Mandarin · Chapter 10 · Lesson 11 · Grammar primer
Complements of direction, degree, and manner
得 + adjective for manner (跑得快, 说得好), directional complements (进去, 出来, 回来), degree complements, and how Mandarin attaches a result to a verb.
The short version
Say the verb twice when an object is in the way
Manner lives in a complement after 得 (de), not in an adverb: 他跑得很快 (tā pǎo de hěn kuài). But 得 (de) insists on sitting right behind the verb, so when the verb already has an object you repeat the verb to make room. 他说中文说得好 (tā shuō zhōng wén shuō de hǎo), not 他说中文得好 (tā shuō zhōng wén de hǎo).
他说中文说得好。 Tā shuō zhōng wén shuō de hǎo.
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