Why use 的 at the end of a sentence?

[Hitsuji]

Hello I came across this sentence - 苹果是红色的

 

I know 的 is like a word of possession  but I've never seen it used at the end of the sentence. Does it have a different meaning here? Could someone please explain this grammar feature?

[Singe]

I

6 minutes ago, Hitsuji said:

苹果是红色的

 

You've basically quoted the 是....的 construction which is extremely common. It's used to add emphasis to the part of the statement between the 是....的. In this example 红色.

[xinoxanu]

22 minutes ago, Hitsuji said:

but I've never seen it used at the end of the sentence

 

?

[mungouk]

hi @Hitsuji welcome to the forums. 

 

Dive into the Chinese Grammar Wiki — it's a great free resource.

 

https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/The_"shi..._de"_construction_for_emphasizing_details

 

[anonymoose]

I disagree with the previous responses.

 

红色 is a noun. In order to change it to an adjective, 的 is added afterwards. So a red apple would be 一个红色的苹果. 红色的 doesn't take degrees. Either something is 红色的 or it is not 红色的, so you cannot say 很红色的*. Such non-gradable adjectives are linked to the noun with 是 rather than 很. The result is therefore 苹果是红色的. The 是 and 的 here are different to the 是...的 construction described in the link.

 

(*You can say 很红 however. In this case, you are not contrasting being red against not being red, but rather stating that something is very red. Also, in this situation, you can optionally add 的 to the end of the sentence without a significant change in meaning - thus, 苹果很红的. Furthermore, you can add 是 for emphasis (regardless of the presence or not of 的 at the end) giving 苹果是很红(的).)

 

 

[889]

Discuss:

 

东方红。

东方是红的。

 

[realmayo]

中国是出了个毛泽东的?

[889]

是的。

[markhavemann]

I think of it this way to help it make sense:

 

苹果是红色的 = 苹果是红色的[水果]

apples are [a] red [fruit]

 

I've been told not to think of it like this, but my mind decodes it that way anyway. The possessive sense of 的 somehow feels a little less far away like this.

[EnergyReaper]

Another example for 的 at the end of a sentence:

A: 你头上的伤口哪来的？

B: 昨天被人打的。

[Singe]

16 hours ago, anonymoose said:

I disagree with the previous responses.

 

红色 is a noun. In order to change it to an adjective, 的 is added afterwards. So a red apple would be 一个红色的苹果. 红色的 doesn't take degrees. Either something is 红色的 or it is not 红色的, so you cannot say 很红色的*. Such non-gradable adjectives are linked to the noun with 是 rather than 很. The result is therefore 苹果是红色的. The 是 and 的 here are different to the 是...的 construction described in the link.

 

On reflection I agree with you. I suppose in the instance the opening post quoted, the 是 and the 的 are used as a way of attaching an attribute and isn't a typical 是....的 construction.

 

16 hours ago, anonymoose said:

Either something is 红色的 or it is not 红色的, so you cannot say 很红色的

 

Reminds me of the very famous Blackadder scene below - they don't make comedy as well as they used to;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHWF50pXkEw

 

[EnergyReaper]

Recommend the section "Used with Distinguishing Words" in another link: https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/The_%22shi..._de%22_patterns:_an_overview