# 所 … 的 Builds 3,566 Bible Relative Clauses

> The 所 … 的 frame turns an action into the thing it is done to in 3,566 clauses of the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) — 所吩咐的, what was commanded.

**Pattern:** 所 + verb + 的
**HSK level:** 3 — the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'
**Rule used to find it:** 所, then a word with a verb sense, then 的 within five words of 所.
**Confidence:** counted — 30 of 3,566 matches checked, 100% correct, by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker

所 goes in front of a verb and 的 closes the phrase, and what comes out is the object of that verb treated as a noun: 所说的, what was said; 所行的, what was done; 所赐给你们的美地, the good land which he gives you. Modern Chinese treats this as formal. This translation treats it as ordinary, and it is one of the highest-value patterns a reader can learn here.

The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 所 4,709 times. 1,143 of those occurrences are the same words doing something else.

It is also how the Chinese Bible builds a relative clause with a passive sense without using 被 at all. 耶和华所吩咐的 is what the LORD commanded and what was commanded by the LORD at the same time; the frame leaves it open.

It is commonest in Deuteronomy, with 296 of them, and 76% of all of them fall in the Old Testament — which is mostly a statement about length, since the Old Testament is the longer part of the book.

## Examples

- **Acts 7:50** — 这一切不都是我手所造的吗？
  - zhè yí qiè bù dōu shì wǒ shǒu suǒ zào de ma ？
  - Didn’t my hand make all these things?’
  - construction: 所造的
- **John 5:38** — 你们并没有他的道存在心里；因为他所差来的，你们不信。
  - nǐ men bìng méi yǒu tā de dào cún zài xīn li ； yīn wèi tā suǒ chāi lái de ， nǐ men bú xìn 。
  - You don’t have his word living in you, because you don’t believe him whom he sent.
  - construction: 所差来的
- **Mark 10:39** — 他们说：「我们能。」耶稣说：「我所喝的杯，你们也要喝；我所受的洗，你们也要受；
  - tā men shuō ：「 wǒ men néng 。」 yē sū shuō ：「 wǒ suǒ hē de bēi ， nǐ men yě yào hē ； wǒ suǒ shòu de xǐ ， nǐ men yě yào shòu ；
  - They said to him, “We are able.” Jesus said to them, “You shall indeed drink the cup that I drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with;
  - construction: 所喝的
- **2 Timothy 3:14** — 但你所学习的，所确信的，要存在心里；因为你知道是跟谁学的，
  - dàn nǐ suǒ xué xí de ， suǒ què xìn de ， yào cún zài xīn li ； yīn wèi nǐ zhī dào shì gēn shuí xué de ，
  - But you remain in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them.
  - construction: 所学习的
- **Revelation 1:19** — 所以你要把所看见的，和现在的事，并将来必成的事，都写出来。
  - suǒ yǐ nǐ yào bǎ suǒ kàn jiàn de ， hé xiàn zài de shì ， bìng jiāng lái bì chéng de shì ， dōu xiě chū lái 。
  - Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter.
  - construction: 所看见的
- **1 Corinthians 7:1** — 论到你们信上所提的事，我说男不近女倒好。
  - lùn dào nǐ men xìn shàng suǒ tí de shì ， wǒ shuō nán bú jìn nǚ dào hǎo 。
  - Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
  - construction: 所提的

## The words this point is built on

| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 所 | suǒ | 3 | 4,709 |

The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 3.

## What those occurrences are doing

|  | Occurrences | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| the construction | 3,566 | 76% |
| the same words doing something else | 1,143 | 24% |

## Where it occurs most

| Book | Clauses |
| --- | --- |
| Deuteronomy | 296 |
| Jeremiah | 207 |
| Psalms | 179 |
| Ezekiel | 168 |
| Isaiah | 156 |

Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.

## Questions

**Can 所 appear without 的?**

It does in set phrases and in the classical 为…所… passive, but the everyday frame in this translation closes with 的, and that is what this count requires.

**How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?**

3,566 clauses in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), out of 4,709 occurrences of the words that mark it.

**Which book of the Bible uses it most?**

Deuteronomy, with 296 — followed by Jeremiah (207), Psalms (179), Ezekiel (168).

**How do you know the count is right?**

The rule is: 所, then a word with a verb sense, then 的 within five words of 所. 30 of its 3,566 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 100% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.

Page: https://chinese-bible.com/en/grammar/suo-nominaliser

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