How to Use 的, 得 & 地 | Learn About the 3 “DE” [A2 Level]

Q: What are some example sentences for 的?

– 我的爸爸很高。 wǒ de bàba hěn gāo. My father is tall. – 这是我的。 zhè shì wǒ de. This is mine. – 她喜欢那个红色的车。 tā xǐhuān nàgè hóngsè de chē. She likes that red car.

Q: What are some example sentences for 得?

– 他们跑得很快。 tāmen pǎo de hěn kuài. They run fast. – 他很厉害，他学得很快。 tā hěn lìhài, tā xué de hěn kuài. He is amazing, he learns very fast. – 我玩得开心。 wǒ wán de kāixīn. I had a lot of fun

Q: What are some example sentences for 地?

– 她耐心地说明了 。 tā nàixīn de shuōmíng le. She explained patiently. – 他自信地跟他们说话。 tā zìxìn de gēn tāmen shuōhuà. She confidently spoke to them. – 他们开心地讨论这部电影。 tāmen kāixīn de tǎolùn zhè bù diànyǐng. They happily discussed the movie.

Home HSK 2 Using particle 的, 得 and 地

HOW TO USE 的, 得 AND 地

Have you wanted to write a sentence with “de”, but not known which one to use in which type of sentence?

In this article, we’ll help you understand when to use 的, 得, 地 and the differences between them.

USING 的

The character 的 is used to modify nouns and pronouns and has two main uses:

To show possession
To give descriptions

To show possession

Here, it’s similar to using an apostrophe and s in English (‘s). It also modifies pronouns to possessive pronouns.

With this, you’ll be able to say “my mother”, “his book”, “her cat”, “yours” etc.

PATTERN

Noun/Pronoun + 的 + Noun

^{wǒ de māmā}

我的妈妈。

_{My mother}

^{nǐmen de péngyǒu.}

你们的朋友。

_{Your friend}

View More Phrases

chinese	pinyin	english
他是我的老师。	tā shì wǒ de lǎoshī.	He is my teacher.
你的老板很帅。	nǐ de lǎobǎn hěn shuài.	Your boss is handsome.
这是你的。	zhè shì nǐ de.	This is yours.

To give descriptions

Here, 的 is put after the description and before the noun to show the relationship between the description and the noun.

This is regardless of how long the description is.

The word description here is an umbrella word for adjectives, verbs and phrases; and they have been highlighted in the examples.

PATTERN

Description + 的 + Noun

^{làngmàn de fēngjǐng.}

浪漫的风景。

_{Romantic scenery.}

^{tā xǐhuān mǎi hěn guì de shǒujī.}

他喜欢买很贵的手机。

_{He likes buying expensive phones.}

View More Phrases

Chinese	pinyin	english
他们有可爱的女儿。	tāmen yǒu kě’ài de nǚ’ér.	They have a lovely daughter.
这是他给我的书。	zhè shì tā gěi wǒ de shū.	This is the book he gave me.
去上海的火车已经开了。	qù shànghǎi de huǒchē yǐjīng kāile.	The train going to Shanghai has already left.
她喜欢你写的书。	tā xǐhuān nǐ xiě de shū.	She likes the books that you’ve written.
我们喜欢你昨天买的蛋糕。	wǒmen xǐhuān nǐ zuótiān mǎi de dàngāo.	We like the cake which you bought yesterday.

USING 得

得 is used with complements. There are three ways in which 得 can be used:

After verbs and before adjectives
After verbs and before a result.
After verbs/adjectives and before a result.

After verbs and before adjectives

In this kind of sentence, the adjective (or adverb) is an evaluation of how or how well someone did an action, so you’re making a comment on an action.

With this, you can say “speak well”, “drive fast”, etc. 得 must go directly after the verb so the verb is repeated, especially for verb-object words.

You can understand 得 here as “to the point of being”.

PATTERN

Verb + 得 + Adjective/Adverb

^{tā shuō de hěn hǎo.}

他说得很好。

_{He spoke well.}

^{tā shuō hànyǔ shuō de hěn liúlì.}

她说汉语说得很流利。

_{She speaks Chinese fluently.}

View More Phrases

chinese	pinyin	english
他开得很快。/ 他开车开得很快。	tā kāi de hěn kuài. / Tā kāichē kāi de hěn kuài.	He drives fast.
我今天起得很早。	wǒ jīntiān qǐ de hěn zǎo.	I got up early today.
你跑得很快。	nǐ pǎo de hěn kuài.	You run fast.
你吃得太少了。	nǐ chī de tài shǎole.	You’ve eaten very little.
你睡得好吗？	nǐ shuì de hǎo ma?	Did you sleep well?

After verbs and before a result

得 is used after a verb to indicate whether a result can be achieved. If the result cannot be achieved, 得 is replaced by 不.

PATTERN

Verb + 得 + Resultative Complement

^{zhèlǐ de língshí wǒ dū chī de wán.}

这里的零食我都吃得完。

_{I’m able to eat all the snacks here.}

^{wǒ tīng de dào.}

我听得到。

_{I can hear.}

View More Phrases

chinese	pinyin	english
你能看得见他看见的吗？	nǐ néng kàn dé jiàn tā kànjiàn de ma?	Can you see what he is seeing?
他能跑得快。	tā néng pǎo de kuài.	He is able to run fast.
你洗得干净吗？	nǐ xǐ de gānjìng ma?	Are you able to make it clean?

