Adjective Modifier – 地 de

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Grammar · HSK 2
Grammar Point · HSK 2

地 de — Adjective Modifier

地 de turns an adjective into a description of how an action happens — it always sits before the verb it describes.

地 de grammar

Where 得 de comes after a verb, 地 de comes before it — “she [happily] smiled” instead of “she smiled [happily].”

1 Adjective + 地 de + Verb

This pattern usually needs a two-syllable adjective, or a repeated one-syllable adjective, before 地 de.

他tā慢慢mànmàn地de走zǒu
He walks slowly.
她tā高兴gāoxìng地de笑了xiào le
She smiled happily.
学生xuésheng认真rènzhēn地de写xiě作业zuòyè
The students do their homework diligently.
他tā大声dàshēng地de说话shuōhuà
He speaks loudly.
猫māo安静ānjìng地de睡觉shuìjiào
The cat sleeps quietly.
FYI

A plain single-syllable adjective usually doesn’t need 地 de — 快走 (“walk fast”) sounds natural on its own. 地 de shows up with longer or repeated adjectives, like 慢慢地走 or 高兴地笑.

2 Common Mistakes

A common mix-up is confusing 地 de with 得 de — remember: 地 de comes before the verb, 得 de comes after it.

❌
他tā走zǒu地de很hěn慢màn
✅
他tā走zǒu得de很hěn慢màn
Here the description comes after the verb, so it needs 得 de, not 地 de.
❌
慢慢mànmàn得de走zǒu
✅
慢慢mànmàn地de走zǒu
Here the adjective comes before the verb, so it needs 地 de, not 得 de.

3 的 de vs 得 de vs 地 de

All three characters are pronounced the same way, but each attaches to a different part of speech and sits in a different position in the sentence.

的 de 得 de 地 de
Modifies A noun A verb A verb (via an adjective)
Position Before the noun After the verb Before the verb
Answers “Whose?” / “Which one?” “How did it turn out?” “How was it done?”
这zhè是shì他tā说shuō的de话huà
This is what he said. (的 marks “the words he said” as a noun phrase)
他tā说shuō得de很hěn好hǎo
He speaks well. (得 comments on how the speaking turned out)
他tā小声xiǎoshēng地de说shuō
He speaks quietly. (地 describes the manner of speaking, before the verb)
Quick Way to Remember

的 de belongs to nouns, 得 de belongs after verbs, and 地 de belongs before verbs.

4 Practice

Translate each sentence into Chinese, then tap the card to check your answer.

01She carefully reads the book.
她tā仔细zǐxì地de看kàn书shū
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02He happily ate the cake.
他tā开心kāixīn地de吃chī蛋糕dàngāo
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03The dog quietly walked into the room.
狗gǒu安静ānjìng地de走zǒu进jìn房间fángjiān
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04The teacher patiently explains the questions.
老师lǎoshī耐心nàixīn地de解释jiěshì问题wèntí
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05The children quickly ran over.
孩子háizi们men快快kuàikuài地de跑pǎo过来guòlái
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06She nervously looked at me.
她tā紧张jǐnzhāng地de看kàn我wǒ
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07He seriously answered the question.
他tā认真rènzhēn地de回答huídá问题wèntí
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08The bird slowly flew over.
鸟niǎo慢慢mànmàn地de飞fēi过来guòlái
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09The teacher spoke slowly.
老师lǎoshī慢慢mànmàn地de说话shuōhuà
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10He excitedly told me the news.
他tā兴奋xīngfèn地de告诉gàosu我wǒ这个zhège消息xiāoxi
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Related Grammar

→的 de — Noun Modifier(HSK 1) →得 de — Verb Modifier(HSK 2)

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