Mandarin Complements: 得 for Manner, Directional Endings, and How to Attach a Result to a Verb
Complement type 1: manner with 得 (de)
Pattern: verb + (de) + adjective. Describes HOW the action is done.
- 他跑快。 (Tā pǎo de kuài.) - He runs fast.
- 她说好。 (Tā shuō de hǎo.) - She speaks well.
- 我吃慢。 (Wǒ chī de màn.) - I eat slowly.
- 他写字写很漂亮。 (Tā xiě zì xiě de hěn piào liang.) - He writes characters beautifully.
The 得 (de) here is a different character from the 的 (possessive / modifier particle) and from the 地 (adverbial particle). Three particles, all pronounced 'de' in neutral tone, all different jobs. The complement 得 (de) is the one that attaches a descriptor to a verb.
Word order quirk: object splits the verb
When the verb has an OBJECT, things get fiddly. You can't just stuff the object before 得 (de); you have to repeat the verb.
- 他说中文说好。 (Tā shuō zhōng wén shuō de hǎo.) - He speaks Chinese well.
- 我写字写很慢。 (Wǒ xiě zì xiě de hěn màn.) - I write characters very slowly.
The verb appears twice: once with its object, once leading into the complement. The alternative is to topicalise the object: 中文他说得很好 (Chinese, he speaks it well).
The 得 (de) complement takes a 很 (hěn)
The adjective in the 得 (de) slot follows the same rule as a predicate adjective: bare-adjective forms feel too sparse, so 很 (hěn) fills the slot.
- 他跑得快 (a bit terse, almost evaluative)
- 他跑得快 (the neutral form)
- 他跑得不快 (the negative; 很 (hěn) drops out, replaced by 不 (bù))
If you want to actually intensify, swap 很 (hěn) for 非常 (fēi cháng) or 真 (zhēn): 他跑得非常快 (he runs really fast).
Complement type 2: direction
Movement verbs (来 (lái), 去 (qù), 上 (shàng), 下 (xià), 进 (jìn), 出 (chū), 回 (huí), 过 (guò), 起 (qǐ)) compound to mark the direction of motion. The compound sits AFTER the main verb.
| Compound | Pinyin | Direction | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| lái | toward speaker | - he's coming | |
| qù | away from speaker | - he's going | |
| jìn lái | come in | - please come in | |
| jìn qù | go in | - I'll go in and look | |
| chū lái | come out | - he came out | |
| chū qù | go out | - he went out | |
| huí lái | come back | - he came back | |
| huí qù | go back | - let's go back | |
| shàng lái | come up | - come up | |
| xià qù | go down | - I'm going down |
These compounds attach to other verbs too, layering direction onto an action. The full pattern is main verb + direction compound + (object / aspect).
- 拿 (ná jìn lái) - bring (it) in
- 走 (zǒu chū qù) - walk out
- 跑 (pǎo shàng lái) - run up (here)
- 带 (dài huí lái) - bring (it) back
The structure is more flexible than English: you can stack the direction precisely. 'Bring the book back here' is 把书带回来 (bǎ shū dài huí lái) - lit. take-book-carry-back-toward.
Complement type 3: degree
A handful of fixed expressions attach a degree to an adjective. Foundation-tier inventory:
- 太… (tài…le) - too / so. 太贵了 (too expensive), 太累了 (so tired).
- 真 (zhēn) - genuinely. 真好 (genuinely good), 真漂亮 (truly beautiful).
- 多 (duō) before adjectives in questions. 多大? (how old/big?), 多远? (how far?).
These don't use 得 (de); they're prefix-style intensifiers that go BEFORE the adjective. The bigger degree-complement system using 得 (e.g. 得多 (dé duō), 极了 (jí le), 不得了 (bù de liǎo)) sits at Higher tier and gets its own treatment when you get there.
Resultative complements (Higher-tier flag)
A whole separate pattern marks the RESULT of a verb, using compound verbs like 看见 (see-perceive = manage to see), 听懂 (listen-understand = understand), 找到 (look-arrive = manage to find). Their negative form inserts 不 (bù) in the middle: 看不见 (can't see), 听不懂 (can't understand), 找不到 (can't find).
- 我看见了。 (Wǒ kàn jiàn le.) - I saw (it).
- 我看不见。 (Wǒ kàn bú jiàn.) - I can't see.
- 我听懂了。 (Wǒ tīng dǒng le.) - I understood.
- 我听不懂。 (Wǒ tīng bù dǒng.) - I can't understand.
These are Higher-tier in the AQA inventory but worth recognising. They show up regularly in everyday speech. Treat 看见 (kàn jiàn) / 听懂 (tīng dǒng) / 找到 (zhǎo dào) as fixed verb compounds for now, and the wider potential-complement system (V得 (de)C / V不 (bù)C) will get a dedicated lesson at the Higher-tier curriculum stage.
All three Foundation-tier complements side by side
| Type | Pattern | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manner | verb + + adjective | - tā pǎo de kuài | He runs fast |
| Direction | verb + direction compound | - tā chū qù le | He went out |
| Degree | … / + adj | - tài guì le | (it's) too expensive |
What to internalise
- + adjective is the manner complement. Different particle from 的 and 地.
- The verb repeats when the object splits it from the complement. 说中文说得好 (shuō zhōng wén shuō de hǎo).
- Direction compounds layer onto verbs. 拿进来 (ná jìn lái), 走出去 (zǒu chū qù), 跑上来 (pǎo shàng lái).
- … frames an excessive degree. 太贵了, 太累了.
- Resultative compounds ( (kàn jiàn), (tīng dǒng), (zhǎo dào)) are Higher tier. Recognise them now, drill them later.
For the wider Mandarin grammar map, see the Mandarin grammar cheatsheet.