After verbs/adjectives and before a result

Here, 得 shows that the result is caused by the verb/adjective.

Here, 得 functions a bit like “so…that” or “too..to” because there is a cause and result. The cause is highlighted in the examples.

PATTERN

Verb/Adjective + 得 + Result

CHINESE	PINYIN	ENGLISH
她欢喜得说不出来。	tā huānxǐ de shuō bu chūlái.	She is so delighted that she can’t speak. / She was too delighted to speak.
我冷得睡不着。	wǒ lěng de shuì bùzháo.	It’s so cold that I can’t sleep. / I was too cold to sleep.
我男朋友生气得一句话也说不出来。	wǒ nán péngyǒu shēngqì de yījù huà yě shuō bu chūlái.	My boyfriend is so angry that he can’t say a word. / My boyfriend was too angry to say a word.
这件衣服是他洗得干净的。	zhè jiàn yīfú shì tā xǐ de gānjìng de.	He is the one who washed this cloth (and made it clean.)

USING 地

地 is an adverbial marker, meaning that is used after adverbial modifiers and before a verb.

The adverbial modifiers are generally adjectives. The adjectives are used to describe and put emphasis on how someone or something performs an action.

In some cases, 地 is equivalent to adding “-ly” to adjectives, making words like “fluently”, “quickly”, etc.

PATTERN

Adverbial Modifier + 地 + Verb

^{tāmen hěn kuài de pǎo.}

他们很快地跑。

_{They run quickly.}

^{tā gāoxìng de gàosù wǒ.}

她高兴地告诉我。

_{She happily told me.}

View More Phrases

chinese	pinyin	english
我们都在认真地学习。	wǒmen dōu zài rènzhēn de xuéxí.	We’re all studying hard.
他自信地跟他们说话。	tā zìxìn de gēn tāmen shuōhuà.	He confidently spoke to them.
她耐心地说明了。	tā nàixīn de shuōmíng le.	She explained patiently.

COMPARATIVE SUMMARY

Here, you’ll look at 的, 得, and 地 side by side and compare how each can be used.

The examples align with the number under the usage to give you an idea of how each structure is used.

的	得	地
的 is used before a noun to show possession and give descriptions. 1) Nouns/Pronouns + 的 + Noun 2) Adjectives + 的 + Noun 3) Verbs + 的 + Noun 4) Descriptive phrases + 的 + Noun	得 is used with complements. 1) Verb + 得 + Adjective 2) Verb + 得 + Resultative complement 3) Verb/Adjective + 得 + Result	地 is used to describe and emphasise how an action is performed. Adverbial modifier + 地 + Verb
1) 我的狗。 My dog. 2) 漂亮的衣服。Beautiful clothes. 3) 吃的东西。Things to eat. 4) 我喜欢的人。The person I like.	1) 开车开得很快。Drive fast. 2) 听得懂。(Listen and) Understand. 3) 笑得停不下来 Can’t stop laughing.	– 他们开心地讨论这部电影。They happily discussed the movie. – 很快地跑。Run quickly – 高兴地跳。Jump happily

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FAQs

What is the sentence structure for 的?

的 is used before a noun to show possession and give descriptions. The noun before 的 describes the noun after 的. These are the sentence structures:

1) Nouns/Pronouns + 的 + Noun

2) Adjectives + 的 + Noun

3) Verbs + 的 + Noun

4) Descriptive phrases + 的 + Noun

What is the sentence structure for 得?

得 is used with complements. These are the sentence structures:

1) Verb + 得 + Adjective

2) Verb + 得 + Resultative complement

3) Verb/Adjective + 得 + Result

What is the sentence structure for 地?

地 is used to describe and emphasise how an action is performed. This is the sentence structure:

Adverbial modifier + 地 + Verb

What are some example sentences for 的?

– 我的爸爸很高。

wǒ de bàba hěn gāo.

My father is tall.

– 这是我的。

zhè shì wǒ de.

This is mine.

– 她喜欢那个红色的车。

tā xǐhuān nàgè hóngsè de chē.

She likes that red car.

What are some example sentences for 得?

– 他们跑得很快。

tāmen pǎo de hěn kuài.

They run fast.

– 他很厉害，他学得很快。

tā hěn lìhài, tā xué de hěn kuài.

He is amazing, he learns very fast.

– 我玩得开心。

wǒ wán de kāixīn.

I had a lot of fun

What are some example sentences for 地?

– 她耐心地说明了。

tā nàixīn de shuōmíng le.

She explained patiently.

– 他自信地跟他们说话。

tā zìxìn de gēn tāmen shuōhuà.

She confidently spoke to them.

– 他们开心地讨论这部电影。

tāmen kāixīn de tǎolùn zhè bù diànyǐng.

They happily discussed the movie.

Chinese Grammar Bank

HOW TO USE 的, 得 AND 地

USING 的

To show possession

PATTERN

To give descriptions

PATTERN

USING 得

After verbs and before adjectives

PATTERN

After verbs and before a result

PATTERN

After verbs/adjectives and before a result

PATTERN

USING 地

PATTERN

COMPARATIVE SUMMARY

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