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Daily lessons · Day 13 of 90
The little word 的
Possession and description
的 is the most common character in written Chinese. It does one job, and once you see what the job is, a whole class of sentences opens up at once.
Whose it is
The owner comes first, then 的, then the thing.
Why it works
的 is roughly the apostrophe s of English, but it covers far more ground. Anything that describes a noun goes in front of it and is joined on with 的, whether that is an owner, a colour, a material or a whole clause. Nothing ever goes after the noun, which is the single most important difference from French or Spanish.
When 的 disappears
With close relationships and set pairings, it is normally dropped.
Why it works
The pattern is that things you cannot choose or swap lose the 的: family, your country, your employer, your school. Putting it back in is not an error, it just adds emphasis, the way saying my own mother in English draws attention in a way my mother does not. Measure words on day 5 and 的 here are doing versions of the same job: whatever describes a noun arrives before it.
A whole clause can describe a noun
Everything before 的 describes what comes after it, however long it gets.
Why it works
English builds these with a relative pronoun after the noun: the things that I bought. Chinese stacks the whole description in front and marks the end of it with 的. It feels backwards for a while, and then one day you read 会说中文的人 and understand it before you have finished it.
的, 得 and 地 sound identical
Three different characters are all said de with a neutral tone. 的 links a describer to a noun, 得 introduces how well something is done, and 地 turns a description into an adverb. Native speakers mix them up in writing all the time, especially in chat. For now you only need 的, and recognising that the other two exist will save you confusion later.
Carried over from earlier days
Say each one out loud before you look at the English.
Today’s words 12
Check yourself
8 questions. Get 6 right to finish the day.
Which is correct for my book?
- 我的书 wǒ de shū
- 书的我 shū de wǒ
- 的我书 de wǒ shū
- 书我的 shū wǒ de
Show the answer
我的书 wǒ de shū The describer always comes before the noun.
Type the teacher's name in pinyin.
Show the answer
lǎoshī de míngzi Owner, 的, then the thing owned.
Why does 我妈妈 have no 的?
- close family normally drops it
- 妈妈 cannot take 的
- 的 is only for objects
- it is an abbreviation used in chat
Show the answer
close family normally drops it 我的妈妈 is grammatical, it just emphasises whose.
What does 会说中文的人 mean?
- people who speak Chinese
- Chinese people who can talk
- the Chinese that people speak
- speaking to Chinese people
Show the answer
people who speak Chinese Everything before 的 describes 人.
Which word does 的 attach the description to?
- the noun that follows it
- the noun before it
- the verb
- whichever is longer
Show the answer
the noun that follows it 的 always points forwards.
Which is the odd one out, in that it would not normally take 的?
- 我们公司 wǒmen gōngsī
- 红色的车 hóngsè de chē
- 老师的名字 lǎoshī de míngzi
- 我买的东西 wǒ mǎi de dōngxi
Show the answer
我们公司 wǒmen gōngsī Your own employer is a fixed relationship, so the 的 drops.
What do 的, 得 and 地 have in common?
- they are all said de with a neutral tone
- they all mean possession
- they are all rare
- they are all written the same
Show the answer
they are all said de with a neutral tone Different characters, different jobs, one sound.
Type whose is this in pinyin.
Show the answer
zhè shì shéi de The noun is left out because it is obvious.
Question 1 of 8
Writing practice optional
Every character from today, in the order it came up. Watch it, trace it, then write it from memory.
Press Watch to see the stroke order.
Stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi via Hanzi Writer, Arphic Public License.
Character 1 of 33
This lesson is written by an English speaker who learned Mandarin as a second language, and it is waiting on a check by a native speaker. If you spot something off, please tell us and we will fix it.