Structural particle "de"

The structural particle "de" has three written forms in modern Chinese, each with its own uses:

• The structural particle 的 (most often used for modifying noun)
• The structural particle 得 (most often used with complements)
• The structural particle 地 (most often used for adverbial phrases)

There is also a modal particle 的.

的

Although certainly not complete for all uses, this simple structure should help:

Structure

的 + Noun

的 is known as 白勺的 (bái-sháo de) in Chinese as it's composed of the characters 白 (bái) and 勺 (sháo). It's used to mark possession or modification. One way to think about 的 is that it works like 's in English (apostrophe s), e.g.

Xiaoli's house

小李的房子

This analogy works very well for possession, as it shows how English and Chinese handle possession in a similar way. Just remember that Chinese uses this 'possession' far more widely than English. Modifying, describing qualities, and assigning attributes are all handled in the same way as possession, by using 的.

红色的自行车

Here 的 is used to modify 'bike' with the colour 'red'. You could still think of this as possession - a bike that belongs to the category red.

Examples

• 我 的 学校My school
• 我 的 手机My cellphone
• 你 的 咖啡Your coffee
• 我们 的 老师Our teacher
• 他 的 女朋友His girlfriend
• 漂亮 的 衣服Beautiful clothes
• 长 长 的 路A long road
• 蓝 色 的 天A blue day
• 甜 甜 的 苹果A sweet apple
• 我 的 红色 的 裙子My red skirt

得

Although certainly not complete for all uses, this simple structure should help:

Structure

Verb + 得

得 is known as 双人得 (shuāngrén de), as the radical 彳 is often known as 双人 (shuāngrén) - 'double person'. This de is probably the trickiest to crack for English speakers as it has no obvious equivalent in English. 得 is used to construct various kinds of complements.

Examples

• 走 得 快Walking fast
• 走 得 慢Walking slowly
• 做 得 好(Implies an action)Do well
• 做 得 差Do poorly
• 说 得 快Speaking fast
• 听 得 不 清楚Not hearing clearly
• 笑 得 很 开心Laughing very happily
• 学 得 很 认真Studying very seriously
• 吃 得 不 好Eating unhealthy
• 长 得 很 好看Grow to be good looking.

地

Although certainly not complete for all uses, this simple structure should help:

Structure

地 + Verb

地 is known as 土也地 (tǔ-yě de), as it's composed of the characters 土 (tǔ) and 也 (yě). It's used to mark adverbs, and can often be seen as equivalent to the suffix -ly in English.

Examples

• 高兴 地 唱 Happily sing
• 认真 地 学 Seriously study
• 开心 地 笑 Happily laugh
• 慢 慢 地 说 Slowly talk
• 伤心 地 哭 Sadly cry
• 安静 地 听 Peacefully listen
• 大 声 地 说 Loudly talk
• 汪 汪 地 叫 Sadly Call
• 早 早 地 睡觉 Sleep Earlier
• 难过 地 走 了 Sadly walk

Sources and further reading

Books

• A Practical Chinese Grammar For Foreigners (外国人实用汉语语法) (pp. 133-135) →buy
• Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar (pp. 72) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 291-3) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 2, Part 1 (pp. 193 - 195) →buy
• New Practical Chinese Reader 3 (新实用汉语课本3) (pp. 50 - 51, 99 - 101) →buy
• 40 Lessons for Basic Chinese Course (基础汉语40课上册） (p. 189)→buy

Websites

• Blog post (Chinese): “的”与“地”“得”
• Online document (Chinese): “的”“地”“得”的用法区别 explains and shares a song about the three de's
• Sinosplice: The Three De Song
• East Asia Student: 的 地 得 grammar summary (DE particles)
• ChinesePod blog: The Three Musketeers (的, 得, and 地) on ChinesePod.com