The uses of 是 … 的
When asking or answering questions about an action or event in the past concerning such specifics as who, how, when, where, by what means, with whom, etc., you need the 是 … 的 structure, with the 是 appearing right before question words (怎么，什么，谁，哪儿，哪个，几个，几点，多少钱). More precisely, the 是 always appears before preposition such as 在(at)哪，从(from)什么地方，什么时候，跟(with)谁，在(at)哪，给(to)谁，用(by means of)什么。
Last night at 9 pm dad drove me and my sister in mom’s car to the cinema to see a movie.
爸爸昨晚九点开妈妈的车送我跟妹妹去电影院看了一个电影。
Last night at 9 dad drove me and my younger sister to see a movie in mom’s car.
你爸爸昨晚是几点开车送你们去电影院看电影的？
他昨晚是九点开车送我们去的。
Last night at 9 dad drove me and my younger sister to see a movie in mom’s car.
昨晚九点是谁开车送你们去电影院看电影的？
昨晚九点是爸爸开车送我们去的。
Last night dad drove me and my younger sister to see a movie.
你爸昨晚是怎么送你和你妹去看电影的？
他是开车送我们去的。
Last night dad drove me and my younger sister to see a movie in mom’s car.
你爸昨晚是开谁的车送你和你妹去看电影的？
他昨晚是开妈妈的车送我们去的。
Last night dad drove me and my younger sister to see a movie.
你爸昨晚开车是送谁去看电影的？
他昨晚开车是送我和妹妹去看电影的。
Last night at dad drove me and my younger sister to the cinema to see a movie.
你爸昨晚开车送你和你妹是去哪儿看的电影？
我们昨晚是去电影院看的电影。
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Insertion exercise: write an arrow 
” to indicate where 是 should go. 50 points.
For example, 昨天我一个人去看电影的。
I went to the movie last night by myself. (It was by myself that I went to the movie last night.
(Rephrase these sentences with 是 inserted)
- 今天早上我给你打电话的。 It was me who called you this morning.
- 去年夏天我开我妈的车去纽约的。It was mom’s car I drove to NYC last summer.
- 我去年夏天开我妈的车去纽约的。It was last summer I drove mom’s car to NYC.
- 我昨天看完那本书的。 It was yesterday I finished reading that book.
- 他昨天下午三点死的。 It was 3 pm that he died yesterday.
- 妹妹穿裙子跟妈妈去跳舞的。It was a skirt that my sister wore to the dance with mom.
- 他们2013年在中国结的婚。It was in China that they were married in 2013.
- 他们2013年在中国结的婚。It was in 2013 that they were married in China.
- 我看的书在图书馆借的。The book I am reading now was from the library.
- 弟弟一个人走路去飞机场的。 Brother went by himself to the airport on foot.
用“是. . . 的”对蓝色部分问问题; 50 points.
Question the part in blue using “shi … de” structure.
Example, 去年我跟女朋友在北京工作了一年。 去年你跟女朋友是在哪工作了一年的？
(Rephrase these sentences in 是 … 的 pattern)
- 昨天我跟我的女朋友一起在学生餐厅吃了晚饭。
- 我妈去年暑假去中国工作了两个月。
- 昨晚他三点50分才睡觉。
- 上个周末弟弟去中国城看了一个电影。
- 今天上午王律师走路去图书馆看了5个钟头的书。
- 他爸爸给她妹妹买了一件90块钱的衬衫。
- 前天我们去学校旁边的那个星巴克喝了一杯咖啡。
- 上星期, 我星期五给我妈妈打了一个电话。
- 妹妹的律师昨天从他家开车去了她的学校。
- 哥哥今天用我的酒杯喝了很多绿茶。