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Degree complement
=================
[](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/ASG79STE)
-
Level
[B1](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/B1_grammar_points)
-
Similar to
- [Direction
complement](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Direction_complement) (B1)
- [Advanced degree
complements](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Advanced_degree_complements) (B2)
-
Used for
[Expressing
degree](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_degree)
-
Keywords
[得](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/%E5%BE%97)
[{width="300"
height="300"}](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/File:Chinese-grammar-wiki-de-2.jpg)
Contents
--------
[hide]([# "wikilink")\]
- [1 When to use
it](#When_to_use_it "wikilink")
- [2 Basic
Pattern](#Basic_Pattern "wikilink")
- [2.1
Structure](#Structure "wikilink")
- [2.2
Examples](#Examples "wikilink")
- [3 Descriptive
and State
Complements](#Descriptive_and_State_Complements "wikilink")
- [4 Degree
Complements with
Objects](#Degree_Complements_with_Objects "wikilink")
- [5 Degree
Complements Following
Adjectives](#Degree_Complements_Following_Adjectives "wikilink")
- [5.1 Common
Patterns](#Common_Patterns "wikilink")
- [5.2
Examples](#Examples_2 "wikilink")
- [6 Compared
with Potential
Complements](#Compared_with_Potential_Complements "wikilink")
- [7
References](#References "wikilink")
- [8 See
also](#See_also "wikilink")
- [9 Sources and
further reading](#Sources_and_further_reading "wikilink")
- [9.1
Books](#Books "wikilink")
- [9.2
Websites](#Websites "wikilink")
- 你们 觉得 我 画 *得 怎么样* ？The complement is
used to ask "how well I draw."Nǐmen
juéde wǒ huà *de zěnmeyàng*?
- 我们 觉得 你 画 *得 很 好* 。The complement tells
us that "I draw very well."Wǒmen juéde
nǐ huà *de hěn hǎo*.
- 他 英语 说 *得 怎么样* ？ The complement is used
to ask "how well he speaks English."Tā
Yīngyǔ shuō *de zěnmeyàng*?
- 他 英语 说 *得 一般* 。 The complement tells us
that "His English is average."Tā Yīngyǔ
shuō *de yībān*.
Basic Pattern
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Instead of using the good old standby adverbs 很 and 非常, we can use
all kinds of degree complements to spice up our adjective.
### Structure
Verb + 得 + \[Degree Complement\]
### Examples
- 你 做 *得 不错* 。Nǐ zuò *de
bùcuò*.You're doing a great job.
- 孩子们 学 *得 挺 快 的* 。Háizi men xué *de
tǐng kuài de*.The kids are learning
fast.
- 我 吃 *得 太 饱了* 。Wǒ chī *de tài bǎo
le*.I'm stuffed.
- 你们 谈 *得 顺利* 吗 ？Nǐmen tán *de shùnlì*
ma?Did your conversation go well?
- 她 长 *得 还可以* 。Tā zhǎng *de hái
kěyǐ*.She is all right-looking.
Descriptive and State Complements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not every aspect of Chinese grammar is agreed upon in the world of
academia, and this is the case with degree complements, [descriptive
complements](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Descriptive_complement),
and [state
complements](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/State_complement).
Some scholars hold that the three are distinct, while others posit
they're all just types of degree complements. Still, others maintain
that degree complements are one, and descriptive complements and state
complements are also one.
Here's how a professor of Chinese at Yale puts
it^[\[1](#cite_note-1 "wikilink")\]^:
> Generally speaking, the complement of degree is a grammatical unit
> that describes the main verb of the sentence. Specifically, the
> complement of degree is an assessment of an action or a description of
> the consequential state of an action. It may also be a description of
> the degree of a state.
Okayyy, so it sounds like descriptions and states are all degree
complements? That's one of the views on the issue.
None of these classifications truly matters though: the key is
*understanding* them and *using* complements correctly to express
yourself in Chinese. (This is already difficult without adding in
unnecessary academic distinctions!)
Degree Complements with Objects
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Both adding a complement to a verb with an object and adding an
objective to a verb with a complement complicate a sentence in Mandarin,
because *a single verb cannot be followed by both an object and a
complement*. In order to get all three pieces of information into a
grammatically correct Chinese sentence, there are two approaches to
take:
Approach \#1: Repeat the Verb
- 你 **说** 中文 **说** *得 很 好* 。Nǐ **shuō**
Zhōngwén **shuō** *de hěn hǎo*.You speak
Chinese well. (lit. You speak Chinese speak it well.)
