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  <p>The 是 shi ... 的 de construction</p>
  <p>We have learned that the 是...的 shì... de construction is used
  to emphasis stative verbs, for</p>
  <p>example, 这条裙子是新的 zhè tiáo qúnzi shì xīn de this skirt is new.
  In this session I</p>
  <p>would like to introduce the other two usages of the 是...的 shì
  ... de construction.</p>
  <p>1. 是...的 shì... de is used for emphasis in the past of time
  when and the way something is</p>
  <p>done. For example, when you want to tell someone that it was
  last May that you went to</p>
  <p>China by train, the 是...的 shì... de construction should be
  used as demonstrated below.</p>
  <p>我 是 去 年 五 月 坐 火 车 去 中</p>
  <p>国</p>
  <p>的。</p>
  <p>wǒ shì qùnián wǔyuè zuò huǒchē qù Zhōngguó de</p>
  <p>As you may have noticed, 是 shì and 的 de are used like a
  “frame” that includes the time, the</p>
  <p>method, the action and the place. If the object of a sentence
  has no description or has no any</p>
  <p>other subordination, like the one above, 的 de can be placed
  after the verb to emphasize the</p>
  <p>place. In other words, the sentence above could look like
  this</p>
  <p>我 是 去 年</p>
  <p>五 月</p>
  <p>坐 火 车</p>
  <p>去 的 中</p>
  <p>国。</p>
  <p>wǒ shì qùnián wǔyuè zuò huǒchē qù de Zhōngguó</p>
  <p>2. 是...的 shì... de can also be used to emphasise the agent of
  a sentence. For instance:</p>
  <p>这 件 事 是 我 作 的。</p>
  <p>zhè jiàn shì shì wǒ zuò de</p>
  <p>It was me who did this.</p>
  <p>101Elementary Chinese Grammar 基础汉语语法</p>
  <p>2011</p>
  <p>这 本 书 是 鲁 迅 写 的。</p>
  <p>zhèběn shū shì Lǔxùn xiě de</p>
  <p>It was Luxun who wrote that book. / That book was written by
  Luxun.</p>
  <p>When translating a passive English sentence into Chinese, it
  is important to identify the</p>
  <p>emphasis of the sentence first. If the emphasis is on the
  agent, then the 是...的 shì... de</p>
  <p>construction should be applied. On the other hand, if the
  emphasis is on the outcome of an</p>
  <p>action, but not on the agent, then the 被 bèi construction or
  notional passive construction</p>
  <p>should be applied. For example</p>
  <p>桌</p>
  <p>子 上</p>
  <p>的 菜 是 我 吃 的。</p>
  <p>zhuōzi shàng de cài shì wǒ chī de.</p>
  <p>It was me who ate the food on the table.</p>
  <p>桌</p>
  <p>子 上</p>
  <p>的 菜 (被 我) 吃 完 了。</p>
  <p>zhuōzi shàng de cài (bèi wǒ) chī wán le.</p>
  <p>The food that was on the table has been eaten (by me).</p>
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