The 得 Construction

Exercises

Other terminology: complement marker, complement of degree

Including notes on differences between the 得 construction and affirmative potential verb complements (v + 得 + resultative complement).

1. When do I use the 得 construction?

The 得 construction can be used in the following three situations.

(1) When you want to describe customary actions. In other words, when you want to say how somebody usually does
something. For instance,
tā zú qiú tī de hĕn hăo tā păo de fēicháng kuài
他足 球 踢 得很 好. 她 跑 得 非常 快.
HE FOOTBALL KICK DE VERY WELL SHE RUN DE EXTREMELY FAST

He plays football very well. She runs extremely fast.

(2) The 得 construction can also be used to describe the result of a particular action. Usually a time word (time when) is
placed before or after the subject of the sentence, to indicate the action has already taken place. For instance,
zóutiān wănshang wŏ nán péngyou zhōngguó fàn zuò de hĕn hăo
昨天 晚 上 我 男 朋友 中 国 饭 作 得 很 好.
YESTERDAY EVENING MY MALE FRIEND CHINESE MEAL COOK DE VERY WELL

My boyfriend cooked Chinese meal very well yesterday evening.

(3) They can be used to express the effect of an action and the degree of a stative verb (verb to be + adjective). For
instance,
tā shuō de dàjiā dōu kū le
她 说 得大家 都 哭 了.
SHE SAY DE EVERYBODY ALL CRY LE

She spoke to the extent that everybody cried. "Everybody cried" is the effect of what she had said.

zhōngwén nán de wŏmen dōu bù xiăng xué le

中文 难 得我们 都 不 想 学 了.
CHINESE DIFFICULT DE WE ALL NOT WANT LEARN LE

Chinese is so difficult that we don't want to learn any more. "We don't want to learn any more" tells us how difficult the Chinese
language is.

tā máng de méi you shíjiān chī fàn

她忙 得 没 有 时间 吃 饭.
SHE BUSY DE NOT HAVE TIME EAT MEAL

She is so busy that she doesn't have time to eat. "She doesn't have time to eat" tells us how busy she is.

As you can see from the above examples, when a stative verb is used in the 得 construction, it is often translated as: so
(stative verb) to the extent that ...

2. How many different ways can I form the 得 construction?

The most important thing in a 得 construction is that verbs should always be placed before 得. If a verb is in a pattern of
verb-object, then the verb should be separated from the object. For example, if 睡觉 (to sleep) is used in the 得
construction it can be formed in the following four ways:
(1) You must repeat the verb.
s. v- o. v. de adv.
wŏ shuì jiào shuì de hĕn hăo
我 睡 觉 睡 得 很好
I SLEEP JIAO SLEEP DE VERY WELL
I sleep very well.

(2) It sounds less repetitive if you omit the first verb of the above sentence:
s. o. v. de adv.
wŏ jiào shuì de hĕn hăo
我 觉 睡 得很 好
I JIAO SLEEP DE VERY WELL

(3) If you want to emphasize the object of the sentence, then the object can be placed at the beginning of the sentence and it
will be:
o. s. v. de adv.
jiào wŏ shuì de hĕn hăo
觉 我 睡 得很 好
JIAO I SLEEP DE VERY WELL

(4) If the object of the sentence is clear to listeners, which it is in this case, you can just simply say:
s. v. de adv.
wŏ shuì de hĕn hăo
睡 得很 好
我 I
SLEEP DE VERY WELL

3. What is the negative form for the 得 construction?

The negative form for the 得 construction is 不. 没 is not used, except when the 得 construction is used in the 把
construction. 不 should be placed before adverbs and after 得, but not before verbs, except when the 得 construction is
used in comparatives (比 sentences)

s. o. v. de neg. adv. [description ]

tā hànyǔ shuō de bu hăo [A normal negative 得 sentence]

他 汉语 说 得不 好

HE CHINESE SPEAK DE NOT GOOD

He doesn't speak Chinese well.

s. neg. 把/比 o. v. de adv. [description ]

tā méi bă fángjiān zhĕnglĭ de gāngānjìngjìng [A negative 把sentence with the

得 construction]
他 没 把 房间 整 理 得干干 净净
HE NOT BA ROOM TIDY DE CLEAN

He didn't tidy the room properly.

nĭ bu bĭ wŏ păo de kuài [A negative 比sentence with the

得 construction.]
你 不 比我 跑得快

YOU NOT BI I RUN DE FAST

You don't run faster than I do.

