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Mandarin grammar Part of Chapter 8

CEFR A2-B1

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Test yourself (20 questions)

Mandarin Complements: 得, Direction and Result After a Verb

By Michael McGettrick and Wee Khang LinUpdated 12 October 2026

A complement is a word after the verb that says how, which way, or with what result. English uses adverbs and little words like "in" and "up"; Mandarin puts the same information straight after the verb.

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Tap the natural Mandarin.

  1. He runs fast.

  2. He speaks Chinese very well.

  3. He doesn't run fast.

The whole system on one screen

The colours stay the same all page long:

得 de (how it is done)来 or 去 (which way)the resulthow muchWhat do the colours mean?
TypeHanziPinyinEnglish
Manner。Tā pǎo de hěn kuàiHe runs fast
Direction。Qǐng jìnlái.Please come in
Degree！Tài guì le!Too dear!
Result。Wǒ chīwán leI've finished eating

Each type is one slot after the verb. The sections below take them one at a time.

Manner: verb + 得 (de) + adjective

得 de (how it is done)What do the colours mean?

To say how well, how fast or how clearly something is done, put (de) after the verb and the description after (de):

HanziPinyinEnglish
。Tā pǎo de hěn kuàiHe runs fast
。Tā shuō de hěn hǎo.She speaks well
。Wǒ chī de hěn màn.I eat slowly
。Tā pǎo de bú kuài.He doesn't run fast
？Tā pǎo de kuài ma?Does he run fast?
Four panels, each person in the middle of an action: a woman with long hair and a bow reads an open book; a man with a moustache stirs a steaming pot on the stove; a boy runs, arms swinging; a girl with pigtails talks on the phone, with sound waves and a speech bubble.

他跑得很快 tā pǎo de hěn kuài: he runs fast.

The (hěn) is the usual filler, as with any adjective. A bare (tā pǎo de kuài) can sound like half a comparison, as in ， (tā pǎo de kuài, wǒ pǎo de màn), he runs fast, I run slowly.

The negative (bù) goes after (de), on the description: (tā pǎo de bú kuài), never .

This (de) is one of three particles all said "de". (de) joins a noun, (de) an adverb, and (de) a description after a verb: the three de.

With an object: say the verb twice

得 de (how it is done)What do the colours mean?

(de) must sit right behind the verb, so an object gets in the way. Say the verb once with its object, then again with (de):

Subject
Verb + object
Verb again
得 + how
HanziPinyinEnglish
。Tā shuō Zhōngwén shuō de hěn hǎo.He speaks Chinese very well
。Tā Zhōngwén shuō de hěn hǎo.He speaks Chinese very well
。Tā xiě zì xiě de hěn piàoliang.He writes characters beautifully

The second row is the shortcut: drop the first verb and put the object up front. Both are everyday Mandarin.

Direction: 来 (lái) and 去 (qù) after the verb

来 or 去 (which way)What do the colours mean?

(lái) after a verb points towards the speaker; (qù) points away. Joined to (jìn, in), (chū, out), (huí, back), (shàng, up) and (xià, down), they make a set of pairs:

HanziPinyinEnglish
jìnláicome in
jìnqùgo in
chūláicome out
chūqùgo out
huíláicome back
huíqùgo back
shàngláicome up
xiàqùgo down

In speech the (lái) or (qù) is usually light and toneless: jìnlai, chūqu.

Where you stand decides. Inside the room you say (qǐng jìnlái), come in; outside it, (wǒ jìnqù kànkan), I'll go in and have a look.

The pairs also go after an action verb, to say which way it moves:

HanziPinyinEnglish
。Tā zǒu chūqù le.He walked out
。Tā pǎo shànglái le.He ran up (to me)
。Nǐ dài huílái ba.Bring it back

With a place, the place goes before (lái) or (qù): (huí jiā qù), go back home. The longer patterns are on compound directional complements.

