<p>也许有人要问, 这孙瀛洲到底什么来历?<br />
Perhaps some people may ask, this (man) 孙瀛洲 after all has what kind of provenance<br />
Perhaps some people may ask, &quot;Where does this guy 孙瀛洲 come from?&quot;</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with the above Chinese. According to my Chinese friends, &quot;Sounds good, does not require correcting&quot;.</p>
<p>What problem do you have with it? You need an English &quot;is&quot; in there to feel good about it?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-27T02:06:55.867Z
Quote:- "You need an English "is" in there to feel good about it?" Yes, people whose first language is English feels something is "missing", "incomplete" or "ungrammatical" without a preposition inserted somewhere to "tie up" seemingly "loose" Chinese sentences.
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-27T04:55:26.817Z
Yes. It is very recalcitrant of the Chinese to not make their language conform to English! What? Chinese is much older? Well, if that is your only excuse ...
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-28T10:15:27.137Z
What about "Why me?" in English? Do we need an "is" ?
NanningYouth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-26T16:10:21.960Z
2024-07-26T16:10:21.960Z
Pedroski
<blockquote>
<p>这孙瀛洲到底什么来历？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The same as these short sentences - &quot;你什么名字?&quot;; &quot;你什么意思？&quot;; &quot;他從高雄來的.&quot;, the sentence should be considered as &quot;日常/市井/通俗口語&quot;, which, at times, is quite loose in grammar structure, but well understood by the natives.</p>
<p>In formal writing, all of the above require a verb to be correct:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>这孙瀛洲到底<strong>是</strong>什么来历？</p>
</li>
<li><p>你<strong>是</strong>什么名字? / 你的名字<strong>是</strong>什么?</p>
</li>
<li><p>你<strong>是</strong>什么意思？</p>
</li>
<li><p>他<strong>是</strong>從高雄來的.&quot;</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>=</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-25T19:45:53.063Z
2024-08-25T19:45:53.063Z
r13
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/2fmU1edM.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/2fmU1edMm.jpg" alt="photo of the original text from my HSK6 Standard Course textbook" /></a></p>
<p>也许有人要问，<strong>这孙瀛洲到底什么来历</strong>？家藏竟然如此丰厚？<br />
<sub>HSK6 Standard Course (下册, Ch.34, p.133; see also <a href="https://iscbj.com/slides/slide/lesson-34-890" rel="nofollow noreferrer">full text</a>); </sub></p>
</blockquote>
<p>This snippet is about <a href="https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AD%99%E7%80%9B%E6%B4%B2/4537015" rel="nofollow noreferrer">孙瀛洲</a> and his donations of historical artifacts to the 故宫.  I'm struggling with the grammar in the part in bold, it seems like it's missing a verb, such as ……到底<strong>有</strong>什么来历？ or ……到底<strong>是</strong>什么来历？</p>
<p><strong>Question</strong>: How should I understand the grammar in 这孙瀛洲到底什么来历?</p>
<p>I'm not sure how to make sense of this; it looks related to: <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/45271/8099">Is &quot;你什么名字? &quot; correct?</a>  I think I've encountered 你什么意思？ from time to time too.  Maybe phrases like this are &quot;native-speaker only&quot;, and I'd risk losing marks or being corrected if I use them.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-25T10:31:14.773Z
到底什么来历 is just 到底是什么来历 omitted the 是; same as 你什么意思 is 你是什么意思 omitted 是. It is  a common practice in colloquial language
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-25T10:36:16.753Z
Yes, omitting 是 sounds chatty/informal if not outright vulgar, as if small-town folk are spreading unqualified rumours about someone's background. I agree that you should understand it grammatically in a way similar to "你什麽名字", but contextually "你什麽名字" would be equivalent to the rude-sounding English single-word question: "Name?".
dROOOze
<grammar>
How should I understand the grammar in 这孙瀛洲到底什么来历?
# How should I understand the grammar in 这孙瀛洲到底什么来历?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-07-25)

> [![photo of the original text from my HSK6 Standard Course textbook](https://i.sstatic.net/2fmU1edMm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/2fmU1edM.jpg)
>
> 也许有人要问，**这孙瀛洲到底什么来历**？家藏竟然如此丰厚？  
> HSK6 Standard Course (下册, Ch.34, p.133; see also [full text](https://iscbj.com/slides/slide/lesson-34-890));

This snippet is about [孙瀛洲](https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%AD%99%E7%80%9B%E6%B4%B2/4537015) and his donations of historical artifacts to the 故宫. I'm struggling with the grammar in the part in bold, it seems like it's missing a verb, such as ……到底**有**什么来历？ or ……到底**是**什么来历？

**Question**: How should I understand the grammar in 这孙瀛洲到底什么来历?

I'm not sure how to make sense of this; it looks related to: [Is "你什么名字? " correct?](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/q/45271/8099) I think I've encountered 你什么意思？ from time to time too. Maybe phrases like this are "native-speaker only", and I'd risk losing marks or being corrected if I use them.

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 到底什么来历 is just 到底是什么来历 omitted the 是; same as 你什么意思 is 你是什么意思 omitted 是. It is  a common practice in colloquial language  
> **username_2**: Yes, omitting 是 sounds chatty/informal if not outright vulgar, as if small-town folk are spreading unqualified rumours about someone's background. I agree that you should understand it grammatically in a way similar to "你什麽名字", but contextually "你什麽名字" would be equivalent to the rude-sounding English single-word question: "Name?".  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-07-26. Score: 0

也许有人要问, 这孙瀛洲到底什么来历?  
Perhaps some people may ask, this (man) 孙瀛洲 after all has what kind of provenance  
Perhaps some people may ask, "Where does this guy 孙瀛洲 come from?"

There is nothing wrong with the above Chinese. According to my Chinese friends, "Sounds good, does not require correcting".

What problem do you have with it? You need an English "is" in there to feel good about it?

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Quote:- "You need an English "is" in there to feel good about it?" Yes, people whose first language is English feels something is "missing", "incomplete" or "ungrammatical" without a preposition inserted somewhere to "tie up" seemingly "loose" Chinese sentences.  
> **username_3**: Yes. It is very recalcitrant of the Chinese to not make their language conform to English! What? Chinese is much older? Well, if that is your only excuse ...  
> **username_5**: What about "Why me?" in English? Do we need an "is" ?  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2024-08-25. Score: 0

> 这孙瀛洲到底什么来历？

The same as these short sentences - "你什么名字?"; "你什么意思？"; "他從高雄來的.", the sentence should be considered as "日常/市井/通俗口語", which, at times, is quite loose in grammar structure, but well understood by the natives.

In formal writing, all of the above require a verb to be correct:

* 这孙瀛洲到底**是**什么来历？
* 你**是**什么名字? / 你的名字**是**什么?
* 你**是**什么意思？
* 他**是**從高雄來的."

=


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