Mandarin · Chapter 16 · Lesson 5 · Grammar primer

The three de: 的, 得, 地

Three homophones, three jobs. 的 links a modifier to a following noun (红的车, 我买的书); 得 hangs a complement off a verb or adjective (跑得快, 高兴得跳起来); 地 turns a description into the manner of a following verb (慢慢地走, 高兴地说). The position test for each and why defaulting to 的 for all three is the classic error.

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