的 construction

One final thing to note about the 是…的 construction is that 是 is often left out of it. That does make the name a bit silly, but 是…的 is the ‘full’ structure.

Nothing else changes, you just say the same sentence but without 是. Some examples:

我们在上海认识的。

Wǒmen zài shànghǎi rènshi de.

We met in Shanghai.

我在食堂吃的饭。

Wǒ zài shítáng chī de fàn.

I ate in the canteen.

我在报纸看到的。

Wǒ zài bàozhǐ kàn dào de.

I saw it in the newspaper.

Because of this, you could think of 的 on its own as being a way to talk about past events. Just remember that it works as part of a 是…的, even if the 是 is invisible!

Other names for the 是…的 construction

As it's so common, there are many different terms for the 是…的 construction. To help avoid any confusion, here's a list of some of them. These all mean the same thing:

• 是…的结构

• (shì…de jiégòu)

• 是 的 句

• 是…的 sentence

• 是…的 pattern

• Shì…de construction

• Shi de sentence