<p>The line without 是 is not a correct sentence because it doesn't have a verb. It's fine in spoken language but should be avoided in formal writing.</p>
<p>In this sentence, it is fine to omit 的 in spoken language, too.</p>
<p>To recap,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>你的生日是几月几号？ Grammatical, fine for both formal and informal usages.</p>
<p>你的生日几月几号？Not a complete sentence, only used in spoken language.</p>
<p>你生日是几月几号？Whether it's grammatical is arguable. Regardless, it's common in spoken language.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-09T00:45:39.950Z
你的生日几月几号？ sounds perfectly fine to me. True, something is omitted, but it is colloquial, and a lot people say it that way, I guess people are lazy, they try to omit as much as possible as long as the meaning is still conveyed. Other examples are: 你身高多少？or 你数学多少分？or 你生日哪天啊？or 你这双鞋多少钱？ or 你眼镜多少度？ or 你血压多少？ or 你兄弟几个？or 你老家哪里？
孤影萍踪
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-09T00:54:40.743Z
@孤影萍踪 I think you're right. Putting in context makes it much more natural. I'll update the answer.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-09T06:41:36.540Z
I'd simply say 你生日几月几号 in colloquial circumstances. We don't even need the 的 between 你 and 生日.
user58955
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-09T20:48:31.620Z
I see...well thank you guys for help, it really helped me.
user3491
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-09T00:00:40.710Z
2013-11-09T00:56:44.770Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
NS.X.
<p>As a general rule, if you use a 是, you should have a corresponding 的.</p>

<p>For instance:</p>

<p>这是很好吃的！
我今天是很忙的。
你今天是怎么样的呢？</p>

<p>The Chinese, though, favor saying less to get the same meaning across. So when speaking, sometimes the 是 and/or the 的 will not be spoken.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-26T20:29:24.903Z
“是..的” as a common pattern is merely a statistical result of the grammar that the structure after 是 must be a noun phrase equivalent, which can be a noun, an adjective + 的 suffix, a possessive pronoun (which also ends with 的) or a verb turned into noun phrase (which may end with 的). For nouns they mustn't be followed by 的, e.g. “苹果是水果。” For adjectives, 的 suffix is required, e.g. “天空是蓝色的。” It is a common misconception there exists a pattern “是[noun]的”, e.g. “盒子是塑料的”, but 塑料 is really adjective here. This is true even in spoken language, in @Stan 's example 几月几号 is adjective, you can say 几月几号的生日
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-10T22:08:13.920Z
This isn't really relevant to the question that was asked. The sentence in question is "你(的)生日(是)几月几号?" which is definitely _not_ a 是...的 form. The two words in this sentence really don't have anything to do with eachother.
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-11T03:01:11.210Z
@StumpyJoePete Technically it is a 是。。的 form, as the fully correct sentence would have a 的 at the end of it, but that is being overly correct.
rhughes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-11T11:17:11.913Z
I don't recognize this structure as a 是...的 form according to my language intuition. But I feel it's OK to say "你生日是几月几号的？" in spoken language to show your intentional emphasis on *the date*. However I seldom hear that. A similar expression is "今天是几号？" -- for this one I've never heard any native speaker would say "今天是几号的？".
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-10T14:26:08.583Z
2013-11-10T14:26:08.583Z
rhughes
<p>I was wondering, which is the correct sentence in this case.</p>

<p>你的生日是几月几号？ or 你的生日几月几号？ (without 是) </p>

<p>Also can I omit 的 in this case?</p>

<mandarin><meaning>
Which is the correct sentence? Question about birthday
# Which is the correct sentence? Question about birthday

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-11-08)

I was wondering, which is the correct sentence in this case.

你的生日是几月几号？ or 你的生日几月几号？ (without 是)

Also can I omit 的 in this case?

**Tags:** mandarin, meaning


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-11-09. Score: 6

The line without 是 is not a correct sentence because it doesn't have a verb. It's fine in spoken language but should be avoided in formal writing.

In this sentence, it is fine to omit 的 in spoken language, too.

To recap,

> 你的生日是几月几号？ Grammatical, fine for both formal and informal usages.
>
> 你的生日几月几号？Not a complete sentence, only used in spoken language.
>
> 你生日是几月几号？Whether it's grammatical is arguable. Regardless, it's common in spoken language.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: 你的生日几月几号？ sounds perfectly fine to me. True, something is omitted, but it is colloquial, and a lot people say it that way, I guess people are lazy, they try to omit as much as possible as long as the meaning is still conveyed. Other examples are: 你身高多少？or 你数学多少分？or 你生日哪天啊？or 你这双鞋多少钱？ or 你眼镜多少度？ or 你血压多少？ or 你兄弟几个？or 你老家哪里？  
> **username_1**: @username_2 I think you're right. Putting in context makes it much more natural. I'll update the answer.  
> **username_3**: I'd simply say 你生日几月几号 in colloquial circumstances. We don't even need the 的 between 你 and 生日.  
> **username_0**: I see...well thank you guys for help, it really helped me.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-11-10. Score: 0

As a general rule, if you use a 是, you should have a corresponding 的.

For instance:

这是很好吃的！
我今天是很忙的。
你今天是怎么样的呢？

The Chinese, though, favor saying less to get the same meaning across. So when speaking, sometimes the 是 and/or the 的 will not be spoken.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: This isn't really relevant to the question that was asked. The sentence in question is "你(的)生日(是)几月几号?" which is definitely _not_ a 是...的 form. The two words in this sentence really don't have anything to do with eachother.  
> **username_4**: @StumpyJoePete Technically it is a 是。。的 form, as the fully correct sentence would have a 的 at the end of it, but that is being overly correct.  
> **username_6**: I don't recognize this structure as a 是...的 form according to my language intuition. But I feel it's OK to say "你生日是几月几号的？" in spoken language to show your intentional emphasis on *the date*. However I seldom hear that. A similar expression is "今天是几号？" -- for this one I've never heard any native speaker would say "今天是几号的？".  
> **username_1**: “是..的” as a common pattern is merely a statistical result of the grammar that the structure after 是 must be a noun phrase equivalent, which can be a noun, an adjective + 的 suffix, a possessive pronoun (which also ends with 的) or a verb turned into noun phrase (which may end with 的). For nouns they mustn't be followed by 的, e.g. “苹果是水果。” For adjectives, 的 suffix is required, e.g. “天空是蓝色的。” It is a common misconception there exists a pattern “是[noun]的”, e.g. “盒子是塑料的”, but 塑料 is really adjective here. This is true even in spoken language, in @username_6 's example 几月几号 is adjective, you can say 几月几号的生日  

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