Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar

31

describing how actions are

performed

31.1 describing the general or past performance of an action

with a manner adverbial phrase

To describe how an action is generally performed or how it was performed in the past, use the

following structure:

action verb 得 de adjectival verb

Phrases that describe the performance of an action are often referred to as manner complements

or manner adverbial phrases. The word adverbial means they describe the verb.

他说得快。

他說得快。

Tā shuō de kuài.

He speaks fast.

她开得慢。

她開得慢。

Tā kāi de màn.

She drives slowly.

你们都考得好。

你們都考得好。

Nǐmen dōu kǎo de hǎo.

You all did well on the exam.

(^) Note the suffixes 了 le, 过/過 guo, and 着/著 zhe do not occur after the action verb or the adjectival verb in
manner adverbial phrases.

C37, 39

31.1.1 describing the performance of an action when the verb takes an object

If the action verb takes an object, the verb is said twice, the first time followed by the object,

and the second time followed by 得 de adjectival verb:

[action verb + object] [action verb 得 de adjectival verb]

他说话说得快。

他說話說得快。

Tā shuō huà shuō de kuài.

He speaks fast.