The State Complement
The state complement (状态补语) answers the question “how?” and describes an achieved state of an action.
You can use the state complement to say phrases like: "to run (how?) fast", "to jump (how?) high".
Forming the state complement
Pay attention
A complement is a secondary part of a sentence. It is placed after a predicate expressed by a verb or adjective, and expresses the speaker's view of the chance of success.
The state complement is formed by adding an adjective after the predicate with 得 
.
.Scheme
verb
得
adjective
how?
Examples
他画得漂亮
He draws (how?) beautifully
tā huà de piàoliang
她跑得很快
She runs (how?) fast
tā pǎo de hěn kuài
Pay attention
There are three structural particles that sound the same: "de". Therefore, the Chinese state the particle 得 by its components 双人得 to avoid confusion.
to avoid confusion.Negative Form
In the negative form, 不 is placed before the adjective.
is placed before the adjective.Scheme
verb
得
不
adjective
Examples
你写得不对
Your spelling is wrong
nǐ xiě de bú duì
她跑得不太快
She doesn't run very fast
tā pǎo de bú tài kuài
Question form
If it is a general question, add the question particle 吗 to at the end of a sentence.
to at the end of a sentence.Scheme
verb
得
adjective
吗?
Examples
她跑得快吗？
Does she run fast?
tā pǎo de kuài ma
If the question is "HOW well an action is done", use 怎么样 .
.Scheme
verb
得
怎么样?
Pay attention
Don't use 吗 in this case.
Examples
她跑得怎么样？
How does she run?
tā pǎo de zěnmeyàng
The state is expressed in phrases and sentences
得 may be followed by verb phrases, comparative constructions or even simple sentences to describe the degree or result of the action.
The predicate can be expressed either by a verb or an adjective.
Examples
他们聊得像真的朋友一样
They talked like real friends
tāmen liáo de xiàng zhēnde péngyou yíyàng
他说得有中国人那么流利
He speaks fluently, like a native Chinese person
tā shuō de yǒu zhòngguórén nàme liúlì
我们冷得打哆嗦
It's so cold (how cold?) that we're shivering
wǒmen lěng de dǎ duōsuō
她高兴得跳了起来
She was so pleased (how pleased?) that she started jumping
tā gāoxìng de tiào le qǐlái
得 may be followed by set phrases. For example:
又哭又笑
跑来跑去
跑来跑去 Examples
第一次看到自己的孩子，他快乐得跑来跑去
The first time he saw his child, he was so happy that he ran around
dìyī cì kàndào zìjǐ de háizi, tā kuàilè de pǎolái pǎoqù
每次他不十二点前回家时，妈妈紧张得走来走去
Every time he doesn't come home before 12 o'clock, his mother nervously runs back and forth
měi cì tā bù shí'èr diǎn qián huí jiā shí, māma jǐnzhāng de zǒulái zǒuqù
If the predicate is expressed by a verb with an object
得 is not placed after nouns and pronouns. Therefore, if the predicate is expressed by a verb with an object, there are two options:
1) to double the verb:
Scheme
verb
object
verb
得
complement
Examples
老师说汉语说得流利
The teacher speaks Chinese fluently
lǎoshī shuō hànyǔ shuō de liúlì
她做饭做得不错
She cooks well
tā zuòfàn zuò de búcuò
Pay attention
Only this variant can be used with the verb-object structure.
Examples
考试考得不好
to fail the exam
kǎoshì kǎo de bù hǎo
2) to add an object before the verb:
Scheme
object
verb
得
complement
Examples
车开得快
to drive fast
chē kāi de kuài
老师汉语说得流利
lǎoshī hànyǔ shuō de liúlì
The teacher speaks Chinese fluently
Pay attention
This structure is used when the object is the subject of the sentence, or when it has been mentioned before.