▎是…的, shì...de, to Focus, it was A that B

 

Function This pattern highlights one of the elements in a sentence in a past instance and marks it as the focus, i.e., the main message of the sentence.

 

Structures

(1) In this pattern, the focus marker 是 is placed directly in front of the focused element and 的 is placed at the end of the sentence, i.e., Subject＋是＋Focus＋Activity＋的.

1 他是昨天晚上到臺灣的。

Tā shì zuótiān wǎnshàng dào Táiwān de.

It was last night that he arrived in Taiwan.

2 他是在學校附近吃晚飯的。

Tā shì zài xuéxiào fùjìn chī wǎnfàn de.

It was near the school that he had dinner.

3 我是坐捷運來學校的。

Wǒ shì zuò jiéyùn lái xuéxiào de.

It was by MRT that I came to school.

(2) The object in this pattern is often moved to the very front of the sentence.

1 學費是公司替我付的。

Xuéfèi shì gōngsī tì wǒ fù de.

It is the company that pays my tuition.

2 這支手機是在夜市買的。

Zhè zhī shǒujī shì zài yèshì mǎi de.

It was in the night market that I purchased this cellphone.

(3) The focused element can be the subject, the expression for time, place, manner, and occasionally the verb, but never the object.

1 是我打電話給房東的。／(subject)

Shì wǒ dǎ diànhuà gěi fángdōng de.

It was I who called the landlord.

2 我是昨天晚上去看電影的。／(time)

Wǒ shì zuótiān wǎnshàng qù kàn diànyǐng de.

It was last night that I went to see a movie.

3 他是在那家便利商店買咖啡的。／(place)

Tā shì zài nà jiā biànlì shāngdiàn mǎi kāfēi de.

It was in that convenience store that he bought coffee.

4 我是坐公車來上課的。／(manner)

Wǒ shì zuò gōngchē lái shàngkè de.

It was by taking the bus that I came to class.

5 ＊我是這間房間最近租的。／(object)

＊Wǒ shì zhè jiān fángjiān zuìjìn zū de.

Negation：The negation marker, 不bú, always goes before 是shì.

1 他不是今天早上去美國的。

Tā búshì jīntiān zǎoshàng qù Měiguó de.

It was not this morning that he went to the United States.

2 不是我打電話給房東的。

Búshì wǒ dǎ diànhuà gěi fángdōng de.

It was not I who called the landlord.

3 我不是在圖書館看書的。

Wǒ búshì zài túshūguǎn kànshū de.

It was not in the library that I studied.

Questions：

1 你是一個人來的嗎？

Nǐ shì yí ge rén lái de ma?

Did you come alone? (Was it by yourself that you came?)

2 他是不是坐高鐵去臺南的？

Tā shìbúshì zuò gāotiě qù Táinán de?

Was it by High Speed Rail that he went to Tainan?

3 你的房租是不是自己付的？

Nǐ de fángzū shìbúshì zìjǐ fù de?

Do you pay your own rent?

 

Usage

(1) Sometimes 是 can be omitted in the 是…的 pattern.

1 我（是）跟朋友一起來的。

Wǒ (shì) gēn péngyǒu yìqǐ lái de.

I came with friends. (It was with friends that I came.)

2 我（是）坐計程車來的。

Wǒ (shì) zuò jìchéngchē lái de.

I came by taxi. (It was by taxi that I came.)

(2) This pattern can be used to ask a wh-question (who, when, how, where) about an instance in the past. However, it does not work when ‘what’ is the object.

1 是誰打電話給你的？／(who)

Shì shéi dǎ diànhuà gěi nǐ de?

Who called you?

2 他是什麼時候來學校的？／(when)

Tā shì shénme shíhòu lái xuéxiào de?

When did he come to school?

3 你是怎麼去的？／(how)

Nǐ shì zěnme qù de?

How did you go?

4 你是在哪裡吃飯的？／(where)

Nǐ shì zài nǎlǐ chīfàn de?

Where did you eat?

5 ＊你是什麼東西看的？／(object)

＊Nǐ shì shénme dōngxi kàn de?