<p>The link you attached has well explained 是....的 structure. </p>

<p>Basically, 是......的 structure connotes <em>past tense</em> when used in the interrogative sentence. </p>

<p>Say 你什么时候去？ vs 你是什么时候去的: the former means when will you go? The latter means when did you go? or when have you been (there)? </p>

<p>A side note: sometimes 是 can be omitted in colloquial contexts. For example,  你什么时候去的， which is the same as 你是什么时候去的. </p>

<p>Hope this could make it more clear to you.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-23T03:02:29.990Z
2018-04-23T03:02:29.990Z
dan
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/dOXRZ.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/dOXRZ.png" alt="https://www.qiushibaike.com/article/120290221"></a></p>

<p>Above is an exchange taken from qiushibaike.com. As far as I can understand, it goes like this (trying to keep translation literal for example's sake):</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Son: Mom, our teacher's a liar!</p>
  
  <p>Mom: Why would you say that your teacher's a liar, did he cheat you or what?</p>
  
  <p>Son: I asked the teacher a question and he actually said that he doesn't 
  know! How can he know if I do it correctly or not if he doesn't know it?</p>
  
  <p>Mom: Well, son, when did you ask him that question?</p>
  
  <p>Son: ...During the test.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Now, the problematic sentence is this one:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>妈妈： 那儿子你是在什么时候问老师问题的？</p>
</blockquote>

<p>My gripes:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol>
  <li>I would have said it: 『那儿子你什么时候问老师问题？』. Would that be correct? (do I need 在 before 什么时候 in there?)</li>
  <li>The sentence has 是 in it, which normally takes a noun phrase afterwards. Furthermore, to my knowledge, the possessive marker 的 is tacked at the end of a noun phrase. Is there a noun phrase in there, then? Is it 在什么时候问老师问题的？ If so, could you help me break down the sentence to understand its structure?</li>
  <li>If the sentence in (1) is correct, is the 在 in 在什么时候 always optional, or is it necessitated by the structure of the original sentence?</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-22T13:53:06.877Z
(1) is wrong because it sounds like Mum is asking the child when he'll ask the teacher the question (cf. 你什麽時候吃飯? `*when are you going to eat?*` vs. 你是什麽時候吃飯的? `*when did you eat?*`); (2) 時候X的 is a noun which means `*the time X was done*`; (3) 在 is optional in the same sense that `**at** what time did you eat?`. means the same thing as `*what time did you eat?*`.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-22T13:58:52.833Z
@droooze I am at this moment reading up on 是。。。的 here: https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Using_the_%22shi..._de%22_construction. Have not heard of this pattern yet. I'm not amending the question, since I have not acquired this information yet. If you post it as an answer, I will gladly upvote your remarks.
Igor Sowinski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-04-22T14:27:37.347Z
`你是在什麽時候問老師問題的` is the same grammatical construction as `你是怎麽去的` or `你是跟誰去的` (given in that link).
dROOOze
<sentence-structure><possessives>
Curious structure with 的 in conversation
# Curious structure with 的 in conversation

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-04-22)

[![https://www.qiushibaike.com/article/120290221](https://i.sstatic.net/dOXRZ.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/dOXRZ.png)

Above is an exchange taken from qiushibaike.com. As far as I can understand, it goes like this (trying to keep translation literal for example's sake):

> Son: Mom, our teacher's a liar!
>
> Mom: Why would you say that your teacher's a liar, did he cheat you or what?
>
> Son: I asked the teacher a question and he actually said that he doesn't
> know! How can he know if I do it correctly or not if he doesn't know it?
>
> Mom: Well, son, when did you ask him that question?
>
> Son: ...During the test.

Now, the problematic sentence is this one:

> 妈妈： 那儿子你是在什么时候问老师问题的？

My gripes:

> 1. I would have said it: 『那儿子你什么时候问老师问题？』. Would that be correct? (do I need 在 before 什么时候 in there?)
> 2. The sentence has 是 in it, which normally takes a noun phrase afterwards. Furthermore, to my knowledge, the possessive marker 的 is tacked at the end of a noun phrase. Is there a noun phrase in there, then? Is it 在什么时候问老师问题的？ If so, could you help me break down the sentence to understand its structure?
> 3. If the sentence in (1) is correct, is the 在 in 在什么时候 always optional, or is it necessitated by the structure of the original sentence?

**Tags:** sentence-structure, possessives

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: (1) is wrong because it sounds like Mum is asking the child when he'll ask the teacher the question (cf. 你什麽時候吃飯? `*when are you going to eat?*` vs. 你是什麽時候吃飯的? `*when did you eat?*`); (2) 時候X的 is a noun which means `*the time X was done*`; (3) 在 is optional in the same sense that `**at** what time did you eat?`. means the same thing as `*what time did you eat?*`.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I am at this moment reading up on 是。。。的 here: https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Using_the_%22shi..._de%22_construction. Have not heard of this pattern yet. I'm not amending the question, since I have not acquired this information yet. If you post it as an answer, I will gladly upvote your remarks.  
> **username_1**: `你是在什麽時候問老師問題的` is the same grammatical construction as `你是怎麽去的` or `你是跟誰去的` (given in that link).  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-04-23. Score: 1

The link you attached has well explained 是....的 structure.

Basically, 是......的 structure connotes *past tense* when used in the interrogative sentence.

Say 你什么时候去？ vs 你是什么时候去的: the former means when will you go? The latter means when did you go? or when have you been (there)?

A side note: sometimes 是 can be omitted in colloquial contexts. For example, 你什么时候去的， which is the same as 你是什么时候去的.

Hope this could make it more clear to you.


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