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When to use the structural particle 的 (de) in Mandarin Chinese?

By: Grace Zhang Fri Aug 30 2024
Mandarin chinese
Structural Particles

The Mandarin Chinese structural particle  (de) is used as a “dependent” word, meaning that it has to be used together with other words to assist them in conveying their meaning.

When we say, 漂亮灯笼 (piàoliang de dēnglong, beautiful lantern), 漂亮 (piàoliang, beautiful) is an adjective here because it describes the appearance of the lantern. 漂亮 is called “attributive,” and it precedes the item it modifies, which is 灯笼 (dēnglong, lantern). In this phrase,  (de) is a structural particle that links the attributive (“beautiful”) to the item being attributed (“lantern”).

Why do we bother with little words like  (de)? Well, often little words make a big difference, because when you make a mistake with the use of little words, you may give people the impression that you are still a beginner in the language, or you may be misunderstood. As we discuss the topic, we will see small words such as  (de) do matter.

Interestingly enough, there are times that we must use  (de), but there are other times where we must not use it. Often, using  (de) is optional. Intrigued? Let’s read on! This post will tell you how  (de) should be used.

Table of Contents

    What is the function of 的 (de)?

     (de) defines the relationship between the items that come before and after it in the sentence. The type of relationship between these items falls into two categories: possession and modification. That is, there are two kinds of  (de): possessive  (de) and modifying  (de).  (de) follows this general pattern:

    attributive +  (de) + item attributed

    • Possessive  (de)

      Possessive  (de) is used to mark possession or ownership and works almost exactly like ’s (apostrophe + s) in English. The pattern is:

      possessor +  (de) + possession

       (de), in this case, indicates a relationship of possessor/possession. For example,

      玛丽先生

      (Mǎlì de xiānsheng)

      Mary’s husband

      (tā de chē)

      his car

      In the first example above, is placed between 玛丽 (Mǎlì, Mary) and 先生 (xiānsheng, husband) to indicate possession.

      Tip

      In Mandarin, possessive pronouns (e.g., “his,” “her,” “their”) do not exist as separate words. Therefore “pronoun + ” is used to serve the same function as a possessive pronoun in English. In the example above (, he) + means “his.”

      In Mandarin,  (de) is also used to connect two nouns but not in the strict sense of possession. For example:

      中国长城

      (Zhōngguó de Chángchéng)

      the Great Wall of China

      晚上天安门广场

      (wǎnshang de Tiān'ānmén guǎngchǎng)

      Tian’anmen square in the evening

      十点半飞机

      (shídiǎnbàn de fēijī)

      the flight at ten thirty

      In the first sentence above, “the Great Wall” and “China” are two nouns linked by  (de), but they are not strictly in a possession relationship.

    • Modifying  (de)

       (de) can also modify words not only through possession, but also through assigning qualities, as we saw at the beginning of the post. The pattern is:

      modifier +  (de) + item modified

      For example, in the phrase 漂亮的衣服 (piàoliang de yīfu, beautiful clothes),  (de) assigns the quality of 漂亮 (piàoliang, beautiful) to 衣服 (yīfu, clothes) by appearing between the two words. Easy, right? However, what’s tricky is when to use it and when not to use it. In general,  (de) is optional, but there are cases in which you must use it or you must not use it. Let’s explore!

    When must 的 (de) be present in Mandarin Chinese?

    There are some cases where  (de) should be present. For example:

    小王妈妈狗很大。

    (Xiǎo Wáng māma de gǒu hěn dà.)

    Xiao Wang's mother's dog is very big.

    我很喜欢这个可爱孩子。

    (Wǒ hěn xǐhuan zhè ge kě'ài de háizi.)

    I love this cute kid.

    In this case,  (de) can be possessive or modifying, as shown above.

    • In possessive cases, when the possessor is more than one Chinese character (such as 小王妈妈 (Xiǎo Wáng māma, Xiao Wang’s mother’s)) and the item being possessed does not refer to a relative or friend (such as (gǒu, dog)), then  (de) should be used, as shown in the first sentence. Notice that the phrase 小王妈妈 could have  (de) too, but because the modified item (妈妈 (mother)) is a relative,  (de) can be omitted (see below).

    • In modifying cases, both modifier and the item being modified tend to be more than one character, as shown in the second sentence above.

    List of situations where  (de) should be present:

    Situation
    Example

    In expressing possessive relation when the item being modified is a pet

    小王的鹦鹉

    (Xiǎo Wáng de yīngwǔ.)

    Xiao Wang’s little king parrot.

    The modifier (adjective) is more than one character

    勇敢的年轻人

    (yǒnggǎn de niánqīngrén)

    brave young man

    The item being modified by  (de) is omitted

    他要是那本书。

    (Tā yào de shì nà běn shū.)

    He wanted that book.

    (Note: the omitted item is 他要的 (shū, “book”).)

    When should 的 (de) be omitted in Mandarin Chinese?

    While there are cases where  (de) should be present, there are also cases where  (de) should not be present. This type of  (de) tends to occur with the modifying  (de), not the possessive  (de). For example:

    他是一个性子。

    (Tā shì yī gè zhíxìngzi.)

    He speaks his mind.

    In the example, (zhí, straight, direct) is an adjective, modifying 性子 (xìngzi, temper).  (de) is missing between  (zhí) and 性子 (xìngzi), and we don’t say X 直的性子.

