How to use 是…的
是⋯⋯ 的
When an event is already established, 是…的 can highlight a particular detail about it. The focus may be when it happened, how it was carried out, where it occurred, or who participated. Place 是 before the highlighted information and 的 near the end of the construction. Questions use the same frame to request the missing detail.
This pattern frequently discusses past events, but it is not a general past-tense marker. The key is the focus on circumstances rather than simply announcing an event. 是 may be omitted in some affirmative contexts, while negative and contrastive uses need closer attention. Placement of 的 can vary with the object and the exact sentence structure.
Examples with pinyin and English
昨天我去杭州了。
I went to Hangzhou yesterday.
你是怎么去的？
How did you get there?
我是坐火车去的。
I went by train.
你昨天是几点到的？
What time did you arrive yesterday?
What to remember
- Focus on a detail of an established event.
- Place 是 before the highlighted information.
- Do not use the pattern as a general past tense.
Practise the pattern
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Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.