---
title: "不是…吗 (rhetorical) in Chinese Grammar: Isn’t it (the case) that …? — often rhetorical (surprise or objection), With Examples"
description: "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. 4 real lines from stories, each word explained."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/bushi-ma"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Chinese grammar](https://mandarinthewild.com/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

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](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/what-does-chabuduo-mean#library-word-209-215) HSK 1

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](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/fire-at-guanyin-temple-journey-to-the-west-easy-chinese-13#library-word-146-154) HSK 3

悟空**不是一直想要长生不老吗**？

[齐天大圣 · Great Sage Equal to Heaven](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/great-sage-equal-to-heaven-journey-to-the-west-easy-chinese-6#library-word-1001-1012) HSK 3

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](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-take-the-subway-in-china#library-word-410-421) HSK 3

[Read 差不多先生](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/what-does-chabuduo-mean#library-word-209-215)

## More patterns

- [是…的 (emphasis) it was … that (stresses when, where, how or who)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/shi-de)
- [verb + 不/得 + result (potential) cannot / can (manage to) …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-bu-c)
- [再也 + 不/没 never again; not any more](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/zaiye-bu)
- [于是 so; and so; thereupon](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/yushi)
- [如果/要是…就… if …, then …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/ruguo-jiu)
- [谁 + 也/都 + (V不C) no one / nothing: …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/shei-ye-neg-v)

## 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.

## More free tools

- [Chinese dictionary](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-dictionary)
- [Measure words](https://mandarinthewild.com/measure-words)
- [How hard is this text?](https://mandarinthewild.com/text-level)
- [Free Chinese stories](https://mandarinthewild.com/library)

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