The Construction

Exercises

Other terminology: complement marker, complement of degree

Including notes on differences between the construction and affirmative potential verb complements (v + + resultative complement).

1. When do I use the construction?

The construction can be used in the following three situations.

(1) When you want to describe customary actions. In other words, when you want to say how somebody usually does something. For instance,

tā zú qiú tī de hĕn hăotā păo de fēicháng kuài

他足 得很 . 非常.

HE FOOTBALL KICK DE VERY WELL SHE RUN DE EXTREMELY FAST

He plays football very well. She runs extremely fast.

(2) The construction can also be used to describe the result of a particular action. Usually a time word (time when) is placed before or after the subject of the sentence, to indicate the action has already taken place. For instance,

zóutiān wănshang wŏ nán péngyouzhōngguófàn zuò de hĕn hăo

朋友 .

YESTERDAY EVENING MY MALE FRIEND CHINESE MEAL COOK DE VERY WELL

My boyfriend cooked Chinese meal very well yesterday evening.

(3) They can be used to express the effect of an action and the degree of a stative verb (verb to be + adjective). For instance,

tā shuō de dàjiā dōu kū le

得大家 .

SHE SAY DE EVERYBODY ALL CRY LE

She spoke to the extent that everybody cried. "Everybody cried" is the effect of what she had said.

zhōngwénnán de wŏmen dōu bù xiăng xué le

中文 得我们 .

CHINESE DIFFICULT DE WE ALL NOT WANT LEARN LE

Chinese is so difficult that we don't want to learn any more. "We don't want to learn any more" tells us how difficult the Chinese language is.

tā máng de méi you shíjiān chī fàn

她忙 时间 .

SHE BUSY DE NOT HAVE TIME EAT MEAL

She is so busy that she doesn't have time to eat. "She doesn't have time to eat" tells us how busy she is.

As you can see from the above examples, when a stative verb is used in the construction, it is often translated as: so (stative verb) to the extent that ...

2. How many different ways can I form the construction?

The most important thing in a construction is that verbs should always be placed before . If a verb is in a pattern of verb-object, then the verb should be separated from the object. For example, if 睡觉 (to sleep) is used in the construction it can be formed in the following four ways:

(1) You must repeat the verb.

s. v- o. v. de adv.

I

shuì jiào

SLEEP JIAO

shuì de hĕn hăo

SLEEPDE VERY WELL

I sleep very well.

(2) It sounds less repetitive if you omit the first verb of the above sentence:

s. o. v. de adv.

I

jiào

JIAO

shuì de hĕn hăo

SLEEP DE VERY WELL

(3) If you want to emphasize the object of the sentence, then the object can be placed at the beginning of the sentence and it will be:

o. s . v. de adv.

jiào

JIAO

I

shuì de hĕn hăo

SLEEP DE VERY WELL

(4) If the object of the sentence is clear to listeners, which it is in this case, you can just simply say:

s. v. de adv.

I

shuì de hĕn hăo

SLEEP DE VERY WELL

3. What is the negative form for the construction?

The negative form for the construction is . is not used, except when the construction is used in the construction. should be placed before adverbs and after , but not before verbs, except when the construction is used in comparatives ( sentences)

s. o. v. de neg. adv. [description ]

HE

hànyǔ

CHINESE

shuō de bu hăo

SPEAKDE NOT GOOD

[A normal negative sentence]

He doesn't speak Chinese well.

s. neg. / o. v. de adv. [description ]

HE

méi bă fángjiān

NOTBA ROOM

zhĕnglĭ de gāngānjìngjìng

得干干 净净

TIDY DE CLEAN

[A negative sentence with the construction]

He didn't tidy the room properly.

YOU

bu bĭ wŏ

比我

NOT BI I

păo de kuài

RUN DE FAST

[A negative sentence with the construction.]

You don't run faster than I do.

4. Is the particle for completed actions used in the construction?

No, for completed actions cannot be used, but time words can be used to indicate the action has already been completed. For example,

wŏ xiăo shíhou rìyŭ shuō de hĕn liúlì

时候 日语 流利.

