不是…吗 — “isn’t it …?” (rhetorical)
Pattern: 不是 … 吗？
不是…吗？ is a question you know the answer to, asked in surprise: 你不是说今天休息吗？ “Didn’t you say you were off today?” It really states: “you did say so”.
Examples
| 1 | 你不是说今天休息吗？ nǐ búshì shuō jīntiān xiūxi ma Didn’t you say you were off today? |
| 2 | 这不是你的书吗？ zhè búshì nǐ de shū ma Isn’t this your book? |
| 3 | 他不是去北京了吗？ tā búshì qù Běijīng le ma Didn’t he go to Beijing? |
Explanations and examples by Zitou. Pinyin added automatically and checked.