State complement

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Also known as: 状态补语 (zhuàngtài bǔyǔ), 情态补语 (qíngtài bǔyǔ) and complement of state.

State complements describe an achieved state of an action. State complements are usually adjective phrases (adverb + adjective) but can take the form of verbal phrases, subject-predicate phrase or other complements. State complements that are adjective phrases often look the same as degree complements and thus often lumped together with degree complements in textbooks.

Adjective as State Complements

In a state complement phrase, the verb must be followed by 得, and then the complement follows. The most common type of state complement, where the complement is an adjective phrase, is formed by placing the adjective phrase after 得.

一般来说，做情态补语的形容词前要加程度副词，如"很、非常、不太、有点"等。

Examples

  • 她 来 得 有点 晚 。She came a little late.
  • 老师 今天 穿 得 非常 漂亮 。The teacher dressed very nicely today.
  • 孩子们 玩 得 很 开心 。The kids are having lots of fun.
  • 我 昨天 睡 得 不 太 好 。I didn't sleep very well yesterday.
  • 哪个 城市 发展 得 最 快 ？Which city has developed most rapidly?

If the verb taking a complement also has an object, you can repeat the verb: once for the object, then once for the complement:

  • 弟弟 做 作业 做 得 很 慢 。My younger brother does his homework very slowly.
  • 他 打 篮球 打 得 非常 好 。He eats very fast.
  • 妈妈 洗 衣服 洗 得 干 不 干净 ？Did mother wash the clothes well [clean]?
  • 我们 班 谁 说 汉语 说 得 最 流利 ？Who speaks Chinese most fluently in our class?

Verb Phrases as State Complements

Verb phrases (VP), subject-predicate phrases (SP) can also serve as complements of state. As with adjective phrase state complements, they can describe a state that arose from the action of the main verb in the sentence.

Examples

  • 我 累 得 不 想 说话 。 My son played the video games to the point where he didn't sleep at all last night.
  • 我 的 牙 疼 得 我 睡 不 着 。 My teeth aches to the point where I can't sleep.
  • 听到 这个 消息 ，她 激动 得 哭 了 起来 。The state complement in this example is used to describe the state of excitement the subject has arrived at.Hearing this news, she was excited to point where she started crying.

More Advanced State Complements

  • 他 忙 得 忘 了 给 女儿 买 生日 礼物 。 Here the state complement is a verb phrase and expresses the state to which the subject got caught up in his business.He's busy to the point where he forgot to buy her daughter a birthday present.
  • 天气 热 得 我 只 想 待 在 空调 房 里 。The weather is hot to the point where I only want to stay in the room with AC.
  • 地铁 挤 得 有的 人 下 不 去 。The metro was crowded to the point where some people couldn't get off.

References and Further Reading

Books

Websites

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