4. Is the particle 了 for completed actions used in the 得 construction?

No, 了 for completed actions cannot be used, but time words can be used to indicate the action has already been completed.
For example,

wŏ xiăo shíhou rìyŭ shuō de hĕn liúlì

我 小 时候 日语 说 得很 流利.
I LITTLE TIME JAPANESE SPEAK DE VERY FLUENT

I spoke Japanese very fluently when I was little.

If a 了 appears in the 得 construction, it usually indicates a change of situation.

tā yĭjīng hē de hĕn duō le

他 已经 喝 得很 多 了.
HE ALREADY DRINK DE VERY MUCH LE

He has already drunk too much. (It implies that he should not drink any more.)

5. I find it difficult to distinguish the 得 construction from potential verb complements. How can I tell which is
which?

The 得 construction and potential complements serve different purposes, although the word order of these sentence
constructions is similar. Sometimes they can be very confusing, especially when those stative verbs which can also be used
as resultative complements (such as 好, 清楚 and 对) are involved. For example, the following sentence is ambiguous in
meaning.

jīntiān tā xiĕ de hăo ma

今天 他 写 得好 吗?
TODAY HE WRITE DE WELL MA / BE ABLE FINISH MA

1. Did he write well today? (The 得 construction) / 2. Can he finish writing today? (Potential complement)

An adverbial group in the 得 construction is usually formed by an adverb + stative verb as a combined adverb to
differentiate it from a potential verb complement which is just a stative verb. Let’s answer the above question in two
different ways.

1. 好 in the 得 construction (the complement of degree):

jīntiān tā xiĕ de hĕn hăo

今天他 写 得 很 好.
TODAY HE WRITE DE VERY WELL

He wrote (very) well today.

2. 好 used in potential complement:

jīntiān tā xiĕ de hăo

今天 他 写 得 好.
TODAY HE WRITE BE ABLE FINISH

He can finish writing (it) today.

6. Do I always need 得 to indicate the degree of complement?

No, not always. Colloquially, some single-syllable adverbs, such as 多,少,早,晚,快,慢,大,小,贵 and 便宜, can be placed
after verbs without 得. In many ways they are similar to resultative complements. 了 is often placed at the end of these
sentences to indicate excessiveness and change of situation as in

tā hē (de tài) duō le

他喝 (得太) 多 了.
HE DRINK (DE TOO) MUCH LE

He has drunk too much.

xiăo wáng lái (de tài) wăn le

小王 来 (得 太) 晚 了
XIAO WANG COME (DE TOO) LATE LE

Xiao Wang came too late. / Xiao Wang came late.

tā păo (de tài) kuài le

他 跑 (得 太) 快 了
HE RUN (DE TOO) FAST LE

He has run too fast. / He is running faster (than before).

yīfu zuò (de tài) dà le

衣服 作 (得 太) 大 了
CLOTHES MAKE (DE TOO) BIG LE

The clothes have been made too big.

shū mài (de tài) guì le

书 卖 (得 太) 贵 了.
BOOK SELL (DE TOO) EXPENSIVE LE

The books have been sold at too high a price.

7. Where can I place 一点儿 and 一些 in the 得 construction?

一点儿 and 一些 should be placed after the adverbial groups in the 得 construction.

qĭng nĭ shuō de màn yì diănr

请 你 说 得慢 一 点儿.
COULD YOU SPEAK DE SLOW A LITTLE BIT

Could you speak slowly.

Or colloquially, you can leave out 得 and say:

qĭng nĭ shuō màn yì diănr

请 你说 慢 一 点儿.

8. What is the difference between "请你说得慢一点儿." and "请你慢一点儿说."

Please see the notes on “The differences between 得 constructions and 地 constructions” in “The 地 construction”

Exercises
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Translate the following sentences into Chinese.

Change the following affirmative sentences into negative ones.

1. We went to stay at Xiao Wang's place last week, but we didn't have a good time at all.

2. My friend's teacher teaches French extremely well.

3. The shop on the corner sells Chinese wine very cheaply.

4. Last night she sang so badly that everybody left before she could finish her first song.

5. She heard that Mr. Li was much better. She was so happy that she forgot to eat her meal.

6. Lao Zhang has become so fat that I can hardly recognize him.

7. Xiao Ding tidies his room neatly every Friday. That is because his girlfriend visits him every weekend.

8. Yesterday we set off too late so we missed the beginning of the film.

Translate the following sentences, then make them negative.

1. 我们老师讲语法总是讲得非常清楚.
2. 昨天晚上我睡得香极了.

3. 那个姑娘好看得男人都想跟她作朋友.

4. 他把他同学都吓得跑走了.