<p>That's simply a weird sentence. </p>

<p>In fact your simplified sentence 有什么事我该做吗 （是and的 removed) is much more concise and fits better the desired way of speaking Chinese. The only problem is that conventionally attributive clause should precede the noun in Chinese. </p>

<p>So 有什么我该做的事吗 is more native (的here is just a connection word between clause and noun). Furthermore 事 (thing) doesn't mean any meaningful thing here, you can essentially just omit it and say 有什么我该做的吗？.</p>

<p>Maybe you have seen, the complication of 是 and 的 arises because you want to keep the same word order as in English (attributive clause after the noun).</p>

<p>In fact, an even more native way is to try to never use clause in Chinese. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我该做些什么</p>
</blockquote>

<p>it looks similar to "What should I do?" but adding 些 implies "something" and makes it mean the exact same thing as "is there anything I should do?".</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-31T22:44:28.940Z
Great feedback from a native speaker!
Apollys supports Monica
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-31T09:37:42.397Z
2018-07-31T09:37:42.397Z
Xiaoxiong Lin
<p>的 is used there as you're describing a noun. for example: </p>

<p>我该做的事  the thing that I should do</p>

<p>你吃的早饭  the breakfast that you eat</p>

<p>她听的课    the course that she takes</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-30T16:59:00.227Z
2018-07-30T16:59:00.227Z
user20155
<p>I think to translate the sentence literally, the English version would be:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Is there anything <strong>that is</strong> I should do?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>But this is redundant in English(I don't know whether it's wrong in grammar). So the English version seems missing the "是" character. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-30T16:47:53.260Z
Hmm, I see. How about 的, what does it mean here?
RadonBust
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-30T16:16:13.313Z
2018-07-30T16:16:13.313Z
thinwa
<p>I am a total noob when it comes to Chinese, so sorry if this is a dumb question. Recently I started using an Anki deck called SpoonFedChinese to study Chinese. Today I came across the following sentence (the translation is the one given in the deck):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>有什么事是我该做的吗</p>
<p>Is there anything I should do?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Now, I know 有什么事 means &quot;is there anything&quot;, 我该做 means &quot;I should do&quot;, and 吗 is the question marker, but I'm still not sure what purpose 是...的 serves in this sentence. Could you have the sentence without this structure? If yes, then how does it change the meaning?</p>
<p>Thank you in advance.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-30T17:25:00.547Z
check 是。。。的-sentence in any grammar (search web) e.g. https://eastasiastudent.net/china/mandarin/shi-de-construction/
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-30T18:06:54.047Z
yes, you could:有什么事我该做吗, difference explained above
user6065
<translation><grammar><sentence-structure>
The meaning of 是...的 in 有什么事是我该做的吗
# The meaning of 是...的 in 有什么事是我该做的吗

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-30)

I am a total noob when it comes to Chinese, so sorry if this is a dumb question. Recently I started using an Anki deck called SpoonFedChinese to study Chinese. Today I came across the following sentence (the translation is the one given in the deck):

> 有什么事是我该做的吗
>
> Is there anything I should do?

Now, I know 有什么事 means "is there anything", 我该做 means "I should do", and 吗 is the question marker, but I'm still not sure what purpose 是...的 serves in this sentence. Could you have the sentence without this structure? If yes, then how does it change the meaning?

Thank you in advance.

**Tags:** translation, grammar, sentence-structure

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: check 是。。。的-sentence in any grammar (search web) e.g. https://eastasiastudent.net/china/mandarin/shi-de-construction/  
> **username_1**: yes, you could:有什么事我该做吗, difference explained above  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-07-31. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

That's simply a weird sentence.

In fact your simplified sentence 有什么事我该做吗 （是and的 removed) is much more concise and fits better the desired way of speaking Chinese. The only problem is that conventionally attributive clause should precede the noun in Chinese.

So 有什么我该做的事吗 is more native (的here is just a connection word between clause and noun). Furthermore 事 (thing) doesn't mean any meaningful thing here, you can essentially just omit it and say 有什么我该做的吗？.

Maybe you have seen, the complication of 是 and 的 arises because you want to keep the same word order as in English (attributive clause after the noun).

In fact, an even more native way is to try to never use clause in Chinese.

> 我该做些什么

it looks similar to "What should I do?" but adding 些 implies "something" and makes it mean the exact same thing as "is there anything I should do?".

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Great feedback from a native speaker!  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-07-30. Score: 1

的 is used there as you're describing a noun. for example:

我该做的事 the thing that I should do

你吃的早饭 the breakfast that you eat

她听的课 the course that she takes


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2018-07-30. Score: 0

I think to translate the sentence literally, the English version would be:

> Is there anything **that is** I should do?

But this is redundant in English(I don't know whether it's wrong in grammar). So the English version seems missing the "是" character.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Hmm, I see. How about 的, what does it mean here?  

---

