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

The Mandarin Chinese structural particle 的 (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, 漂亮的灯笼 (piàoliang de dēnglong, beautiful lantern), 漂亮 (piàoliang, beautiful) is an adjectiveNo definition set for adjectiveLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. 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, 的 (de) is a structural particle that links the attributive (“beautiful”) to the item being attributed (“lantern”).

Why do we bother with little words like 的 (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 的 (de) do matter.

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

的 (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 的 (de): possessive 的 (de) and modifying 的 (de). 的 (de) follows this general pattern:

• Possessive 的 (de)

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

  possessor + 的 (de) + possession

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

  玛丽的先生

  (Mǎlì de xiānsheng)

  Mary’s husband

  他的车

  (tā de chē)

  his car

  In the first example above, 的 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 + 的” is used to serve the same function as a possessive pronoun in English. In the example above 他 (tā, he) + 的 means “his.”

  In Mandarin, 的 (de) is also used to connect two nounsNo definition set for nounsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. but not in the strict sense of possession. For example:

  中国的长城

  (Zhōngguó de Chángchéng)

  the Great Wall of China

  晚上的天安门广场

  (wǎnshang de Tiān'ānmén guǎngchǎng)

  Tian’anmen square in the evening

  十点半的飞机

  (shídiǎnbàn de fēijī)

  the flight at ten thirty

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

• Modifying 的 (de)

  的 (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 + 的 (de) + item modified

  For example, in the phrase 漂亮的衣服 (piàoliang de yīfu, beautiful clothes), 的 (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, 的 (de) is optional, but there are cases in which you must use it or you must not use it. Let’s explore!

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

In this case, 的 (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 狗 (gǒu, dog)), then 的 (de) should be used, as shown in the first sentence. Notice that the phrase 小王妈妈 could have 的 (de) too, but because the modified item (妈妈 (mother)) is a relative, 的 (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 的 (de) should be present:

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

In the example, 直 (zhí, straight, direct) is an adjective, modifying 性子 (xìngzi, temper). 的 (de) is missing between 直 (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, 的 (de) must not be present. For example,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Possessive 的 (de) follows this pattern:

Modifying 的 (de) follows this pattern:

的 (de) has three usages: must be present, must not be present, and is optional. The last one is most frequently used. How to use 的 (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 的 (de) is usually dropped.

• Otherwise, you would normally keep the 的 (de)or make 的 (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 的 (de) in Mandarin Chinese will be useful for you to digest what you have read above.