    You may be wondering, why? When the modifier is an adjective (e.g., “red”) and with only one Chinese character,  (de) must not be present. For example,

    绿

    (lǜdēng)

    green light

    (hóngdēng)

    red light

    One of the possible reasons is that phrases like 直性子, 红灯, 绿灯 are some sort of idiomatic usage, therefore they don’t allow anything to come in between. More such examples are: 美食 (měishí, good food) and 高山 (gāoshān, high mountain).

    Another case where  (de) must not be present is when the modifier is a place or language name. For example,

    中国

    (Zhōngguó rén)

    Chinese person

    中文老师

    (Zhōngwén lǎoshī)

    Chinese teacher

    Tip

    When the modifier is the name of a place, the item being modified tends to have only one Chinese character. For example, in 中国, “” is the one being modified, and it is only one character.

    More examples are:

    德国

    (Déguó huò)

    German product

    美国

    (Měiguó jù)

    American drama

    Otherwise,  (de) may be used or it is optional. For example,  (de) can be used in 中国(的)传统文化 (Zhōngguó (de) chuántǒng wénhuà, Chinese traditional culture). Here,  (de) can be used with a four-character phrase: 传统文化.

    More examples are:

    美国(的)学生

    (Měiguó (de) xuésheng)

    American student

    德州(的)牛仔文化

    (Dézhōu (de) niúzǎi wénhuà)

    Texas cowboy culture

    苏州(的)园林造景

    (Sūzhōu (de) yuánlín zàojǐng)

    Suzhou garden landscaping

    In these examples, the item being modified is more than one character, therefore  (de) is optional.

    List of the situations where  (de) should be omitted:

    Situation
    • (The modifier is one of the following)
    Example

    A one-Chinese-character adjective

    (dà mǎ)

    big horse

    报纸

    (jiù bàozhǐ)

    old newspaper

    A noun denoting the quality of a person or a thing

    戒指

    (jīn jièzhǐ)

    gold ring

    塑料

    (sùliào bēi)

    plastic cup

    A single-character pronoun, used before nouns that refer to names of collectives

    (wǒ guó)

    my country

    (tā jiā)

    his family

    A verb indicating the quality of a person or thing

    劳动人们

    (láodòng rénmen)

    working people

    庆祝

    (qìngzhù huì)

    celebrating ceremony

    When is 的 (de) optional in Mandarin Chinese?

    When  (de) is not used in the above mentioned contexts (i.e. “present” or “not present”), it is probably optional. In Mandarin,  (de) is optional much of the time. For example,

    (的)妈妈很喜欢我。

    (Wǒ (de) māma hěn xǐhuan wǒ.)

    My mother likes me very much.

    这里(的)空气真好啊!

    (Zhèlǐ (de) kōngqì zhēn hǎo a!)

    The air here is so good!

    The optional  (de) tends to occur in cases where the item being modified refers to relatives or friends. For example, (的)妈妈 in the above example is an instance of being used with a relative, so  (de) is optional. However, we saw above that it is obligatory with pets, for example: 我的猫 (wǒ de māo, my cat), where  (de) should be present rather than optional.

    List of the situations where  (de) may be optional:

    Situation
    Example

    The item being modified refers to relatives or friends

    (的)爸爸

    (tā (de) bàba)

    his father

    (的)朋友

    (wǒ (de) péngyou)

    my friend

    Two-character pronouns, used before nouns that refer to names of collectives

    你们(的)老师

    (nǐmen (de) lǎoshī)

    your teacher

    我们(的)学校

    (wǒmen (de) xuéxiào)

    our school

    Two-character adjectives as the modifier

    红色(的)灯笼

    (hóngsè (de) dēnglong)

    red lantern

    快乐(的)孩子

    (kuàilè (de) háizi)

    happy kids

    Numeral + noun + measure words to indicate a great quantity

    一屋子(的)

    (yī wūzi (de) shū)

    a house full of books

    一床(的)衣服

    (yī chuáng (de) yīfú)

    a bed full of clothes

    Important

    In the case of modifying  (de), the tendency is:

    • When the modifier has only one character,  (de) tends to be omitted. For example, 红灯笼 (hóng dēnglong, “red lantern”).

    • When the modifier has two or more characters,  (de) tends to be optional. For example, 红色(的)灯笼 (hóngsè de dēnglong, red lantern)).

    To sum up

    The structural particle  (de) falls into two categories: possessive  (de) and modifying  (de). While there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to the use of  (de), there are some general tendencies we can follow. The general pattern of  (de) is:

    attributive +  (de) + item attributed

    Possessive  (de) follows this pattern:

    Possessor +  (de) + possession

    Modifying  (de) follows this pattern:

    modifier +  (de) + item modified

     (de) has three usages: must be present, must not be present, and is optional. The last one is most frequently used. How to use  (de) is mostly determined by how many characters the modifier and the item being modified have; here are the basic principles you can follow:

    • If the modifier has one character, then  (de) is usually dropped.

    • Otherwise, you would normally keep the  (de)or make  (de)optional, when the modifier has two or more characters.

    Right, now it is time for you to dive into the exercises we have prepared for you. These exercises to practice using  (de) in Mandarin Chinese will be useful for you to digest what you have read above.

    Downloadable Resources

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    When to use the structural particle 的 (de) in Mandarin Chinese~Activities

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