- We have learnt what Functions Words (虚词) are, and 2 of the particles : 了 and 的, which are also part of the function words.
- Today we are going to learn another structural particles in Chinese, 得 （ de ）
- We have learnt the character ” 得 ” here. We are going to look into the grammar aspect of the character.
- There are 3 pronunciations for 得: děi , de , dé . When 得 acts as a particle, it is pronounced as de .
- As a structural particle, 得 is used to link a verb or an adjective to a complement which describes the manner or degree (degree complement).
Sentence pattern: Subject + Verb + 得 + Degree Complement or Subject + Adjective + 得 + Degree Complement Example: 她唱得不好 。 (She does not sing well.) - Besides, 得 is also inserted between a verb and its complement to express possibility or capability
Sentence pattern: Subject + Verb + 得 + Potential Complement Example: 我拿得动。(I can carry it.) - Note: Unless you’ve spent time studying grammar or linguistics, you probably won’t have heard of complements. Read more about complement (linguistics) here.
1. 得 + Degree Complements
- The degree complement assesses the extent or quality of an action, or the state of things after it. It is used to assess or describe verbs or adjectives.
Example: This book is very well-written.
Subject Verb Structural Particle Degree
ComplementSound 这本书 写 得 非常好 zhè běn shū xiě de fēi cháng hǎo this book is written particle very well She eat very quickly.
Subject Verb Structural Particle Degree
ComplementSound 她 吃 得 很快 tā chī de hěn kuài she eat particle very quickly - For the first example, ‘非常好’ (very well) is the quality of the verb ‘写’ (write) and it is marked by 得.
- For the second example, ‘很快’ (very quickly) is the quality of the verb ‘吃’ (eat) and it is marked by 得.
- 得 directly follows the verb in a sentence.
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Example: He was so happy he started jumping up and down.
Subject Adjectvie Structural Particle Degree
ComplementSound 他 高兴 得 跳起来了 tā gāo xìng de tiào qǐ lái le he happy particle jumping up and down - For the third example, ‘跳起来了’ describes adjective ‘高兴’ (happy). This often matches up with the English structure ‘so (adjective) that …’ .
- As exercise, try to make a few sentences with ” 得 + Degree Complement ” sentence structure at comment section.
- We will talk about ” 得 + Potential Complement ” next week. Stay tuned.
Hi, I find this structure very confusing
Ａｌｓｏ ｉ ａｌｗａｙｓ ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔ ｔｈｅ ｇｅｎｅｒａｌ ｓｔｒｕｃｔｕｒｅ ｗａｓ Ｓｕｂｊｅｃｔ ＋ adv + ｖｅｒｂ ＋object but in this construction it seems to be
Subject + ｖｅｒｂ ＋de + adverb?
e.g Ta1 shuo1 de hen3 hao3
I guess thats my first question, what is the structure to follow? ｉｓ ｈｅｎ３ ｈａｏ３ ｎｏｔ ａ ｍｏｄｉｆｉｅｒ ｏｆ ｓｈｕｏ１？an adverb of the verb speak?
Hi Jason,
Just like English, the basic Chinese structure is
Subject + Predicate
or
Subject + Verb + Object (S-V-O)
In some cases,
Subject + Verb
e.g.
He runs.
他跑。
To extend,
Subject + Verb + Adverb
He runs quickly.
In Chinese, you can say:
他跑很快。
or, it is more common we say it with a “得”
他跑得很快。
However, for this example:
This book is very well-written.
这本书写得非常好。
or you may say:
这本书非常好。(This book is very good.)
But it is wrong to say:
这本书写非常好。 (“得” is omitted)
I hope my brief explanation will answer your question. I think a complement is a word or group of words that include adverb. I am not a linguistic expert so if I make any mistake, please correct me.
Jason
谢谢你
that clarifies alot, i’m not sure why I thoｕｇｈｔ ｉｔ ｗａｓ Subject + ａｄｖｅｒｂ ＋verb + object
some things are confusing thoguh for instance
你这里坐 – Please have a sit here, now as you can see in this case the adverb has gone before the verb
你坐这里 – You can say it this way too and this way seems more correct to me.
I think the difference between the above two is that the first one is saying “Please have a sit here” and the second one is like “you sit here”…?
Anyway haha im sure Ill have some more q’s soon, I hope you dont mind
对不起 麻烦了
Jason
Also forgot to add how do i know whcih structures need 得 and which dont?
in the example belowy 你坐这里。。 you dont say 你坐得这里 but why?
谢谢
Jason
Hi Jason,
Your above examples are correct : 你这里坐 and 你坐这里. I think you understand the meaning between the two.
I don’t think there are any special rules that will tell you when to use 得. When you read more, you will automatically know it. 🙂