de Chinese Grammar

Chinese Grammar: “de 得”, “dé 得”, “děi 得”

In Chinese Grammar by Angel Huang

得 (de) is one of those common Chinese characters that cause confusion for Mandarin learners...

Not only does it have multiple usages - each usage has its own pronunciation.

In this quick video we clear up the confusion to help you use 得 more accurately!

A summary of 得 (de, dé, děi)

Structural particle "de" Chinese Grammar

#1: “de 得” with a neutral tone.

When the character “得” is used as a structural particle, it’s pronounced with a neutral tone.

Add 得 between a verb and an adjective to describe how the verb is carried out.

Structure: Verb + de 得 + Adjective

Examples:

pǎo

runs

pǎo  kuài

runs fast

crawls

màn

crawls slowly

tù zi pǎo kuài, wū guī pá màn.

兔子跑快,乌龟爬慢。

The hare runs fast and the tortoise crawls slowly.

得 Chinese Grammar

#2: “dé 得” with a second tone.

The second way to pronounce this character is “dé” with a second tone. It's pronounced this way when it means "to obtain / to get / to gain".

Here are some common phrases with “:

bìng

to get a disease     

Examples:

bìng le.
病了。

I got sick.

pí fū bìng le.

皮肤病了。

He got a skin disease.

áo yè róng yì bìng.

熬夜容易病。

When you stay up late you're more likely to get sick.

dào

to get / to obtain / to receive

Example:

suǒ yǒu de xīn kǔ dōu dào le bào cháng.

所有的辛苦都到了报偿。

All the hard work got paid off.

fēn

to score

Example:

yáo míng zài zhè chǎng lán qiú sài fēn zuì duō.

姚明在这场篮球赛分最多。

Yao Ming scored the most points in this basketball game.

jiǎng

to win a prize

Example:

yáo míng zài zhè chǎng lán qiú sài fēn zuì duō.

谁猜中这个谜语就能奖。

Whoever guesses the riddle wins a prize.

zhī

to find out / to learn of

Example:

zhī yé ye qù shì de xiāo xī, fēi cháng shāng xīn.

知爷爷去世的消息,非常伤心。

He was very sad to learn of his grandfather's death.

huò

to obtain / to receive / to get

他获得了冠军,激动流下眼泪。

tā huò le guān jūn, jī dòng dé liú xià yǎn lèi.

Example:

When he won the championship, he was moved to tears.

nán

hard to get / rare

Example:

wǒ men nán jiàn miàn, nǐ duō dāi yī huì ér ba.

我们难见面,你多呆一会儿吧。

It's rare for us to see each other, so please stay a little longer.

yíng

 

to win / to gain

Example:

zhǐ yào wǒ men zuò hǎo chōng fēn de zhǔn bèi, jiù yī dìng néng yíng bǐ sài.

只要我们做好充分的准备,就一定能赢比赛。

As long as we are well prepared, we can definitely win the game.

Chinese Grammar 得 de

#3:  “děi 得” with a third tone.

When the meaning of the character () is "must / have to / ought to / need to", it's pronounced "děi".

Examples:

děi zǒu le.

走了。

I have to go.

 děi shí diǎn qián huí jiā.

十点前回家。

She has to be home before ten o'clock.

děi gōng zuò le, wǒ men gǎi tiān zài liáo ba.

工作了,我们改天再聊吧。

I have to work, let's talk another day.

yǐ jīng jiǔ diǎn le, nǐ děi qǐ chuáng le.

已经九点了,你起床了。

It's nine o'clock, you have to get up.