每日中文 Daily ZhongWen

16 Chinese Grammar Points about the Particle 得


  • 1. Verb complement: 得 + Adj.
    The particle 得 has no counterpart in English. It is usually used in Verb complements.
  • 2. 【的地得】地vs.得
    的,地,得 are the 3 most commonly used structural particles in modern Chinese. 得 is most often used with verb complements; 地 is most often used with adverbial phrases. In Chinese, adverbs always appear before the verb, and complements appear after the verb, following the particle 得.
  • 3. 【的地得】的vs.得
    的,地,得 are distinguished in writing, each with its own uses. 的 is most often used to modify nouns; 得, most often used with complements. In Chinese, adjective always comes before the noun or pronoun in the sentence; complements appear after the verb, following the particle 得.
  • 4. 得 - Four-Character Expressions
    Idioms or Four-Character expressions can be used as complement, following 得.
  • 5. 得 - so-that(1)
    In most cases, 得 can be used with the complement of degree. Such a sentence is usually translated into English as "so that". The complement is usually a complete sentence or a verb phrase.
  • 6. 得 - so-that(2)
    得 can be followed by a verb phrase.
  • 7. 得 - + Reduplicated Adj.
    In Chinese, adjectives come in 2 forms: simple and reduplicated. Reduplicated form is always followed by the particle 的.
  • 8. 得 - Complement vs. Predicate
    In the first example, '很好' is the predicate and follows the subject. In the second example, '很好' is the complement and follows the verb+得.
  • 9. 得 - The complement of direction
    得 can be placed between the verb and the complement of direction.
  • 10. Comparison
    Unlike in English, Chinese adverbs have no comparative forms. A complement together with 得 is used to express comparison.
  • 11. Comparisons: Verb + 得-一样
    Verb + 得-一样 is used to indicate that A and B perform an action in a similar way.
  • 12. Negation: Verb + 得不
    Different from English, the negative word 不 ('not') appears in the complement, not with the verb.
  • 13. 得 - Fixed expressions:+ 要命/要死
    There are many fixed expressions with 得 that are considered as the complements of degree.
  • 14. Fixed expressions:+ 不得了/很
    不得了/很 can be used as verb complements after the particle 得, meaning 'very/extremely'.
  • 15. Question: 得+怎么样/好不好?
    怎么样/好不好 can be used to ask questions. 好不好 is the affirmative and negative part in the question.
  • 16. Question: 得+complement+吗?
    得+Modal particle 吗 is used to form a question.