II. The Structures of the Complement of Degree
The
complement of degree is headed by a structural particle, de得. De得and the complement are placed right after the main
verb. The complement can be a stative verb modified
by hěn很or other adverbs; it can also be a verbal
expression, idiomatic expression or clause. The structure of a sentence with a
complement of degree depends on the main verb and whether the verb takes an
object or not.
A. When the main verb is an action verb or VV-compound (verb + verb compound,
such as gōngzuò工作, xiūxi休息, and xuéxí学习) and it does
not take an object, the verb and its complement follow the structure below.
verb + de得 + complement (hěn很 / adverb + stative verb, or verbal /
idiomatic expression, or clause)
A 1. action
verb + de + hěn很 + stative
verb
Tā shuō de hěn hǎo.
他说得很好。
He
speaks well.
Note
that hěn很should be used unless a
comparison is to be made. An adverb modifying the stative
verb can replace hěn很to further emphasize the stative verb.
action
verb + de得 + adverb + stative verb
A 1.1 Tā shuō
de fēicháng
hǎo.
他说得非常好。
He
speaks very well.
A 1.2 Tā shuō
de tèbié hǎo.
他说得特别好。
He
speaks unusually well.
A 2. VV-verb
+ de得 + hěn很 + stative
verb
Tā gōngzuò de hěn hǎo.
他工作得很好。
He
works well.
A 3. action
verb + de得 + adverb + stative verb
Tā chī de tài duō le, suǒyǐ hěn pàng.
他吃得太多了，所以很胖。
He
eats too much, so he’s fat.
A 4. action
verb + de得 + stative
verb + reduplicated stative verb + de的
A 4.1 Tā zhǎng
de gāo gāo de.
他长得高高的。
He
has grown very tall.
A 4.2 Jīntiān tā dǎbàn de piàopiàoliàngliàng
de.
今天她打扮得漂漂亮亮的。
Today
she is very beautifully dressed.
Note
that the stative verb in A 4.2 has two syllables, ‘piào漂’ and ‘liàng亮’. If P stands for the
first syllable and L stands for the second one, the way to double the word is
‘PPLL’, not ‘PLPL’.
A 5. action
verb + de得 + verbal expression
Tā pǎo de chuǎnbúshàng qì lái.
他跑得喘不上气来。
He
was out of breath from running.
A 6. action
verb + de得 + idiomatic expression
Tā xiào de qiányǎnghòuhé.
他笑得前仰后合。
He
rocks back and forth with laughter.
A 7. action
verb + de得 + clause
Tā shuō de wǒ gèng hútu
le.
他说得我更糊涂了。
He
spoke to such an extent that he made me even more confused.
B. When the main verb is an action verb and it TAKES an object or when the
verb is a VO-compound (verb + object compound, such as zǒulù走路and shuìjiào睡觉), the verb
must be reduplicated before taking de得and the complement. Let’s call the first verb ‘verb 1.1’ and
the reduplicated verb, ‘verb 1.2’. The complement can be hěn很 / adverb + stative verb, a verbal or idiomatic
expression, or a clause.
Verb 1.1 + object + Verb 1.2 + de得 +
complement
B 1. verb
1.1 + object + verb 1.2 + de得 + hěn很 + stative
verb
Tā shuō Zhōngwén shuō de
hěn hǎo.
他说中文说得很好。
He
speaks Chinese well.
Note that the verb and
object before the reduplicated verb simply name the action. They point out what
is to be commented on. The verb does not function as the main verb. The ‘verb
1.1 + object expression’ can be understood as ‘as far as speaking
Chinese is concerned’ or ‘as for speaking Chinese’. The reduplicated verb
functions as the main verb. That is why the complement of degree is placed
after it.
B 2. VO-compound
+ verb 1.2 + de得 + hěn很 + stative
verb
Tā zǒulù zǒu
de hěn kuài.
他走路走得很快。
He
walks fast.
B 3. VO-compound
+ verb 1.2 + de得 + verbal expression
Tā pǎobù pǎo
de chuǎnbúshàng qì lái.
他跑步跑得喘不上气来。
He
was out of breath from running.
B 4. verb
1.1 + object + verb 1.2 + de得 + idiomatic expression
Tā hē jiǔ hē de yūntóu-zhuànxiàng.
他喝酒喝得晕头转向。
He
is dizzy and disoriented from drinking.
B 5. action
verb + de得 + clause
Tā chuīniú chuī
de shéi dōu bù xǐhuan
tā.
他吹牛吹得谁都不喜欢他。
He
boasts about himself to such an extent that no one likes him.
C. When the main verb is a stative verb, the
complement can be a stative verb indicating degree
such as lìhài厉害and duō多, a verbal or
idiomatic expression such as bù déliǎo不得了or a clause. Note that expressions such as de hěn得很, de huang得慌, bù déliǎo不得了, and de duō得多have become
idiomatic expressions. They are also called intensifiers by some scholars. So
here we do not regard them as de得+adverb or de得+verbal expression. They
will be regarded as idiomatic expressions. This is because they share the same
properties as idiomatic expressions when they are negated. When the main verb
is a stative verb, the stative
verb and its complement follow the structure below.
stative verb + de得 +
complement
C 1. stative verb + de得 + stative
verb
Jīntiān wǒ
kùn de lìhài.
今天我困得厉害。
I
am terrible sleepy today.
C 2. stative verb + de得 + stative
verb duō多 used for comparison