"de" at end of sentence

[michfr]

Can someone explain teh cases where you would use "de" at the end of a sentence? Usually it appears in the middle of a sentence but it seems like sometimes it ends up at the end of a sentence and to me there doesn;t seem to be rhyme or reason why it's there.

[trevelyan]

Most frequently used in the 是....的 construct.

[xianu]

can also be just an implied noun after it - as in 这是我的 or 请给我以瓶大的

[querido]

(non-expert newbie disclaimer)

Example: 这朵花是红的。

I read this simply: "This flower is of red" = This flower is a red one. It corresponds to this construction: "sky of blue and sea of green".

English arguably abuses the verb "to be", and Chinese is not the only language that is more careful with this. In English we say "it *is* red". More logical is, for example: "it *is* an entity" and "it *has* a property".

"这朵花是红的" doesn't say it has redness. It says "it is of the category of flowers: 'red ones' = "It is of red (not any other color)" = "It is a red one".

Seeing it as corresponding to the construction "sky of blue and sea of green" makes it easy. To the original poster: Do you agree?

If this is a standard 是。。。的 construction, I like it a lot.

(end non-expert newbie disclaimer)

[L-F-J]

also in short replies or statements using 会, as in: 会。。。的

example: 你不会有事的。(you'll be fine.)

我会记住的。(i'll remember.)

我会的。(i will.)

[anonymoose]

Seeing it as corresponding to the construction "sky of blue and sea of green" makes it easy.

But this isn't correct English.

[querido]

(non-expert newbie disclaimer)

Understanding what the Chinese means is far easier than explaining it in English. Now, somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but here is another example. This one is a little harder.

I repeat: In English we say for example, "the sun is a star" and "the sun is bright", while other languages, treating this more carefully, say "the sun is a star" and "the sun *has* brightness".

The sun has another property: it rises in the east. And (if I may use a poetic contruction) just as the sky is "of blue", the sun is "of things-that-rise-in-the-east".

太阳是从东边升起的 ==

太阳 the sun +

是...的 has the property/belongs to the set of things that+

从东边升起 always rise in the east. (从 is an adverb here)

Easy, yes?

Extra credit:

The sun is an element in the set of "things that always rise in the east".

=The sun always rises in the east.

(end non-expert newbie disclaimer)