HSK 6 · Function Words

免得 miǎnde “so as not to” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 免得 means

  1. so as not to
  2. so as to avoid

How to say 免得

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale免miǎn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own得deneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

免得 in a sentence

  1. 你必须尽一切可能尽力而为，免得你以后后悔。

    Nǐ bìxū jìn yíqiè kěnéng jìnlì'érwéi, miǎnde nǐ yǐhòu hòuhuǐ.

    You must do everything you can, so you won’t regret it later.

    Sentence #781436 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

  2. 我们是不是该退一步，免得倒下？

    Wǒmen shì bu shì gāi tuì yí bù, miǎnde dǎoxia?

    Should we take a step back so we don’t fall?

    Sentence #5558539 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters · translation adapted

How 免得 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 免 (miǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
免miǎnto excuse sb
  • ⺈knife form of 刀 · dāo
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 儿legs · ér
The character 得 (de) with each of its parts in a different colour
得destructural particle: used after a verb
  • 彳step · chì
  • 旦dawn · dàn
  • 寸inch · cùn

Memory aidA hand 寸 picking up a shell, once used as money, while out on the road 彳: to get.

How to write 免得

免 7 strokes · 得 11 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

免得 (miǎnde) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 免得 (miǎnde). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 免得

Words with 免

免费miǎnfèi · free (of charge)避免bìmiǎn · to avoid难免nánmiǎn · hard to avoid免疫miǎnyì · immunity不免bùmiǎn · inevitably未免wèimiǎn · rather以免yǐmiǎn · so as not to

Words with 得

得de · particle linking a verb to how it is done (e.g. 跑得快觉得juéde · to feel记得jìde · remember得到dédào · to get得分défēn · to score (points)懂得dǒngde · to understand认得rènde · to recognise获得huòdé · to obtain得意déyì · proud of oneself值得zhíde · to be worth

More words: Function Words & Grammar

啦la · (sentence-final particle: 了 + 啊)连同liántóng · together with嘛ma · (particle indicating obviousness or urging)枚méi · (measure word for coins明明míngmíng · clearly默默mòmò · silently宁肯nìngkěn · would rather宁愿nìngyuàn · would rather

FAQs

免得 (miǎnde) means “so as not to” or “so as to avoid”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it miǎnde: miǎn with a 3rd tone, then de with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 免得 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type miande with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 免得 from the suggestions. Typing miande into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
免得 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.