A Study of “是……..的”: the Chinese Grammar Used for Emphasis in Sentences

Abstract

The objective of this academic article was to investigate the grammar structure used placing emphasis on a(n) person or object in a sentence. In Chinese grammar, this is called “shi……..de”. Although this grammar rule has a simple structure, when applied in practice, it can cause great confusion for learners. Furthermore, this grammatical rule is also included in the Chinese language proficiency test, which can prove to be quite challenging for test-takers to identify and use. In order to prevent such uncertainties about this grammar rule and to increase knowledge of learners, the author studied this grammatical structure relating to “shi……..de” and found the following four structures, namely:  1) Subject + S person + shi + thing to emphasize + de;   2) Classifier structure + S Person + shi + thing to emphasize + de;   3) S + shi + thing to emphasize + de;   and lastly 4) Subject expansion + shi + thing to emphasize + de.  As it can be observed, each structure differs only in the subject part, and the structure of the part that needs to be emphasized remains the same. Furthermore, it can be seen from the first structure that the subject preposition is placed in front of the person, whereas structure 2 uses a classifier structure that is placed in front of the person. Structure 3 contains the subject of the sentence, which can be any noun. And finally, structure 4 can be used as such to precede the structure “shi……..de”.