<p>Both your translations are definitely correct (if you think about it <code>but the interesting thing</code> and <code>but what's interesting</code> mean the same thing). As you pointed out, something is omitted here: in this case it's the word 事情 <code>thing, the thing</code>. This happens because it's implicitly inferred.</p>

<p>The sentence 但是有意思的事情是 is grammatically correct too and it means the exactly same thing. In this case we made 事情 explicit.</p>

<p>You already know that 的 introduces the modifier which precedes the noun that it's modifying. If you make 事情 implicit, you have to leave 的 in the sentence to indicate that the element that comes before represents a modifier, and the thing that is modified can be omitted.</p>

<p>Consider this sentence:<br/></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我的自行车比你的新。<br/>
  My bike is newer than yours.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Let's analyse it:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我的自行车 (Modifier + Subject) + 比 (preposition) + 你的 (Modifier) + 新 (Predicate)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In this example, after 你, there is a 的 that modifies something implicit. The word 自行车 is explicit the first time (after 我), but it's omitted the second time (after 你) because both the speaker and the audience know they are talking about bikes. Thus, you omit 自行车 the second time but keep 的 to signify that the element that comes before is a modifier.</p>

<p>P.S. Although it could sound redundant, it is perfectly OK to say 我的自行车比你的自行车新.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-04T00:42:44.160Z
Thank you. Nothing like trying to find out more about something that's been made implicit. Having had learnt all that now I searched my Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar book again and the only [thing] ;-) I found was just a brief mention in the Noun Phrases chapter on the omission of the head noun when it's predictable from the context (i.e. the noun has been seen before). However, in my example `的` works as an attributive, so it's a different kind of beast, I guess? Also thanks for the example with `比`, I didn't know about that either despite having seen numerous comparison sentences before.
Johnny Baloney
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-04T13:41:37.937Z
@JohnnyBaloney, the job of the character 的 is to separate some elements inside the sentence. By doing so, it immediately tells you that the phrase that precendes 的 it's modifying the noun that comes next. After 的 there has to be a Noun Phrase and if this NP is missing, you have to explain yourself why is that. The only reasonable conclusion is that something is implicit. 99% of the time the missing word is 事情, but not always, for example there is the expression 卖票的, which is the ticket agent. What's missing after 的 in this case is 人. It should be 卖票的人, _the person who sells tickets_.
Tochtli
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-03T17:54:52.947Z
2016-06-03T18:20:21.863Z
2016-06-03T18:20:21.863Z
Tochtli
<p>“的”的用法是：①部分n＋的＝adj
adj修饰n／v
②省略一些词语
such as:美丽的蝴蝶  美丽＝n   美丽的＝adj  蝴蝶＝n  美丽的修饰（modifier）蝴蝶
                     ——莫道不销魂，帘卷西风，人比黄花瘦。</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-04T19:42:30.377Z
2016-06-04T19:42:30.377Z
Ghost
<p>As I understand <code>...,但是有意思的是,...</code> means <code>..., but the interesting thing is, ...</code> but I went through great pains to arrive at this. The culprit here that jammed the cranks in my head was the <code>的</code>. Had it not been there I might have just inferred that meaning and carry on assuming that the <code>thing</code> in <code>interesting thing</code> was implicit or the phrase was something akin to <code>but what's interesting is</code>.</p>

<p>What's <code>的</code> doing here? </p>

<p>I'd also be grateful for another example showing the same rule in action.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-03T17:27:53.010Z
的 links attributives to NPs (noun phrases), if an NP is omitted it converts the attributive to an NP, w/o 的 like "the interesting is" it would be ungrammatical, 的 can be thought of as abbreviation of ＂的事情＂(interesting thing/matter, or more accurately "what is interesting")
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-06-03T17:48:19.787Z
You will see a lot of 的 like this, better get use to it.
imrek
<grammar>
Is there a grammar rule for using 的 in this snippet 但是有意思的是?
# Is there a grammar rule for using 的 in this snippet 但是有意思的是?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-06-03)

As I understand `...,但是有意思的是,...` means `..., but the interesting thing is, ...` but I went through great pains to arrive at this. The culprit here that jammed the cranks in my head was the `的`. Had it not been there I might have just inferred that meaning and carry on assuming that the `thing` in `interesting thing` was implicit or the phrase was something akin to `but what's interesting is`.

What's `的` doing here?

I'd also be grateful for another example showing the same rule in action.

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 的 links attributives to NPs (noun phrases), if an NP is omitted it converts the attributive to an NP, w/o 的 like "the interesting is" it would be ungrammatical, 的 can be thought of as abbreviation of ＂的事情＂(interesting thing/matter, or more accurately "what is interesting")  
> **username_2**: You will see a lot of 的 like this, better get use to it.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2016-06-03. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

Both your translations are definitely correct (if you think about it `but the interesting thing` and `but what's interesting` mean the same thing). As you pointed out, something is omitted here: in this case it's the word 事情 `thing, the thing`. This happens because it's implicitly inferred.

The sentence 但是有意思的事情是 is grammatically correct too and it means the exactly same thing. In this case we made 事情 explicit.

You already know that 的 introduces the modifier which precedes the noun that it's modifying. If you make 事情 implicit, you have to leave 的 in the sentence to indicate that the element that comes before represents a modifier, and the thing that is modified can be omitted.

Consider this sentence:

> 我的自行车比你的新。  
> My bike is newer than yours.

Let's analyse it:

> 我的自行车 (Modifier + Subject) + 比 (preposition) + 你的 (Modifier) + 新 (Predicate)

In this example, after 你, there is a 的 that modifies something implicit. The word 自行车 is explicit the first time (after 我), but it's omitted the second time (after 你) because both the speaker and the audience know they are talking about bikes. Thus, you omit 自行车 the second time but keep 的 to signify that the element that comes before is a modifier.

P.S. Although it could sound redundant, it is perfectly OK to say 我的自行车比你的自行车新.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thank you. Nothing like trying to find out more about something that's been made implicit. Having had learnt all that now I searched my Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar book again and the only [thing] ;-) I found was just a brief mention in the Noun Phrases chapter on the omission of the head noun when it's predictable from the context (i.e. the noun has been seen before). However, in my example `的` works as an attributive, so it's a different kind of beast, I guess? Also thanks for the example with `比`, I didn't know about that either despite having seen numerous comparison sentences before.  
> **username_3**: @JohnnyBaloney, the job of the character 的 is to separate some elements inside the sentence. By doing so, it immediately tells you that the phrase that precendes 的 it's modifying the noun that comes next. After 的 there has to be a Noun Phrase and if this NP is missing, you have to explain yourself why is that. The only reasonable conclusion is that something is implicit. 99% of the time the missing word is 事情, but not always, for example there is the expression 卖票的, which is the ticket agent. What's missing after 的 in this case is 人. It should be 卖票的人, _the person who sells tickets_.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2016-06-04. Score: -2

“的”的用法是：①部分n＋的＝adj
adj修饰n／v
②省略一些词语
such as:美丽的蝴蝶 美丽＝n 美丽的＝adj 蝴蝶＝n 美丽的修饰（modifier）蝴蝶
——莫道不销魂，帘卷西风，人比黄花瘦。


---

