<p>Generally speaking, "is it really so that…?" should be translate to "...真的...吗？".</p>

<p>The First sentence shuold be "你<Strong>真的</Strong>只有18岁<Strong>吗</Strong>？";</p>

<p>And the second should be "这部电影<Strong>真的</Strong>好看<Strong>吗</Strong>？".</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-03T05:18:34.260Z
Why "你**真的**只有" becomes "你*真的*只有"(只有 is displayed in italics). I must type a space after 你 and before 只有 in order to get bold style correctly.
Liu Yongtai
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-03T06:44:25.980Z
Hi, welcome to this site! As for your question, I've suffered it too, but the moderator Alenanno gave me a good solution-just use the html tag <Strong>words</Strong> to make the words in bold.
Huang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-03T11:48:48.537Z
Yes, the <Strong> mark worked. I've edited my answer.
Liu Yongtai
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-03T05:10:24.550Z
2012-07-03T11:42:25.987Z
2012-07-03T11:42:25.987Z
Liu Yongtai
<p>sometimes, the same structure does not mean the same way of translate.</p>

<p>for this question, i will translate as follow</p>

<p>is it really so that you're just 18?
你只有18岁？真的假的！</p>

<p>is it really so that the movie was good?
你确定这部电影还行？</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-03T07:45:11.837Z
2012-07-03T07:45:11.837Z
Icy Jiang
<p>The way I've had Chinese people express surprise to me is to use 这么. For example:</p>

<p><code>你是18岁？这么年轻！看不出来！</code></p>

<p>I realize that this is different than the sentence structure that you gave (and that NS.X. helped clarify) but I find that in my interactions with Chinese, they're more apt to follow their question of disbelief with an exclamation describing their reaction in order to express their surprise.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-03T14:13:36.423Z
你是18岁 sounds awkward. Maybe “你才18岁”？
gonnastop
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-03T03:48:46.340Z
2012-07-03T03:48:46.340Z
Son of the Wai-Pan
<p>It sounds weird because there is no formal subject (A.K.A. anticipatory subject) in Chinese. <code>It is [X] that [Y]</code> should be transformed into <code>[Y][verb as appropriate][X]</code> during translation。For example:</p>

<pre><code>It is a pleasure to meet you. =&gt;
Meeting you is a pleasure. =&gt;
见到你很高兴。
</code></pre>

<p>So for the original sentence,</p>

<pre><code>Is it really so that you're just 18? =&gt;
Are you really just 18? =&gt;
你真的只有18岁？
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-03T04:18:40.543Z
An alternate expression: "你**当真**只有18岁？"
Kabie
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-07-02T18:35:52.800Z
2012-07-02T18:35:52.800Z
NS.X.
<p>How do I ask a question like "is it really so that you're just 18?" or "is it really so that the movie was good?", i.e. a surprised question?</p>

<p>My guess is something along the lines of "这是真的，你只有十八岁呢?", but it sounds weird.</p>

<grammar><expressions>
How to ask "is it really so that..."?
# How to ask "is it really so that..."?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-07-02)

How do I ask a question like "is it really so that you're just 18?" or "is it really so that the movie was good?", i.e. a surprised question?

My guess is something along the lines of "这是真的，你只有十八岁呢?", but it sounds weird.

**Tags:** grammar, expressions


---

## 4 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2012-07-02. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

It sounds weird because there is no formal subject (A.K.A. anticipatory subject) in Chinese. `It is [X] that [Y]` should be transformed into `[Y][verb as appropriate][X]` during translation。For example:

```
It is a pleasure to meet you. =>
Meeting you is a pleasure. =>
见到你很高兴。

```

So for the original sentence,

```
Is it really so that you're just 18? =>
Are you really just 18? =>
你真的只有18岁？

```

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: An alternate expression: "你**当真**只有18岁？"  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2012-07-03. Score: 3

Generally speaking, "is it really so that…?" should be translate to "...真的...吗？".

The First sentence shuold be "你**真的**只有18岁**吗**？";

And the second should be "这部电影**真的**好看**吗**？".

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Why "你**真的**只有" becomes "你*真的*只有"(只有 is displayed in italics). I must type a space after 你 and before 只有 in order to get bold style correctly.  
> **username_2**: Hi, welcome to this site! As for your question, I've suffered it too, but the moderator Alenanno gave me a good solution-just use the html tag <Strong>words</Strong> to make the words in bold.  
> **username_1**: Yes, the <Strong> mark worked. I've edited my answer.  

---

### Answer by username_3 on 2012-07-03. Score: 1

sometimes, the same structure does not mean the same way of translate.

for this question, i will translate as follow

is it really so that you're just 18?
你只有18岁？真的假的！

is it really so that the movie was good?
你确定这部电影还行？


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2012-07-03. Score: 0

The way I've had Chinese people express surprise to me is to use 这么. For example:

`你是18岁？这么年轻！看不出来！`

I realize that this is different than the sentence structure that you gave (and that NS.X. helped clarify) but I find that in my interactions with Chinese, they're more apt to follow their question of disbelief with an exclamation describing their reaction in order to express their surprise.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: 你是18岁 sounds awkward. Maybe “你才18岁”？  

---

