Degree Complements — 说得很流利, 高兴得跳起来
Degree complements use 得 to describe how an action is performed or its result's extent: 说得很流利 (speaks very fluently), 高兴得跳起来 (so happy he jumped up), 累得睡着了 (so tired he fell asleep). Pattern: Verb + 得 + Degree Phrase.
A lesson of Mandarin B1 — Intermediate, in Complex Complements, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will use degree complements to describe how well an action is performed or how intensely a state is felt, including the vivid "so...that" pattern.
What Is a Degree Complement?
A degree complement (程度补语 chéngdù bǔyǔ) uses the structural particle 得 (de) after a verb or adjective to introduce a phrase that describes the degree or manner of the action/state. It's the structure behind sentences like "She speaks Chinese so well!" or "He was so happy he jumped up."
The key marker is 得 (de) — but note this is a different 得 from the potential complement infix. Here, 得 acts as a bridge between the verb/adjective and a descriptive phrase.
Pattern 1: V + 得 + Degree Phrase (How well/badly)
This pattern describes how an action is performed:
Subject + Verb + 得 + Degree Adverb + (Adjective/Comment)
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 她说中文说得很流利。 | Tā shuō Zhōngwén shuō de hěn liúlì. | She speaks Chinese very fluently. |
| 他跑得非常快。 | Tā pǎo de fēicháng kuài. | He runs extremely fast. |
| 你汉字写得真漂亮！ | Nǐ Hànzì xiě de zhēn piàoliang! | Your Chinese characters are written so beautifully! |
| 这道菜做得太好吃了。 | Zhè dào cài zuò de tài hǎo chī le. | This dish was cooked so deliciously. |
| 老师讲得非常清楚。 | Lǎoshī jiǎng de fēicháng qīngchǔ. | The teacher explains extremely clearly. |
When the verb has an object
If the verb takes an object, the verb must be repeated after the object, and 得 attaches to the repeated verb:
Subject + Verb + Object + Verb + 得 + Degree Phrase
- 她说中文说得很流利。(She speaks Chinese fluently — 说 is repeated)
- 我学语法学得很认真。(I study grammar very seriously — 学 is repeated)
This feels redundant in English but is standard in Mandarin.
Pattern 2: Adj + 得 + Result (So... that...)
This pattern expresses that a state reached such an extreme that a result followed. This is the vivid, expressive "so...that" construction: