De (structural particle)

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 nouns)
• 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

See also: structural particle 的

的 is known as baishao de in Chinese as it's composed of the characters 白 and 勺. 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

得

See also: structural particle 得

地

See also: structural particle 地

Sources and further reading

• Grammar book: 外国人实用汉语语法(中英文对照) (pp. 133-135)
• Blog post: The Three Musketeers (的, 得, and 地) on ChinesePod.com
• 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
• East Asia Student: 的 地 得 grammar summary (DE particles)