Potential Complements — V + 得/不 + Result
Potential complements express ability: 看得见 (can see) / 看不见 (can't see); 听得懂 (can understand) / 听不懂 (can't understand). Contrast with resultative complements and learn question forms: 你做得完吗?
A lesson of Mandarin B1 — Intermediate, in Complex Complements, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will use potential complements to express ability and inability, distinguish them from resultative complements, and form questions fluently.
The Ability Infix: 得 and 不
Mandarin has an elegant way to turn any resultative or directional complement into an ability statement: insert 得 (de) or 不 (bù) between the verb and its complement.
- V + 得 + Complement = can achieve the result (ability/possibility)
- V + 不 + Complement = cannot achieve the result (inability/impossibility)
This is called the potential complement (可能补语 kěnéng bǔyǔ).
Core Examples
| Resultative | Can (得) | Cannot (不) |
|---|---|---|
| 看懂 (understand by reading) | 看得懂 (can understand) | 看不懂 (can't understand) |
| 听见 (hear / perceive) | 听得见 (can hear) | 听不见 (can't hear) |
| 做完 (finish doing) | 做得完 (can finish) | 做不完 (can't finish) |
| 找到 (find) | 找得到 (can find) | 找不到 (can't find) |
| 进去 (go in) | 进得去 (can get in) | 进不去 (can't get in) |
| 写好 (write well) | 写得好 (can write well) | 写不好 (can't write well) |
Full Sentence Examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 这道题太难了，我做不出来。 | Zhè dào tí tài nán le, wǒ zuò bu chū lái. | This problem is too hard — I can't work it out. |
| 你看得懂这份合同吗？ | Nǐ kàn de dǒng zhè fèn hétong ma? | Can you understand this contract? |