Two Kinds of (shi) ... de Sentence and Their Temporal-Aspectual Features Viewed from the Point of Presupposition

Based on the differences of focuses they cause in structure, this paper specifies two kinds of (shi) ... de sentence, namely, that of semantic presupposition and that of pragmatic presupposition. A contrastive focus is present in the first whose presupposition remains in the negative form while no pragmatic focus is present in the second whose presupposition is but a prerequisite condition to ensure the appropriateness of the sentence. In the first kind, shi is a logic operator and the focus variable it binds cannot be positioned within the domain of the aspectual particle le. In the second kind, the (shi) ... de structure is just a pragmatic means to intensifies the tone of confirmation without changing the meaning of the proposition. This distinction can explain the differences in function and the temporal-aspectual features of the two kind of (shi) ... de sentence. Adapted from the source document