HSK 2 · Particles

得 de “particle linking a verb to how it is done (e.g. 跑得快” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 得 means

  1. particle linking a verb to how it is done (e.g. 跑得快, runs fast)
  2. structural particle: used after a verb (or adjective as main verb), linking it to following phrase indicating effect, degree, possibility etc

Also read děi: “to have to”

See the page for 得 děi

How to say 得

  • 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

得 in a sentence

  1. 你的字写得真漂亮！

    Nǐ de zì xiě de zhēn piàoliang!

    Your handwriting is really beautiful!

    Sentence #11837726 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你走得好快啊！

    Nǐ zǒu de hǎo kuài a!

    You walk so fast!

    Sentence #791699 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 你学得很快。

    Nǐ xué de hěn kuài.

    You learn fast.

    Sentence #4297288 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 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 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 得

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.

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

Words related to 得

Words with 得

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来得及láidejí · to have enough time

More words: Particles & Connectors

太tài · too和hé · and吧ba · suggestion particle比bǐ · compared to离lí · away from从cóng · from到dào · to对duì · correct

FAQs

得 (de) means “particle linking a verb to how it is done (e.g. 跑得快, runs fast)” or “structural particle: used after a verb (or adjective as main verb), linking it to following phrase indicating effect, degree, possibility etc”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it de: de with a neutral tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 得 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type de with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 得 from the suggestions. Typing de into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
Yes. Read děi, 得 means “to have to”. That reading has its own page. Read de, it means “particle linking a verb to how it is done (e.g. 跑得快, runs fast)”.
得 is an HSK 2 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.