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Chinese grammar

不是…吗 (rhetorical)

Isn’t it (the case) that …? — often rhetorical (surprise or objection)

不是…吗? is a rhetorical question: the speaker believes it is true and is surprised or objecting.

In stories

  1. 火车开了，他说：“八点半和八点三十二，不是差不多吗？”

    差不多先生 · What does 差不多 mean HSK 1

  2. 孙悟空说：“师父，你包里不是有一件袈裟吗？

    火烧观音院 · Fire at Guanyin Temple HSK 3

  3. 悟空不是一直想要长生不老吗？

    齐天大圣 · Great Sage Equal to Heaven HSK 3

  4. 你不是去地铁站接朋友了吗？”

    地铁里的阿姨 · How to take the subway in China HSK 3

Read 差不多先生

What does 不是…吗 (rhetorical) mean in Chinese?

Isn’t it (the case) that …? — often rhetorical (surprise or objection). 不是…吗? is a rhetorical question: the speaker believes it is true and is surprised or objecting.

How common is 不是…吗 (rhetorical)?

It comes up in 16 readings of the 392 stories and articles in our free Library.

Does it correct my mistakes?

No. It shows which patterns a text uses and what each one does; it doesn’t mark errors. Paste a sentence you wrote to see whether it uses the pattern you meant.

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Patterns found by our own parser; lines from our free Library.