Make sure that the object comes after the first instance of the verb,
and the complement after the second.
Approach \#2: Move the Object to the Front
- 你 的 **中文** 说 *得 很 好* 。Nǐ de
**Zhōngwén** shuō *de hěn hǎo*.You speak
Chinese well. (lit. You Chinese speak well.)
Just to be completely clear, the following sentences are both
*incorrect*:
- 你 **说** 中文 *很 好* 。Nǐ shuō **Zhōngwén**
*hěn hǎo*.
- 你 **说** 中文 *得 很 好* 。Nǐ shuō
**Zhōngwén** *de hěn hǎo*.
A few more examples:
- 你 **做** 菜 **做** *得 很 好* 。Nǐ **zuò** cài
**zuò** *de hěn hǎo*.You cook very
well.
- 你 的 **菜** 做 *得 很 好* 。Nǐ de **cài** zuò
*de hěn hǎo*.You cook very well.
- 你 **写** 字 **写** *得 很 漂亮* 。Nǐ **xiě**
zì **xiě** *de hěn piàoliang*.Your
handwriting is beautiful.
- 你 的 **字** 写 *得 很 漂亮* 。Nǐ de **zì** xiě
*de hěn piàoliang*.Your handwriting is
beautiful.
Degree Complements Following Adjectives
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
### Common Patterns
There are three especially common degree complements which can follow
adjectives immediately and are *not* preceded by a 得:
1. [极了](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Adjectives_with_%22-ji_le%22)
(like 好), indicating an extremely high degree.
2. [死了](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Negative_adjectives_with_%22-si_le%22)
usually comes after adjectives with negative connotations (like 忙,
累, 臭, 难看) and are commonly used to exaggerate the degree of how
bad something is. In recent years, however, 死了 also comes after
adjectives with positive connotations.
3. Figuratively,
[坏了](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/%E5%9D%8F%E4%BA%86)
is a bit like the complement
[死了](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Negative_adjectives_with_%22-si_le%22)
and can be used to mean "extremely" in either a positive or a
negative sense.
### Examples
- 味道 **好** *极了* 。Wèidào **hǎo** *jí
le*.The taste is amazing.
- 这里 的 天气 **舒服** *极了* 。Zhèlǐ de tiānqì
**shūfu** *jíle*.The weather here is so
comfortable.
- 他 的 袜子 **臭** *死了* 。Tā de wàzi **chòu**
*sǐ le*.His socks totally reek.
- 小狗 **可爱** *死了* 。Xiǎogǒu **kě'ài** *sǐ
le*.The puppy is so adorable!
- 老师 说 今天 没有 作业 ，我们 都 **高兴** *坏 了*
。Lǎoshī shuō jīntiān méiyǒu zuòyè, wǒmen dōu
**gāoxìng** *huài le*.The teacher said
there's no homework for today, which thrilled us all.
- 找 不 到 孩子 ，妈妈 **急** *坏 了* 。Zhǎo bu
dào háizi, māma **jí** *huài le*.Having
not found the child, the mother was extremely anxious.
Note that 死 can also act as a [result
complement](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Result_complement).
In the examples above, however, it merely indicates an extreme degree
(no actual deaths involved!).
Compared with Potential Complements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some sentences that contain adjective complements may be
indistinguishable as degree or potential complements when they are taken
out of context. The following table explains different meanings that one
complement phrase could have as either a degree or potential.
Example Degree Complement Translation Potential Complement Translation
-------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
她说得很清楚 "She speaks very clearly." "She is able to speak very clearly."
他做得非常快 "He does it very fast." "He is able to do it very fast."
他们唱得很好 "They sing very well." "They are able to sing very well."
: Examples of complement phrases that can serve as both degree and
potential complements
Degree complements commonly are directly preceded by an adverb
(她说得很清楚) distinguishing them from potential complements which are
never directly preceded by an adverb.
References
-----------------------------------------------------------
1.
[Categories](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Special:Categories):
- [B1 grammar
points](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Category:B1_grammar_points)
- [Complements](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Category:Complements)
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