Level 5 · Lesson 10

他跑得很快
He runs fast

他跑得很快。我跑得很慢。你说汉语说得很流利。

Verb + 得 + adjective says how well the action goes — and with an object the verb comes twice.

听 · Listen

你跑得很快
 安娜 —  李明，你跑得很快！ 
Li Ming, you run fast!  
 李明 —  是吗？我每天早上跑步。 
Do I? I go running every morning.  
 安娜 —  我跑得很慢。 
I run slowly.  
 李明 —  你跑得慢，你说汉语说得很流利。 
You may run slowly, but you speak Chinese fluently.  
 安娜 —  我说得很慢。 
I speak slowly.  
 李明 —  说得慢也很好。你的作业写得很清楚。 
Speaking slowly is fine too. And your homework is written very clearly.  
 安娜 —  谢谢！王老师说英语说得很好吗？ 
Thanks! Does Teacher Wang speak English well?  
 李明 —  他说得很好，也说得很清楚。 
He speaks it well, and very clearly too.  

讲解 · Explanation

他跑得很快。我跑得很慢。

A result complement told you how the action came out. This one tells you how the action goes — fast, slow, well, clearly. The frame is verb + 得 + adjective, and 得 is a light toneless de sitting between them. It is written 得, not 的: 的 hangs a description on a noun (我的书), 得 hangs a judgement on a verb (跑得快).

他跑得很快。你的作业写得很清楚。

Keep the 很. The adjective after 得 behaves exactly as it does in 他很快 — on its own it sounds like the first half of a contrast, as though a 'but' were coming. So the plain, everyday sentence is 他跑得很快, 写得很清楚, 说得很好. Any other degree word can take the place of 很 later; what you must not do is leave the slot empty.

你说汉语说得很流利。汉语你说得很流利。

Now the one thing that surprises everybody. If the verb has an object, 得 cannot reach past it — so the verb is said twice: once carrying the object, once carrying 得. 你说汉语说得很流利. The alternative is to move the object to the front and say the verb once: 汉语你说得很流利, or 你的作业写得很清楚. Both are natural; choose whichever is easier to get out.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
得	particle: opens a judgement of the verb	verb + 得 + 很 + adjective
跑	to run	跑步 pǎobù to go running
快	fast, quick	跑得很快
慢	slow	说得很慢
流利	fluent, fluently	说得很流利

练习 · Practice

你说汉语 ______ 很流利。 The verb has an object — what comes next?

安娜的作业写 ______。 Which is the ordinary way to say 'is written very clearly'?

王老师说英语说 ______ 很好。 Fill in the particle after the repeated verb.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'Anna's homework is written very clearly.'

得、跑、快、慢、流利 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

我跑得很快。我跑得很慢。我说汉语说得很慢。我写得很清楚。

Say four sentences about yourself, and put 很 in every one. Two with no object — 我跑得很快 or 我跑得很慢. One with an object, saying the verb twice: 我说汉语说得很慢, 我唱歌唱得很好. And one with the object out in front: 汉语我说得很慢. Then say a fifth about someone you know, and listen to yourself: the 得 should be so light you barely hear it.