{"id":3002,"date":"2019-10-29T08:25:03","date_gmt":"2019-10-29T08:25:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/chinese-grammar\/the-three-de-particles-in-mandarin-de-di-and-de\/"},"modified":"2019-10-29T08:25:03","modified_gmt":"2019-10-29T08:25:03","slug":"the-three-de-particles-in-mandarin-de-di-and-de","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/th\/the-three-de-particles-in-mandarin-de-di-and-de\/","title":{"rendered":"The three DE particles in Mandarin: \u7684, \u5730 and \u5f97"},"content":{"rendered":"
New learners of Mandarin Chinese are often co<\/em>nfused by the fact that there are three particles that seem to fulfil a similar function (they are all used to co<\/em>nnect parts of sentences together) and that are all pro<\/em>nounced the same way, "de" (neutral tone). Even though it’s not necessary to know the difference to be able to speak Mandarin well (they are pro<\/em>nounced the same way, after all), you need to be able to differentiate the three when you write.<\/p>\n

DE1 – \u7684 (see separate article)<\/p>\n

This is in fact the most common character in Mandarin, so if you’re not sure what to write, pick this one. It is used for a lot of things, but in general, it’s used to show that something describes whatever comes after by limiting it. The most common manifestation of this is a normal possessive. For instance, if we have two words, \u6211 w\u01d2 "I" and \u623f\u5b50 fángzi "house, room", we can use \u7684 to show that the first one limits the second. In other words, if we say \u6211\u7684\u623f\u5b50, we’re not talking a<\/em>bout any old house, it’s my house. You can do the same with colours, so \u767d\u8272\u7684\u623f\u5b50 báisè de fángzi doesn’t refer to any house, but a white house.<\/p>\n

DE2 – \u5f97 (see separate article)<\/p>\n

This second "de" is used for a number of different things in Mandarin and here we’re going to look at the two most common. First, it’s used to l<\/em>ink an adverb to a verb, i.e. it’s used to add words to actions that tell us more a<\/em>bout the action. For instance, we can say \u8dd1 p\u01ceo "to run", and if we want to add that someone runs very fast, we can say \u8dd1\u5f97\u5f88\u5feb p\u01ceo de h\u011bnkuài. Similarly, if you want to say that your Chinese isn’t so good, you can say \u6211\u4e2d\u6587\u8bf4\u5f97\u4e0d\u597d (\u6211\u4e2d\u6587\u8aaa\u5f97\u4e0d\u597d) w\u01d2 zh\u014dngwén shu\u014d de bùh\u01ceo "I don’t speak Chinese well". Not that "well" here is preceded by the action and then \u5f97.<\/p>\n

Second, \u5f97 can be used to show potential. This is too complicated to describe in full here, but if you want to express that someone is able to or has the potential to do something you can say \u505a\u5f97\u5230 zuò de dào. Using \u5f97\u5230 in this way is very common, but there are other examples al well, such as \u542c\u5f97\u61c2 (\u807d\u5f97\u61c2) t\u012bng de d\u01d2ng "be able to understand" and \u770b\u5f97\u89c1 (\u770b\u5f97\u898b) kàn de jiàn "be able to see (something)".<\/p>\n

DE3 – \u5730 (see separate article)<\/p>\n

The third and last DE particle is \u5730 and it is much less common than the above two and its usage is also more limited. It’s mostly used when placing an adverb before a verb, so the word order is the opposite of \u5f97. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n

\u8f7b\u8f7b\u5730 (\u8f15\u8f15\u5730) q\u012bngq\u012bng de "lightly"<\/p>\n

\u6162\u6162\u5730 (\u6162\u6162\u5730) mànmàn de "slowly"<\/p>\n

Note that \u5730 is placed before the action and that the word describing the action comes before \u5730.<\/p>\n

Also note that \u5730 can be pro<\/em>nounced "dì", in which case it means "ground". This pro<\/em>nunciation and usage is separate from the grammar particle discussed here, don’t co<\/em>nfuse them!<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/p>\n

If you don’t pay attention to the function of these particles, they will be very hard to use correctly, but if you learn how they are used, they are easy to separate. If you want a quick and dirty rule, try this: if it comes before the verb, it should be \u5730. If it comes after the verb, it should be \u5f97. If it’s not a<\/em>bout a verb at all, it should be \u7684.
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