I LITTLETIME JAPANESE SPEAK DE VERY FLUENT

I spoke Japanese very fluently when I was little.

If a appears in the construction, it usually indicates a change of situation.

tā yĭjīng hē de hĕn duō le

已经 .

HE ALREADY DRINK DE VERY MUCH LE

He has already drunk too much. (It implies that he should not drink any more.)

5. I find it difficult to distinguish the construction from potential verb complements. How can I tell which is which?

The construction and potential complements serve different purposes, although the word order of these sentence constructions is similar. Sometimes they can be very confusing, especially when those stative verbs which can also be used as resultative complements (such as , 清楚 and ) are involved. For example, the following sentence is ambiguous in meaning.

jīntiān tā xiĕ de hăo ma

今天 ?

TODAY HE WRITE DEWELL MA / BE ABLE FINISH MA

1. Did he write well today? (The construction) / 2. Can he finish writing today? (Potential complement)

An adverbial group in the construction is usually formed by an adverb + stative verb as a combined adverb to differentiate it from a potential verb complement which is just a stative verb. Let’s answer the above question in two different ways.

1. in the construction (the complement of degree):

jīntiān tā xiĕ de hĕn hăo

.

TODAY HE WRITE DE VERY WELL

He wrote (very) well today.

2. used in potential complement:

jīntiān tā xiĕ de hăo

今天 .

TODAYHE WRITE BE ABLE FINISH

He can finish writing (it) today.

6. Do I always need to indicate the degree of complement?

No, not always. Colloquially, some single-syllable adverbs, such as ,,,,,,,, and 便宜, can be placed after verbs without . In many ways they are similar to resultative complements. is often placed at the end of these sentences to indicate excessiveness and change of situation as in

tā hē (de tài) duō le

(得太) .

HE DRINK (DE TOO) MUCH LE

He has drunk too much.

xiăo wáng lái (de tài) wăn le

( )

XIAO WANG COME (DE TOO) LATE LE

Xiao Wang came too late. / Xiao Wang came late.

tā păo (de tài) kuài le

( )

HE RUN (DE TOO) FAST LE

He has run too fast. / He is running faster (than before).

yīfu zuò (de tài) dà le

衣服 ( )

CLOTHES MAKE (DE TOO) BIG LE

The clothes have been made too big.

shū mài (de tài) guì le

( ) .

BOOK SELL (DE TOO) EXPENSIVE LE

The books have been sold at too high a price.

7. Where can I place 一点儿 and 一些 in the construction?

一点儿 and 一些 should be placed after the adverbial groups in the construction.

qĭng nĭ shuō de màn yì diănr

点儿.

COULD YOU SPEAK DE SLOWA LITTLE BIT

Could you speak slowly.

Or colloquially, you can leave out and say:

qĭng nĭ shuō màn yì diănr

点儿.

8. What is the difference between "请你说得慢一点儿." and "请你慢一点儿说."

Please see the notes on “The differences between constructions and constructions” in “The construction”

Exercises

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Translate the following sentences into Chinese.

Change the following affirmative sentences into negative ones.

1. We went to stay at Xiao Wang's place last week, but we didn't have a good time at all.

2. My friend's teacher teaches French extremely well.

3. The shop on the corner sells Chinese wine very cheaply.

4. Last night she sang so badly that everybody left before she could finish her first song.

5. She heard that Mr. Li was much better. She was so happy that she forgot to eat her meal.

6. Lao Zhang has become so fat that I can hardly recognize him.

7. Xiao Ding tidies his room neatly every Friday. That is because his girlfriend visits him every weekend.

8. Yesterday we set off too late so we missed the beginning of the film.

Translate the following sentences, then make them negative.

1. 我们老师讲语法总是讲得非常清楚.

2. 昨天晚上我睡得香极了.

3. 那个姑娘好看得男人都想跟她作朋友.

4. 他把他同学都吓得跑走了.