Alberto
得 VS 地 I know it is a classic student question, but I don't see it clearly yet... What are the differences between 得 and 地? Can somebody explain to me when to use each of them? Some good VERY EASY examples would be appreciated. Thanks in advance :-)
Sep 30, 2014 10:53 PM
Answers · 11
2
I'm not a native speaker, but here's how I understand it. 得 changes the proceeding adjective into an adverb to describe the preceding verb. 地 changes the preceding adjective into an adverb to describe the proceeding verb. Or in simpler terms, the adverb goes before 地 and after 得, and vice-versa for the verbs. ex. 快地走 = 走得快 = to walk quickly With 得, a phrase can take the place of the adverb. For example, 我累得起不来 means "I'm so tired I can't get up" ("I can't get up" takes the place of the adverb). I don't think this is possible with 地. Incidentally, if you're describing a noun instead of a verb you'd use 的 instead of 地. In spoken language, 的, 地 and 得 are all pronounced 'de'. They're only different in writing. I've observed many native speakers just write 的 for all three. It is possible to omit 的 and 地, but sinc 地 and 得 have other uses as well, so they might not necessarily act as described above. 地 (pronounced as 'di4') can mean 'earth' or 'ground', and it is used in a lot of two character words (ex. 地理 and 地球). 得 is also used in some words (ex. 得到), and 得 (pronounced dei3) can also mean 'must'. I'm not a native speaker, so I'd take what I've said with a grain of salt.
September 30, 2014
1
When I was in primary school, my Chinese teacher said that 得 is used after an adjective while 地 follows a verb
October 1, 2014
1
I suppose that you already know how to use them. Let me tell you the difference between them. In most case, '地' and '得' are in the same. You can use whichever you want. All you need to do is changing a suitable adverb. Such as, '喝得慢' vs '慢慢地喝', not '慢地喝'. When the word behind 'de' is '太', '真' and '很', we just use '得'. Such as, '喝得真慢', '喝得太慢' and '喝得很慢'. It sounds like that 'how could he drink so slowly!' If you want to use a sentence to descibe a word. Such as, '他激动得说不出话'=='he was so excited that he could't say a word'.
October 1, 2014
Thank you for all your responses. I already knew how to use both "de", I just wanted to know the main differences in the usage of them, when to use one or the other. After reading a lot about the subject and gather a lot of info, I think I have the answer. I post it in case it may be of some help to others. 得 ➝ Is used to talk about habitual actions (she sings well) or a specific one but in the past (she sang well). 得 ➝ Does not imply a verb in action, we just talk about the way that verb is (or was) done. When we say "she sings well" she might not be singing at the moment of speaking. 得 ➝ Doesn't imply intention (the plane flies high) on the contrary 地 expresses a conscious and intentional action (she slowly wrote the letter) This is exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks again for your help.
October 2, 2014
word order: verb 得 adverb adverb 地 verb
October 1, 2014
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