Three Forms of the Chinese Particle de: 的, 地, and 得

In this post we’ll look at the Chinese particle de. Or rather, we’ll look at three different essential Chinese particles that are all pronounced de: Pre-Noun 的, Pre-Verb 地, and Post-Verb 得. First, we’ll look at Pre-Noun 的, which is used to show possession or to link an adjective to a noun. Then we’ll turn to Pre-Verb 地, which turns adjectives into adverbs. Finally, we’ll turn to Post-Verb 得, which links a verb to a descriptive complement phrase. You’ll see that a descriptive complement phrase gives more information about a verb and is similar to an adverb, but it’s not quite the same thing.

Pre-Noun 的 de – Possessive / Attributive Adjective Linker

First, let’s start with Pre-Noun 的 de. This particle is very common in Chinese. It has two main uses: to show possession, and to link attributive adjectives to the nouns they describe.

Structure: Noun + 的 de

Let’s look at each use separately.

Possessive 的 de

Possessive 的 de links nouns and pronouns to possessions. It’s very similar to apostrophe-s or of in English.  It comes between the possessor and the possession.

Structure: [Possessor] + 的 de + [Possession]

• 这是我的男朋友/ 女朋友。
  Zhè shì wǒ de nánpéngyou/ nǚpéngyou.
  This is my boyfriend/girlfriend.
• 你的朋友很聪明。
  Nǐ de péngyǒu hěn cōngmíng.
  Your friend is smart.
• 老师的办公桌在教室前面。
  Lǎoshī de bàngōng zhuō zài jiàoshì qiánmiàn.
  The teacher’s desk is in the front of the classroom.

Attributive Adjective Linker 的 de

Attributive Adjective Linker 的 de links (most) attributive adjectives to the nouns they describe. Remember that an attributive adjective is an adjective that comes before the noun in a phrase in English, for example a big city or a long night. (The other kind of adjective is called a predicate adjective, and that’s an adjective that follows be in a sentence: the city is big, the night is long.)

Structure: [Adjective] + 的 de + [Noun]

Notice how 的 de comes after the adjective and before the noun in these phrases:

• 新的书
  xīn de shū
  the new book
• 贵的衣服
  guì de yīfú
  expensive clothes
• 聪明的学生
  cōngmíng de xuéshēng  
  smart students
• 红色的车
  hóngsè de chē
  the red car

Now let’s see some examples with full sentences.

• 她是一个很棒的演员。
  Tā shì yíge hěnbàng de yǎnyuán.
  She’s a really good actor.
• 这是一家不错的餐厅。
  Zhè shì yījiā bùcuò de cāntīng.
  It’s a good restaurant.
• 我们有一个年幼的儿子。
  Wǒ men yǒu yí gè nián yòu de ér zi.
  We have a young son.
• 我拿着一朵漂亮的花。
  wǒ názhe yì duǒ piàoliang de huā.
  I’m holding a beautiful flower.

The same structure is used to form relative clauses, that is, mini sentences that give more information about a noun. These are often introduced by that or who in English. In Chinese, put 的 de after the relative clause, and the entire thing functions like a long, multi-word adjective. Notice that the relative comes before the noun in Chinese, not after it as in English.

• 这是我昨天买的书。
  Zhè shì wǒ zuótiān mǎi de shū.
  This is the book (that) I bought yesterday.
• 我不喜欢我们昨晚看的那部电影。
  Wǒ bù xǐhuān wǒmen zuówǎn kàn de nà bù diànyǐng.
  I didn’t like the movie (that) we saw last night.
• 正在说话的女人是老师。
  Zhèngzài shuōhuà de nǚrén shì lǎoshī.
  The woman who is speaking is the teacher.

Omitting Attributive Adjective Linker 的 de

Sometimes, especially in spoken Chinese, the 的 de gets dropped. But this only happens with single-syllable adjectives that are closely connected to the noun. For example, in natural and fluent speech, you’ll hear:

• 好人
  hǎorén
  good person
  (instead of 好的人 hǎo de rén)
• 坏事
  huàishì
  bad thing
  (instead of 坏的事 huài de shì)
• 新书
  xīnshū
  new book
  (instead of 新的书 xīn de shū)

You can think of these phrases as word pairs that form something like a compound noun, with no pause between them. So in natural speech, you can say:

• 他是个好人。
  Tā shìgè hǎorén.
  He’s a good person.
• 我买了新衣服。
  Wǒ mǎile xīn yīfú.
  I bought new clothes.

But you cannot drop 的 de when the adjective is multi-syllable or complex, including when it is a relative clause. That is, 的 de is obligatory in:

• 漂亮的花, 舒服的椅子, 特别的感觉
  piàoliang de huā, shūfú de yǐzǐ, tèbié de gǎnjué
  beautiful flowers, comfortable chair, special feelings
• 昨天买的书
  zuótiān mǎi de shū
  the book [I] bought yesterday
• 我喜欢的那个人
  wǒ xǐhuān dì nàgè rén
  the person I like

Pre-Verb 地 de: – Adverbial Marker

Next, let’s look at Pre-Verb 地 de. This particle is used to turn adjectives into adverbs, so it functions very much like –ly in English. For example, 高兴 gāoxìng is an adjective (happy), and 高兴地 gāoxìng de is the adverb happily.

Structure: Adjective + 地 de + Verb

• 他高兴地笑了。
  Tā gāoxìng de xiào le.
  He smiled happily.
• 她慢慢地走进来。
  Tā mànmàn de zǒu jìnlái.
  She walked in slowly.
• 他认真地工作。
  Tā rènzhēn de gōngzuò.
  He works seriously.

Notice that adverbs created with 地 de come before the verb and express the manner in which a verb is performed. This contrasts with descriptive complements, which we’ll come to next.

Post-Verb 得 de: Descriptive Complement Particle

Finally, let’s turn to Post-Verb 得 de. This particle is used to introduce a descriptive complement, and it comes between the verb and the complement:

Structure: Verb + 得 de + Complement/Description

Complements in Chinese are similar to adverbs in that they both modify verbs. But complements come after verbs (while adverbs come before), and complements express things like the quality, result, possibility, direction, or extent of a verb. In the examples below, we’ll add paraphrases to help draw out the way that these phrases are descriptive complements and not simple manner adverbs.

• 她唱得很好。
  Tā chàng de hěn hǎo.
  She sings well. (“The quality of her singing is good.”)
• 他跑得很快。 
  Tā pǎo de hěn kuài.
  He runs fast. (“He runs to a degree that makes him fast.”)
• 你做饭做得很好吃！
  Nǐ zuò fàn zuò dé hěn hǎo chī!
  You cook very well! (“You cook in a way that results in good food.”)
• 我咳嗽得很厉害。
   Wǒ késòu dé hěn lìhài.
   I have a bad cough. (“I cough to an intense degree.”)
• 他发烧发得很严重。
  Tā fāshāo fā de hěn yánzhòng.
  His fever is very serious. (“He has a fever to a serious degree.”)

The difference between an adverb with 地 de and a descriptive complement with 得 de can be challenging for English speakers to understand, since English typically treats both of these things as adverbs. As a starting point, think of adverbs with 地 de as simply describing a manner, while descriptive complements with 得 de provide more information about the result of doing something or degree to which something is done.

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