Structural particle "de"

Chinese-grammar-wiki-de-1.jpg

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

There is also a modal particle 的.

的

的 (de) 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 (de) is that it works like 's in English (apostrophe s), e.g.

  • 小李 的 房子 Xiaoli'e house

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 (de).

Another way to use 的 (de) is as an attributive. It's just a way of connecting adjectives or other words with a noun. It gives us more information about the noun, and the 的 (de) makes it clear that the extra information is connected to the noun. Here's an example:

  • 红色 的 自行车 red bicycle

Here 的 (de) is used to modify "bicycle" with the color "red." It attributes the color "red" to the "bicycle".

Structure

Although certainly not complete for all uses, this simple structure should help as a general guideline:

的 + Noun

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

得 (de) 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 and is usually associated with verbs.


Structure

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

Verb + 得

Examples

  • 走 得 快Walk fast
  • 走 得 慢Walk slowly
  • 做 得 好(Implies an action)Do well
  • 做 得 不 好Do poorly
  • 说 得 快Speak fast
  • 听 得 不 清楚Not hear clearly
  • 笑 得 很 开心Laugh happily
  • 学 得 很 认真Study seriously
  • 吃 得 不 好Eat poorly

地

地 (de) 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 turn adjectives into adverbs, and can be thought of as equivalent to the suffix -ly in English.

Structure

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

Adj + 地 + Verb

Not that it's the "adjective + 地 (de)" structure that makes the adjective into an "adverb phrase" (called an adverbial). If it's a straight-up adverb you're using, you don't need 地 (de) at all.

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

Examples using all 3 "de"s

  • 她 穿 着 红 色 的 裙 子，安 静 地 走 在 路 上，走 得 很 慢。She wears a red dress, quietly walking on the street, walking slowly.
  • 他 的 女 朋 友 一 直 在 开 心 地 唱 歌，但 是 她 唱 得 很 难 听。 His girlfriend keeps singing happily,but she sings poorly.
  • 我 们 的 老 师 讲 得 很 清 楚，所 以 她 不 需 要 慢 慢 地 讲。Our teacher speaks very clearly, so she doesn't have to speak slowly.
  • 你 画 得 很 好，蓝 蓝 的 天，长 长 的 路，可 爱 的 孩 子 们 开 心 地 笑。You're good at drawing those blue skies, long roads, cute children laughing happily, very well.
  • 我 要 认 真 地 对 我 的 儿 子 说：你 做 得 很 好，妈 妈 爱 你。I must earnestly tell my son, you did very well, mother loves you.

Sources and further reading

Books


Websites

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