程度补语
Degree complements

第五级你说过“他跑得很快”“我跑得很慢”“他说汉语说得很流利”，也说过“他跑得不快”“你来得早不早？”。这几句里的“得”是同一个“得”：它站在动词后边，把门打开，后边跟进来一句对这个动作的评价。今天给这个说法起个名字，再把它的三个亲戚分清楚。

Since level 5 you have said 他跑得很快, 他说汉语说得很流利, 他跑得不快, 你来得早不早？ The 得 in all of them is one and the same particle: it stands after the verb, opens a door, and lets in a judgement of how the action went. Today that pattern gets its name, and its three relatives get sorted out.

这个“得”念轻声。跟它同音的还有两个字：一个站在名词前边（我的书），一个站在动词前边（慢慢地走），只有“得”站在动词后边（走得很慢）。补语里的形容词跟本级第三课的谓语形容词一样，平常要带“很”：说“他跑得快”，听着像是要跟谁比；说“他跑得很快”，才是平平常常的一句话。还有几个程度补语不用“得”，直接贴在形容词后边：好极了、累死了。

This 得 is toneless. Two other characters sound exactly like it: 的 stands before a noun (我的书), 地 before a verb (慢慢地走), and only 得 stands after the verb (走得很慢) — level 11 sorts all three out. As with predicate adjectives in lesson 3 of this level, the complement normally needs 很: bare 跑得快 sounds like a comparison is coming. A few degree complements skip 得 altogether and stick straight onto the adjective: 好极了, 累死了.

道理很简单：“得”只认动词，不认宾语，所以宾语和“得”不能挤在一块儿。“他写汉字得很好”是不行的。不想说两遍动词，就把宾语提到前边去：汉字他写得很好，或者他汉字写得很好。三种说法意思一样，第一种最中性。

The reason is simple: 得 attaches to a verb, never to an object, so the two cannot sit side by side. If you would rather not say the verb twice, move the object to the front instead. All three versions mean the same; the repeated-verb one is the most neutral.

这一条常常被说错。“他不跑得快”不是句子，因为要否定的不是跑，是快：他确实跑了，只是跑得不快。问句也一样，正反问做在补语上——他跑得快不快？还有一个最方便的问法：他跑得怎么样？“怎么样”正好落在“得”后边那个位置上，回答就把评价填进去。带宾语的时候，否定和疑问都做在第二个动词后边：他写汉字写得不好，他写汉字写得好不好？

This is where mistakes happen. 他不跑得快 is not a sentence: what is denied is not the running but the speed — he did run, just not fast. Questions work the same way, and the handiest is 他跑得怎么样？, which drops 怎么样 straight into the slot after 得. With an object present, both the negation and the question ride on the second verb.

情态补语跟程度补语是一家人，都用“得”，只是补语长一点儿、具体一点儿：“他累得走不动了”里，“走不动”是上一课的可能补语，在这儿做了“累”的补语。数量补语是另一路：它用第九级的动量词和时间长短，直接跟在动词和“了”后边，一个“得”也不用——看了两遍、去了三次、等了三个小时。

情态 and 程度 complements are one family — both use 得, the 情态 one just runs longer and more concrete. Note that 走不动 in 他累得走不动了 is last lesson's potential complement, doing duty as the complement of 累. 数量 complements are a different road: they use the verbal classifiers of level 9 and plain time spans, sitting straight after the verb and 了, with no 得 at all.