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<h1 id="complement-of-degree-得">Complement of degree 得</h1>
<p>The complement degree construction is commonly used in the following situations.</p>
<ol style="list-style-type: decimal">
<li>To describe habitual actions. In other words, it is used to describe how someone normally does - something.</li>
<li>To describe the result of a particular action.</li>
<li>To describe the extent of a stative verb.</li>
</ol>
<p>得 de is always preceded by a verb. It is important to remember that when you use a verb which is in the verb-object form, you must make sure that the verb (but not the object) is placed before 得 de. Because of this, a verb is often repeated in the first part of a complement of degree construction.</p>
<p>For instance:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>s</th>
<th>v-o / topic</th>
<th>v</th>
<th>得</th>
<th>adv</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>我</td>
<td>游 泳</td>
<td>游</td>
<td>得</td>
<td>很 快。</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>wŏ</td>
</td>yóu yŏng</td>
<td>yóu</td>
<td>de</td>
<td>hěn kuài</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>I swim very quickly.</p>
<p>As you may know, 游泳 yóuyŏng is a verb in the V-O form, in other words, 泳 yŏng is a noun, so it should not be placed before 得 de. In spoken Chinese, people often omit the object of a V-O phrase when using the complement of degree construction. If the V-O (topic) is clear to listeners, the topic can be omitted.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>s</th>
<th>v-o / topic</th>
<th>v</th>
<th>得</th>
<th>adv</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>我</td>
<td></td>
<td>游</td>
<td>得</td>
<td>很快。</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>wŏ</td>
<td></td>
<td>yóu</td>
<td>de</td>
<td>hěn kuài</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>I swim very quickly.</p>
<p>不 bú, the negation for the complement of degree is placed before adverbs.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>s</th>
<th>v-o / topic</th>
<th>v</th>
<th>得</th>
<th>不 adv</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>我</td>
<td>游泳</td>
<td>得</td>
<td>很</td>
<td>不 快。</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>wŏ</td>
<td>yóu yŏng</td>
<td>de</td>
<td>hěn</td>
<td>bú kuài</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>I don't swimming quickly.</p>
<p>Sometimes the verb in the topic is omitted to avoid repetition, and the object of the sentence can be placed before the verb.</p>
<p>For instance:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>s</th>
<th>v-o / topic</th>
<th>v</th>
<th>得</th>
<th>adv</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>她</td>
<td>中 国 菜</td>
<td>作</td>
<td>得</td>
<td>真 不 错。</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>tā</td>
<td>zhōngguó cài</td>
<td>zuò</td>
<td>de</td>
<td>zhēn búcuò</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>She cooks Chinese meal really well.</p>
<p>The above examples describe habitual actions. When the complement of degree is used to describe the outcome of a particular completed action, a time word is needed, as a verb that is placed before 得 de cannot take the aspect particle 了 le.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>tw</th>
<th>s</th>
<th>v-o / topic</th>
<th>v</th>
<th>得</th>
<th>adv</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>昨 天 晚 上</td>
<td>她</td>
<td>中 国 菜</td>
<td>作</td>
<td>得</td>
<td>真 不 错。</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>zuótiān wănshang</td>
<td>tā</td>
<td>zhōngguó cài</td>
<td>zuò</td>
<td>de</td>
<td>zhēn búcuò</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>She cooked a Chinese meal really well last night.</p>
<p>However, the aspect 了 le does not affect verbs that are used to describe the outcome of actions. In other words, verbs that are placed after 得de can still take aspect 了 le.</p>
<p>For example:</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>s</th>
<th>sv</th>
<th>得</th>
<th>degree</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>小 王</td>
<td>难 过</td>
<td>得</td>
<td>哭了 两 天。</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Xiǎo Wáng</td>
<td>nánguò</td>
<td>de</td>
<td>kūle liǎngtiān</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Xiao Wang was so sad that she cried for two days.</p>
<p>As you may have noticed, aspect 了 le is used for the verb to cry in the clause that describes the stative verb 难过 nánguò to be sad. The above example illustrates the fact that the 得 de construction can also be used to describe the extent of the stative verb. For instance,</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>s</th>
<th>sv</th>
<th>得</th>
<th>degree</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>中 文</td>
<td>难</td>
<td>得</td>
<td>我 们 都 不 想 学 了。</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Zhōng wén</td>
<td>nán</td>
<td>de</td>
<td>wŏmén dōu bù xiăng xué le</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Chinese is so difficult that we don’t want to learn it any more!</p>
<p>In the above sentence, the phrase 我们都不想学了 wŏmén dōu bù xiăng xué le we don’t want to learn it any more describes the extent of the difficulty.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>s</th>
<th>sv</th>
<th>得</th>
<th>degree</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>我们</td>
<td>忙</td>
<td>得</td>
<td><span class="hanzi">每 天 都 不 睡 觉 。</span></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>wŏmen</td>
<td>máng</td>
<td>de</td>
<td>měitiān dōu bù shuìjiào</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>We are so busy that we don’t even sleep a single day.</p>
<p>The phrase we don’t even sleep a single day describes the extent of the matter.</p>
<p>Assignments</p>
<p>Frequently asked questions Click on the following links to view the answers When do I use the 得 construction?</p>
<ol style="list-style-type: decimal">
<li>How many different ways can I form the 得 construction?</li>
<li>What is the negative form for the 得 construction?</li>
<li>Is the particle 了 for completed actions used in the 得 construction?</li>
<li>I find it difficult to distinguish the 得 construction from potential verb complements. How can I tell which is which?</li>
<li>Do I always need 得 to indicate the degree of complement?</li>
<li>Where can I place 一点儿 and 一些 in the 得 construction?</li>
<li>What is the difference between &quot;请你说得慢一点儿.&quot; and &quot;请你慢一点儿说.&quot;</li>
</ol>