The three characters 的 得 and 地 are all pronounced ‘de’, and they’re really important in Chinese grammar.
But the difference stops there.
These characters became common in Chinese when the language became modernised from classical Chinese and more ‘grammar’ characters started to be used.
得 and 地 are simpler to understand, so let’s talk about them first!
得 is used after verbs to give you ‘a bit more information about the verb (as a complement for the verb)
For example:
你说得对
Nǐ shuō de duì
You said it right.
(You said, and moreover, it was right)
Some more examples:
他说得很快
Tā shuō de hěn kuài
He speaks very quickly.
她唱得很好
Tā chàng dé hěn hǎo
She sings very well
It can also come before a complement to a verb that indicates the result of the verb
我听得懂
Wǒ tīng de dǒng
I understand
(I listen and the result is understanding)
她哭得眼睛都红了
Tā kū de yǎnjīng dōu hóng le
She cried so much her eyes were red.
地 is used after an adjective to turn that adjective into an adverb.
It’s often like adding -ly to an adjective in English, like 快 quick 块地 quickly
Some examples:
，她开心地说
Tā kāixīn de shuō
she said, happily
你要认真地听
nǐ yào rènzhēn de tīng
You must listen carefully.
的 is used to connect different parts of a sentence together, and to show the relationship between them.
It’s the number 1 most common character in Chinese, so you need to know about it!
Sometimes 的 is used to show possession, a bit like ‘s in English.
For example:
李明的电话
Lǐ míng de diànhuà – Li Ming’s phone
我的名字
wǒ de míngzì – my name
你的车 – your car
nǐ de chē
的 can also be used to connect an adjective to a noun (adj. goes in front)
For example:
红色的衣服 hóngsè de yīfú – red clothes
小的酒店 xiǎo de jiǔdiàn- small hotel
漂亮的女孩子
piàoliang de nǚ háizi
beautiful girl
的 can also be used in sentences to express ‘the one(s) who/that’
For example:
我爱的人
Wǒ ài de rén
the person (who) I love
我看过的书
wǒ kànguò de shū
books I’ve read
抽烟的人
chōuyān de rén
people who smoke
的 can also be used on its own with an adjective to mean ‘the xxx one’
那件毛衣是你的？
Nà jiàn máoyī shì nǐ de?
Which sweater is yours?
红色的
Hóngsè de
The red one.
的 can be used as a ‘modifier’ to give you ‘more information’ about the noun.
For example:
我妈妈做的菜
Wǒ māmā zuò de cài
the food my mother cooked
约克盖的房子
yuēkè gài de fángzi
the house that Jack built
去北京的火车
qù běijīng de huǒchē
the train that goes to Beijing
You’ll also sometimes see 的 in ‘if’ sentences with ‘的话’, which is part of the word for ‘if’.
For example:
如果你来的话，我们可以一起玩
Rúguǒ nǐ lái dehuà, wǒmen kěyǐ yīqǐ wán
If you come, we can hang out.
You’ll also see 的 commonly with other characters in ‘words’ – like 是的， 有的 or 好的
是的 shì de
means ‘that is the case’ or ‘yes’
好的 hǎo de
means ‘ok’
And 的 is used in other contexts as well, too many small cases to explain in one video.
But to put it (very) simply, it is generally used to connect different parts of the sentence (different parts of speech) together.
Pay attention to it when you see it, and you’ll probably figure out other examples!