Many beginner students are often surprised to find out that the character 得has two pronunciations, or any Chinese character with more than one pronunciations. In fact, 得 has three different pronunciations, namely: děi, de and dé. The fact is there are quite a number of characters that have more than one pronunciation. This type of words are called 多音字(duō yīn zì), which literally means a character with multiple pronunciations.

As you may have already guessed, when the pronunciation of a character changes, almost certainly the meaning also changes. In this post, we take a look at how to use 得 děi, 得de and 得 dé.

得děi: verb. —   meaning: have to, need to

Structure: (subject/time/location+…)+ 得+ verb.

Examples:

shēng bìng de shí hòu, nǐ děi duō xiū xi.

生病的时候，你得多休息.                                 When you are sick, you need to rest more.

rú guǒ míng tiān nǐ bù néng qù shàng kè, nǐ děi tí qián gào sù lǎo shī.

如果明天你不能去上课，你得提前告诉老师。   If you can;t go to class tomorrow, you need to inform the teacher in advance.

zhè gè zì nǐ děi zhè yàng xiě.

这个字你得这样写。                                        This character you have to write this way.

yào xiǎng shuō yì kǒu liú lì de hàn yǔ, nǐ děi tiān tiān xué xí.

要想说一口流利的汉语，你得天天学习。         To speak fluent Chinese, you have to study everyday.

yào xià yǔ le, wǒ men děi kuài diǎn zǒu.

要下雨了，我们得快点走。                               It’s about to rain. We have to hurry up to leave.

得 de: adv. — meaning: it’s used to describe the result or degree of the action expressed by the verb in front

structure: verb. + 得 + adj/adv

得de is used after a verb, to describe the degree or the result of an action. In Chinese, this construction needs a 得.

Examples:

tā měi tiān lái de hěn zǎo .

他每天来得很早.                                             He comes very early every day.

zhè xiē měi guó rén hàn yǔ shuō de fēi cháng hǎo.

这些美国人汉语说得非常好。                          These Americans speaks very good Chinese.

tù zi hé wū guī sài pǎo, tù zǐ pǎo dé kuài, wū guī pǎo dé màn.

兔子和乌龟赛跑，兔子跑得快，乌龟跑得慢。   Rabbit and turtle complete to run. Rabbit runs quick, turtle runs slow.

jīn tiān wǒ men wán de hěn kāi xīn.

今天我们玩得很开心.                                      Today we had a lot of fun.

tā xué xí hěn rèn zhēn, suǒ yǐ jìn bù de hěn kuài .

他学习很认真， 所以进步得很快.                    He studies very hard, therefore progresses very quickly.

Other phrases include:

xué de hěn hǎo           chī de hěn kuài            wánr de bú tài hǎo                  xiū xi de tài shǎo

学得很好                        吃得很快                       玩儿得不太好                        休息得太少

study very well            eat very quickly           play not very well                      rest too little

shuì de hěn wǎn          lái de hěn zǎo             mǎi de hěn duō                       zǒu de hěn màn

睡得很晚                       来得很早                      买得很多                                走得很慢

sleep very late          come very early                buy a lot                            walk very slowly

wèn de hěn hǎo          huà de piāoliàng         xià de tài dà                            xiǎng de tài měi le

问得很好                        画得漂亮                    下得太大                                想得太美了

ask very well            draw beautifully            rain too heavily                       think too nicely

得dé: verb. — meaning: to receive, to acquire.

As a verb, the basic meaning of 得dé is to receive / to acquire. It’s used together with   anther character to form words.

Frequent used words with 得 dé:

得到 dé dào: (verb.) to receive

所得suǒ dé: (adj./adv.) what’s acquired, what’s received

得当dé dàng: (adj.) appropriate

Examples:

tā de zuò fǎ dé dào le dà jiā de rèn tóng.

他的做法得到了大家的认同。                             His deed received everybody’s acknowledgement.

rú guǒ nǐ nǔ lì gōng zuò, nián dǐ jiù kě yǐ dé dào gèng gāo de jiǎng jīn.

如果你努力工作，年底就可以得到更高的奖金。 If you work hard, at the end of the year can receive higher bonus.

tā bǎ suǒ dé de jiǎng pǐn gěi le tā de dì dì.

他把所得的奖品给了他的弟弟。                         He gave all the prizes received to his brother.

guò chéng hěn zhòng yào, suǒ dé de jié guǒ bú zhòng yào.

过程很重要, 所得的结果不重要。                       The process is important. The result received is not important.

zhī yào fāng fǎ dé dāng, jiù kě yǐ jiě jué zhè gè wèn tí.

只要方法得当，就可以解决这个问题。               As long as the method is suitable, (we) can solve the problem.

tā de xué xí fāng fǎ hěn dé dāng, suǒ yǐ jìn bù de hěn kuài.

他的学习方法很得当，所以进步得很快。       His study method is very appropriate, therefore he progresses quickly.

Exercises

Translate the following sentences, with 得

1. The doctor said you need to rest more at home.
2. After eating dinner, I often have to wash the dishes.
3. Today’s football match, the Spanish team played very well.
4. Don’t go too early. The shop will not be open yet.
5. Be careful. If you write the characters too fast, you will make mistakes.
6. You sing very well. You have to sing us a song.
7. You’ve studied the whole morning. Now you need to get some rest.
8. Nobody speaks Chinese more fluently than him.
9. We don’t have much money left. I’m afraid we have to cook food ourselves instead of going to restaurant.
10. “You did a good job!” The boss told him.
11. To work in UN, you have to speak at least three languages.
12. The baby is sleeping. You need to be quiet.
13. Look, that kid can play guitar so well!
14. To say things well is not as good as do things well (Action speaks louder than words.)
15. I didn’t do the exam very well this time. I have to study more.
16. After finishing this task, what will you receive?
17. Who has received the championship this year?
18. The problem is not solved, because they don’t know a proper way to solve it.