Degree: 太 (tài)…了 (le) and 极了 (jí le)

how muchWhat do the colours mean?

Two everyday frames say how strongly an adjective holds. (tài)… (le) is "too" or "so"; (jí le) after an adjective is "extremely":

HanziPinyinEnglish
！Tài guì le!Too dear! / So dear!
。Wǒ tài lèi le.I'm so tired
。Tā pǎo de tài kuài le.He runs too fast
！Hǎo jí le!Brilliant!

Strictly, (tài) is an adverb before the adjective, not a complement after it; textbooks file it with degree because of the (le) that closes it. (jí le) is a true complement. More strong forms are on intensified adjectives.

… (tài… le) is on the AQA GCSE Chinese specification at Foundation and Higher tier, with complements of manner, direction and degree.

Result: 完 (wán), 到 (dào), 懂 (dǒng), 见 (jiàn)

the resultWhat do the colours mean?

A result word goes straight onto the verb, with no (de), and says how the action ended:

HanziPinyinEnglish
。Wǒ chīwán le.I've finished eating
。Wǒ zhǎodào le.I've found it
。Wǒ tīngdǒng le.I understood (what I heard)
。Wǒ kànjiàn tā le.I saw him

(zhǎo) is only "look for"; (zhǎodào) is "find". (kàn) is "look"; (kànjiàn) is "see". The result word is what turns trying into succeeding.

When the result did not happen, use (méi): (wǒ méi tīngdǒng), I didn't understand. (wǒ tīng bu dǒng), I can't understand, is the "can't" form, on resultative complements.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
。。say the verb again before (de)
。。 (de) sits right behind the verb
。。 (bù) goes after (de)
。。they sound the same, and (de) here is a common slip even in native writing, but standard written Chinese uses (de)
。。a result that didn't happen takes (méi)

What to do next

  1. Do the drill below.
  2. Say how you do three things: … (wǒ shuō Zhōngwén shuō de…).
  3. Then read resultative complements for the full set of result words.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/4

Tap the natural Mandarin.

  1. He runs fast.

  2. He speaks Chinese very well.

  3. He doesn't run fast.

  4. Please come in. (said by someone inside)

Spot the mistake

0/3

Each sentence has one mistake. Tap it.

  1. tā shuō de zhōng wén hěn hǎo 。

  2. wǒ bù tīng dǒng 。

  3. tā bù pǎo de kuài 。

Sort into groups

0/6

What does the word after the verb add?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Put the words in order

0/2

Put the words in order.

  1. She sings very well.

    Your sentence is empty.

  2. I finished eating.

    Your sentence is empty.

Matching

0/5

Match each phrase to its English.

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Frequently asked questions

What is a complement in Mandarin grammar?
A word or phrase after the verb that adds how, which way or with what result: (tā pǎo de hěn kuài), he runs fast; (jìnlái), come in; (chīwán), finish eating. Mandarin puts this after the verb where English uses an adverb or a little word like 'in' or 'up'.
How do you use (de) to say how well someone does something?
Verb + (de) + description: (tā shuō de hěn hǎo), she speaks well. With an object, say the verb twice or put the object first: (tā shuō Zhōngwén shuō de hěn hǎo) or (tā Zhōngwén shuō de hěn hǎo).
How do you make a (de) complement negative?
Put (bù) after (de), before the adjective: (tā pǎo de bú kuài), he doesn't run fast. is wrong. A yes/no question works the same way: ？ (tā pǎo de kuài ma?).
What is the difference between (jìnlái) and (jìnqù)?
(lái) points towards the speaker, (qù) away. Someone inside the room says (qǐng jìnlái), come in; someone outside says (wǒ jìnqù kànkan), I'll go in and have a look.
How do you say 'I didn't understand' in Mandarin?
Use (méi) before the verb and its result: (wǒ méi tīngdǒng), I didn't understand. (wǒ tīng bu dǒng) is different: I can't understand, it's beyond me. The resultative complements page covers both.