A complement of degree – which makes up part of the verbal complements – serves two functions: first of all it describes the way an action takes place or took place in the past.
In this case, the verbal complement is, most times, a predicative adjective; the complements of degree also specifies the intensity of the action or state expressed in the phrase, citing the consequences produced.
Here are the structures used to construct the complement of degree:
Action verb + 得 (de) + Predicative adjective
Verb / predicative adjective + 得 (de) + Consequence produced
Let’s see a few examples:
她说得快。
Tā shuō de kuài.
She speaks quickly.
我的老师开得很慢。
Wǒ de lǎoshī kāi dehěn màn.
My teacher drives slowly.
你的老师教得怎么样？
Nǐ de lǎoshī jiāo de zěnmeyàng?
How does your professor teach?
他教得不好。
Tā jiāo de bù hǎo.
He doesn’t teach well.
The second use of the complement of degree translates a little bit like the expression “so + adjective + that…”
Here are some examples:
水流得没有人想跳水。
Shuǐliú de méiyǒu rén xiǎng tiàoshuǐ.
The water flows so fast (strong) that nobody wants to take a dip.
今天天气热得大家都没有胃口吃饭。
Jīntiān tiānqì rè de dàjiā dōu méiyǒu wèikǒu chīfàn.
Today is so hot that no one has an appetite to eat.
公共汽车挤得没法子呼吸。
Gōnggòng qìchē jǐ de méi fǎzi hūxī.
The bus is so crowded that I can’t breathe.
那个小孩子高兴得大声笑了。
Nàge xiǎoháizi gāoxìng de dàshēng xiào le.
That kid was so happy that he laughed out loudly.
Since the particle 得 introduces a verbal complement, there must be a verb to its left. In case the verb needs an object after it, you have to double the verb following this structure:
Verb + Object + Verb + 得 (de) + Complement of degree
Here’s an example:
他开汽车开得非常好。
Tā kāi qìchē kāi dé fēicháng hǎo.
He drives very well.
There are many cases, however, when the first verb is omitted. With this second occurrence, it creates a sort of structure theme + comment, so we’ll use this other formula:
Object + Verb + 得 (de) + Complement of degree
Here’s an example:
汽车他开得非常好。
Qìchē tā kāi dé fēicháng hǎo.
He drives very well.
Note that negations, questions, comparatives and other structures, must be placed after the particle 得 (de).
Here are some examples:
我的学生都考得不好。
Wǒ de xuésheng dōu kǎo de bù hǎo.
All my students did poorly on the test.
你看得清楚不清楚？
Nǐ kànde qīngchu bù qīngchu?
Do you see / read clearly?
你听得清楚吗？
Nǐ tīng de qīngchu ma?
Can you hear clearly?
他打篮球打得比我好。
Tā dǎ lánqiú dǎ de bǐ wǒ hǎo.
He plays basketball better than I.
他吃得比我好多了
Tā chīde bǐ wǒ hǎo duō le.
He ate much more than me.
Here are a few frequently used expressions:
忙得要命 (máng de yàomìng) “so busy you could die”
累得要死 (lèi de yàosǐ) “dead tired”
好得很 (hǎo dehěn) “very good”
气得不得了 (qì de bùdéliǎo) “really mad”
饿死了 (èsǐ le) “dying of hunger”
累死我了 (lèisǐ wǒ le) “really tired”
To conclude, let’s see a few intensifiers:
得多 (de duō), 多了 (duō le) “Much more”
得很 (dehěn), 极了 (jí le) “Extremely”
Here are a few examples:
我的肚子比你的大得多。
Wǒ de dùzi bǐ nǐ de dà de duō.
My belly is much bigger than yours.
他的身体比以前好多了。
Tā de shēntǐ bǐ yǐqián hǎo duō le.
His health is much better than it was before.
那只熊猫胖得很。
Nà zhī xióngmāo pàng dehěn.
That panda is huge.
我的女朋友漂亮极了。
Wǒ de nǚpéngyou piàoliang jíle.
My girlfriend is gorgeous.
In the spoken language, to indicate the highest degree of something, you need to insert 什么似的 (shénme shìde) or 跟什么似的 (gēn shénme shìde) right after 得 (de).
For example, “I am extremely happy”, you could say: 我高兴得什么似的 (wǒ gāoxìng de shénme shìde); “I am really scared”, you say: 我吓得什么似的 (wǒ xià de shénme shìde); and so on.
