The Ultimate Chinese Verb Complement Guide

Back when I first started learning Chinese, I sucked at giving people complements.

Little did I know I'd have to master a whole 'nother type of 'complement' to converse with my zhōngguó péngyǒu!

meme about social awkwardness

Let's make sure that none of you have to deal with this awkwardness by getting right into it!

• Verb 得de Complement

• Verb 不bù Complement

• Past Tense: verb complement 了le

• Negative Past: 没有méiyǒu Verb Complement

Verb 得de Complement

Verb 得de 到dào：

Verb de dào is the perfect complement to use when you want to tell someone that you're able to verb.

This complement is often used with the verbs mǎi，zhǎo，and chī！

The trick to understand this complement is that it means that you can perform the verb successfully. Thus, it slightly changes the meaning of certain words, for example：

找zhǎo：Search —> zhǎodào：Find

看kàn：Look —> kàndào：See

听tīng：Listen —> tīngdào：Hear

Now let’s take a look at some example sentences:

Wