<p>"是。。。的" is used to emphasizes the time, the place, the way (solution) of doing something or the agent who does the action.  What is emphasized must be something that has already happened. 
So basically in this question "你是怎么学习英语的？" the person who said it wanted to know exactly the method of studying that the person was mentioned (你) had used.
When omitting this structure the question will be: "你怎么学习英语？"， the action “学习英语” does not be emphasized and it might has not happened yet. 
I think the difference between this two are just the matter of tense.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-28T12:12:20.467Z
2015-12-28T12:20:22.733Z
2015-12-28T12:20:22.733Z
Duy Toan
<p>Am I right to assume that the question is about the other person's <strong>personal</strong> method of studying English? And would omitting the 是 make the question more general?</p>

<p>(Is this an example for the topic-comment structure: 
<a href="http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Topic-comment_sentences" rel="nofollow">http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Topic-comment_sentences</a>) </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-27T21:47:21.147Z
是。。。的-sentence is a topic of Chinese grammar, searching this site (as well as web) will provide information
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-10T03:55:33.397Z
Per @user6065 's comments, here are some samples that discuss 是。。。的 : http://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/10492/6139 ， http://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/9639/6139
Nate Anderson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-10T05:11:11.503Z
comprehensive discussion of "是。。。的＂句 in＂实用现代汉语语法＂７６２－７８４页
user6065
<meaning><usage><verbs>
What is the function of 是 in this sentence: 你是怎么学习英语的？
# What is the function of 是 in this sentence: 你是怎么学习英语的？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-12-27)

Am I right to assume that the question is about the other person's **personal** method of studying English? And would omitting the 是 make the question more general?

(Is this an example for the topic-comment structure:
<http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Topic-comment_sentences>)

**Tags:** meaning, usage, verbs

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 是。。。的-sentence is a topic of Chinese grammar, searching this site (as well as web) will provide information  
> **username_2**: Per @username_1 's comments, here are some samples that discuss 是。。。的 : http://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/10492/6139 ， http://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/9639/6139  
> **username_1**: comprehensive discussion of "是。。。的＂句 in＂实用现代汉语语法＂７６２－７８４页  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-12-28. Score: 3

"是。。。的" is used to emphasizes the time, the place, the way (solution) of doing something or the agent who does the action. What is emphasized must be something that has already happened.
So basically in this question "你是怎么学习英语的？" the person who said it wanted to know exactly the method of studying that the person was mentioned (你) had used.
When omitting this structure the question will be: "你怎么学习英语？"， the action “学习英语” does not be emphasized and it might has not happened yet.
I think the difference between this two are just the matter of tense.


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