的 [de] is such a widely used auxiliary word. It appears everywhere in Chinese news articles, as well as in daily speech. Here are the rules for the most common uses of 的:
1. Possession 的 indicates possession. For example: 我的(my), 他的(his), 她的(her), 他们的(their), 学校的(the school’s), 公司的(the company’s)
2. Creating nouns and noun phrases 的 can be attached to a variety of words or phrases, and the result will function as a noun, or a noun phrase. For example: 这是我的。(attached to a pronoun) This is mine. 我要红色的。(attached to an adjective) I want the red one. 这台电脑是学校的。(attached to a noun) This computer is the school’s. 今天来参加派对的都是美国人。(attached to a verb-object phrase) The people who attended the party today were all Americans. 我说的是真的。(attached to the verb 说) What I said is true.
3. Emphasis 是…..的 is a sentence structure which is used to express emphasis. Examples for affirmative patterns: 我是昨天到上海的。(Emphasizing the time) It was yesterday when I arrived in Shanghai. 我是坐地铁来公司的。(Emphasizing the way or manner) It was by subway that I traveled to the company. 我和他是在酒吧上认识的。(Emphasizing the place) It was in the bar that I met him. 是王先生开车送我回家的。(Emphasizing the person) It was Mr. Wang who drove me home.
4. Asserting an affirmative tone Putting 的 at the end of a statement can strengthen the affirmative tone. Examples: 我知道这事儿的! I know this! 你的梦想会实现的! Your dream will come true! 别担心,他会好的。 No worries, he’s going be fine.
5. 什么的 什么的 is a fixed structure, placed after juxtaposed words or phrases, which means the same as ‘and so on’ or ‘etc’ in English. For example: 她喜欢猫、狗、猪什么的。 She likes cats, dogs, pigs, and so on. 我们谈了电影,小说,音乐什么的。 We talked about movies, novels, music and so on. 周末,我喜欢看电视、上网、购物什么的。 During the weekend, I like watching TV, surfing the Internet, shopping etc.
(Source: italki.com)
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