Learn Hardcore Chinese: zhè cì bǐsài shì tā fùzé ānpái de. - She is responsible for organizing this competition.

In 这次比赛是她负责安排的, the 是…的 highlights “it was she who was in charge of arranging it”.
Without 是…的, the sentence is a more neutral statement; with 是…的, it feels more like you’re specifying or confirming a detail about a known event.

Can I drop 是 or 的 in this sentence? How does the meaning change?

Yes, you can drop them, but the feel changes:

这次比赛她负责安排。
- Grammatical and natural.
- Neutral statement: “She is/was responsible for arranging this competition.”
- No special emphasis.
这次比赛是她负责安排。
- Usually sounds incomplete; native speakers expect a 的 at the end if you use 是 in this way.
- Better to avoid.
这次比赛她负责安排的。
- Possible in spoken Chinese, often with a certain tone of insistence or explanation.
- Feels like you’re stressing “(you know) she’s the one who is/was in charge of arranging it.”
- But the most standard, textbook-like sentence is the original: 这次比赛是她负责安排的。

What exactly does the 的 at the end do? There is no noun after it.

Here, 的 is not attaching to a noun like “的 + noun”.
Instead, in the 是…的 pattern, 的:

Wraps up the verb phrase (她负责安排)
Marks the whole thing as a completed, specific event being described or emphasized

You can think of 是她负责安排的 loosely as “(the one) that she was responsible for arranging”, even though Chinese doesn’t say that last noun explicitly.

Why is the word order “这次比赛是她负责安排的” and not something like “她是负责安排这次比赛的”? Are both correct?

Both orders are correct; they just emphasize different parts.

这次比赛是她负责安排的。
- Topic: 这次比赛 (“this competition”)
- Comment: 是她负责安排的 (“was her responsibility to arrange”)
- Emphasis: Which person handled this competition.
她是负责安排这次比赛的。
- Topic: 她 (“she”)
- Comment: 是负责安排这次比赛的 (“is/was the one in charge of arranging this competition”)
- Emphasis: What her role was.

Chinese is very topic-prominent, so it’s common to put what you’re talking about first (这里: 这次比赛), then say something about it.

Why do we need both 负责 and 安排 here? Would 这次比赛是她安排的 be enough?

Both are possible, but they have a slight nuance difference:

安排 = to arrange / to organize
负责安排 = to be responsible for arranging

So:

这次比赛是她安排的。
→ Focus: She is the one who did the arranging.
这次比赛是她负责安排的。
→ Focus: She was in charge of arranging it (it was her duty/role).
She might have done it personally, or coordinated it.

The original sentence stresses her responsibility/role, not just the action.

Is 负责 a verb or an adjective here? How does 负责安排 work grammatically?

In this sentence, 负责 is used as a verb meaning “to be responsible for”.

The pattern is:

负责 + [verb phrase / task]

So:

负责安排 = “be responsible for arranging”
她负责安排 (这次比赛) = “She is/was responsible for arranging (this competition).”

Grammatically, 负责 takes the whole “安排(这次比赛)” as its object, forming a verb phrase “负责安排(这次比赛)”.

Where is the object of 安排? It looks like 安排 has nothing after it.

The object of 安排 is actually 这次比赛, but it’s been moved to the front of the sentence as the topic:

Full, neutral order: 她负责安排这次比赛。
Topicalized version: 这次比赛，她负责安排。

Then we wrap it in the 是…的 structure:

这次比赛是她负责安排的。

So 这次比赛 is still logically the thing being arranged; it’s just placed at the beginning as the topic.

How do we know this sentence is talking about the past? There is no past tense marker.

Chinese doesn’t mark tense the same way English does. Instead, it uses:

Aspect markers (like 了, 过)
Time words (昨天, 已经, etc.)
And structures like 是…的

The 是…的 pattern is very often used for specific past events, especially when you’re clarifying who, how, or when something happened.

In context, 这次比赛是她负责安排的 is normally understood as referring to a competition that already took place or has been planned, not a future one.

Could I say 这次比赛被她安排了 instead? What’s the difference from the original sentence?

这次比赛被她安排了 is grammatically okay, but it sounds less natural and a bit awkward in many contexts.

Differences:

被-sentence (被她安排了)
- Explicit passive form
- Often used when something unfortunate happened, or when you want to highlight the patient strongly
- Here, it can sound a bit “heavy” or unnecessarily passive.
是…的 sentence (是她负责安排的)
- Neutral or slightly positive
- Emphasizes who did it or was in charge
- Very natural for explaining or clarifying past responsibilities

So native speakers would strongly prefer 这次比赛是她负责安排的 here.

What does 次 mean in 这次比赛? Why not just say 这比赛?

次 is a measure word meaning “time/occurrence”.

这次 = “this time / this occasion”
比赛 = “competition / match”

So 这次比赛 is literally “this time’s competition”, i.e. “this competition (as one instance among many)”.

Saying 这比赛 is usually not natural; competitions and similar events normally need a measure word, and 次 is a common, general one when you’re talking about this/that time something happens.

Could I say 这次是她负责安排的 and drop 比赛?

Yes, that’s fine if the context already makes it clear you’re talking about a competition (or some other event):

这次是她负责安排的。
→ “This time, it was her who was responsible for arranging (it).”

Here 比赛 is omitted because both speakers know which event you mean. Chinese often drops obvious nouns like this.

What’s the difference between 这次比赛是她负责安排的 and 她负责安排这次比赛?

Both are grammatical. The main difference is focus and style:

这次比赛是她负责安排的。
- Has the 是…的 pattern.
- Feels more explanatory / contrastive:
  - “As for this competition, she’s the one who was responsible for arranging it (not someone else / that’s the specific detail).”
她负责安排这次比赛。
- Simple declarative sentence.
- Neutral statement of fact: “She is/was responsible for arranging this competition.”
- No special emphasis; suitable for introductions, instructions, etc.

If you’re clarifying or correcting (“No, this competition was arranged by her”), use the 是…的 version.

What is the difference between 她 (she) and 他 (he) in pronunciation and usage?

她 = “she / her”, used for females
他 = “he / him”, used for males

In modern Mandarin pronunciation, both are pronounced the same: tā (first tone).

So in spoken Chinese you can’t hear the difference; only writing distinguishes the gender. In this sentence, 她 specifically tells you the person responsible is female.