tā shuō zuì zhòngyào de bú shì lǐwù duō guì, érshì sòng lǐwù de rén.

In this sentence, 最重要的 is acting like a shortened noun phrase.

• 最 = most
• 重要 = important
• 的 turns the description into the one that is... or the thing that is...

So 最重要的 literally means the most important one/thing.

Chinese often leaves out a noun when it is clear from context. In English, we usually need to say the most important thing, but in Chinese, 最重要的 is enough.

The 的 in 最重要的 is used to turn important into something like the important one or what is important.

Compare:

• 重要 = important
• 重要的 = the important one / something important

So in this sentence:

• 最重要的不是... = What is most important is not...

This is a very common pattern in Chinese.

多 + adjective is a common pattern used in indirect questions or embedded clauses to mean how + adjective.

So:

• 多贵 = how expensive
• 多大 = how big
• 多远 = how far

Here, 礼物多贵 means how expensive the gift is.

So:

• 最重要的不是礼物多贵 = What matters most is not how expensive the gift is

If you said 礼物很贵, that would mean the gift is very expensive, which is a statement, not the idea of how expensive it is.

Because 多贵 already works as the predicate.

In Chinese, adjectives can often act like verbs:

• 礼物贵 = The gift is expensive
• 礼物多贵 = how expensive the gift is

So you do not need an extra 是.

In fact, 礼物是多贵 would sound wrong here.

而是 is used in the pattern:

• 不是 A，而是 B = not A, but rather B

This pattern corrects or replaces one idea with another.

In this sentence:

• 不是礼物多贵，而是送礼物的人
• It is not how expensive the gift is, but rather the person giving the gift

但是 means but/however, and it connects contrasting statements more generally. It does not fit as naturally in this correction pattern.

So:

• 不是 A，而是 B = standard and natural
• 不是 A，但是 B = usually not right for this structure

This is a very important Chinese structure:

• verb/object + 的 + noun

Here:

• 送礼物 = give a gift
• 送礼物的 = the one who gives a gift / the one giving a gift
• 送礼物的人 = the person who gives the gift

So 的 links the action 送礼物 to the noun 人.

It is like a relative clause in English:

• the person who gives the gift
• the person giving the gift

Chinese does not need a word like who here.

Yes, you often can say 送礼物的 by itself if the noun is obvious from context.

• 送礼物的 = the one who gives the gift
• 送礼物的人 = the person who gives the gift

Adding 人 makes it clearer and more explicit. Since we are talking about a person, 人 sounds very natural here.

So:

• 而是送礼物的人 = fully clear and natural
• 而是送礼物的 = also possible in the right context

This is due to a tone change rule called tone sandhi.

Normally:

• 不 is pronounced bù with a fourth tone

But when 不 comes before another fourth-tone syllable, it changes to bú.

Here:

• 是 is shì (fourth tone)
• so 不 是 is pronounced bú shì

This is only a pronunciation change. The character is still 不.

In this sentence, 他 means he because it is the subject of 说.

• 他 = he
• 说 = says/said

So:

• 他说... = He said...

In spoken Mandarin, 他, 她, and 它 are all pronounced tā, although the written characters are different.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Chinese verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do. So 说 can mean:

• say
• says
• said

You decide from context.

So 他说... could be:

• He says...
• He said...

Both are possible unless the larger context makes the time clear.

Yes, it helps show the structure:

• 他 说，最重要的不是礼物多贵，而是送礼物的人。

The comma separates:

1. the reporting part: 他说 = he said
2. the content of what he said

It also makes the sentence easier to read because the second part is fairly long.

In writing, this punctuation is very natural.

The sentence follows this pattern:

• A 说，最重要的不是 X，而是 Y。

Meaning:

• A said that what matters most is not X, but Y.

In this specific sentence:

• 他 = he
• 说 = said/says
• 最重要的 = the most important thing
• 不是 = is not
• 礼物多贵 = how expensive the gift is
• 而是 = but rather
• 送礼物的人 = the person giving the gift

This is a very useful pattern for expressing values, opinions, and contrasts.

Not in natural English. That would be too literal.

A better translation is:

• how expensive the gift is

Chinese word order in embedded questions is often different from English. Chinese keeps the normal statement order:

• 礼物贵 = the gift is expensive
• 礼物多贵 = how expensive the gift is

English changes the wording more, but Chinese does not need that kind of rearrangement.

The sentence has:

• 礼物多贵
• 送礼物的人

These are two different parts of the sentence, so the repetition is normal.

The first 礼物 means the gift itself. The second 礼物 is the object inside 送礼物 = give a gift.

You generally would not omit the second 礼物 here, because 送的人 would mean the person who sends/delivers/gives, but it would be less specific. 送礼物的人 clearly means the person giving the gift.

No. 送 has several related meanings, including:

• to give
• to deliver
• to send
• to see someone off

In this sentence, because the object is 礼物, 送礼物 means to give a gift.

So the meaning of 送 depends a lot on the object and context.

Yes. A simpler version might be:

• 他说，重要的不是礼物贵不贵，是谁送的。

This means roughly the same thing:

• He said that what matters is not whether the gift is expensive, but who gave it.

But the original sentence sounds a bit more formal and polished:

• 最重要的 is stronger than just 重要的
• 而是 is more elegant than simply 是

So the original is a good example of natural, well-structured Mandarin.