Indicating negative impact with "haide"

Used mostly in spoken Chinese, 害得 (hàide) can indicate that the speaker is now in some kind of trouble or undesirable situation, caused by someone or something else. There's a tone of blame or complaining when using this pattern.

Structure

The reason for the trouble should be stated before 害得 (hàide). The 得 can also be omitted.

Reason，害(得) + Undesirable Situation

Examples

Keep in mind that 害得 can be tricky to translate directly. It's more a matter of conveying the tone of "this is how you inconvenienced me" or "this situation negatively impacted me." You might see words like "make" or "force" or "keep from" to communicate that tone.

• 下午 喝 了 两 杯 咖啡，害得 我 晚上 睡 不 着。Xiàwǔ hē le liǎng bēi kāfēi, hàide wǒ wǎnshang shuì buzháo.I had two cups of coffee. It kept me from falling asleep at night.
• 外面 太 吵 了，害得 我们 没 办法 专心 工作。Wàimiàn tài chǎo le, hàide wǒmen méi bànfǎ zhuānxīn gōngzuò.It's too noisy outside. It's keeping us from focusing on work.
• 你 昨晚 没 回来，电话 也 打 不通，害得 我 担心 了 一 个 晚上。Nǐ zuówǎn méi huílái, diànhuà yě dǎ butōng, hàide wǒ dānxīn le yī gè wǎnshang.You didn't come back last night, and I couldn't reach you by phone. You made me worry about you for all night.
• 他 把 我 的 手机 拿 走 了，也 不 跟 我 说 一下，害得 我 找 了 半天。Tā bǎ wǒ de shǒujī ná zǒu le, yě bù gēn wǒ shuō yīxià, hàide wǒ zhǎo le bàntiān.He took my cell phone without telling me. As a result, I spent all day looking for it.
• 我 的 护照 丢 了，害得 我 现在 哪里 也 去 不了。Wǒ de hùzhào diū le, hàide wǒ xiànzài nǎlǐ yě qù bùliǎo.I lost my passport, and now I can't go anywhere.
• 刚 出门 就 下 雨 了，害得 我 又 换 了 一 件 衣服。Gāng chūmén jiù xià yǔ le, hàide wǒ yòu huàn le yī jiàn yīfu.I had just left the house when it rained, forcing me to change clothes again.
• 老板 让 我 今天 就 去 出差，害得 我 行李 都 没 来得及 收拾。Lǎobǎn ràng wǒ jīntiān jiù qù chūchāi, hàide wǒ xíngli dōu méi láidejí shōushi.The boss made me leave today, not even giving me enough time to pack.
• 他 总是 迟到，害 大家 在 车站 等 了 他 半 个 小时。Tā zǒngshì chídào, hài dàjiā zài chēzhàn děng le tā bàn ge xiǎoshí.He's always late, and made everyone wait for him at the bus station for half an hour.
• 出门 没 买 到 菜，还 害 我 丢 了 一 百 元 钱。Chūmén méi mǎi dào cài, hái hài wǒ diū le yī bǎi yuán qián.I went out and didn't manage to buy any food, but even lost 100 RMB.
• 因为 我 经常 生病，害得 妈妈 总是 担心 我。Yīnwèi wǒ jīngcháng shēngbìng, hàide māma zǒngshì dānxīn wǒ.Because I frequently get sick, it always makes my mom worry about me.
• 路上 堵车，害得 我 差点 错 过 飞机。Lùshang dǔchē, hàide wǒ chàdiǎn cuò guò fēijī.Traffic was really bad, and almost made me miss my flight.

Sources and further reading

Books

• HSK Standard Course 4上 (pp. ???) Anything Goes (无所不谈) →buy
• 现代汉语八百词 (pp. ???) 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 →buy

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