HSK 4 · Function Words

得 děi “to have to” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

Hear it in a sentence

What 得 means

  1. to have to
  2. must
  3. ought to
  4. to need to

Also read de: “particle linking a verb to how it is done”

See the page for 得 de

How to say 得

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale得děi3rd tone, dipping

得 in a sentence

  1. 我得去工作了。

    Wǒ děi qù gōngzuò le.

    I have to go to work.

    Sentence #1415898 from Tatoeba

  2. 我得走了。

    Wǒ děi zǒu le.

    I have to go.

    Sentence #345397 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 你得吃蔬菜。

    Nǐ děi chī shūcài.

    You need to eat vegetables.

    Sentence #3376499 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děito have to
  • 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 (děi) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 得 (děi). 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

大概dàgài · roughly大约dàyuē · approximately到处dàochù · everywhere到底dàodǐ · after all底dǐ · bottom对面duìmiàn · (sitting) opposite对于duìyú · regarding而ér · and

FAQs

得 (děi) means “to have to” or “must”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it děi: děi with a 3rd tone. Play the example sentences on this page to hear it in use.
Yes. 得 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dei with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 得 from the suggestions. Typing dei into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
Yes. Read de, 得 means “particle linking a verb to how it is done”. That reading has its own page. Read děi, it means “to have to”.
得 is an HSK 4 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.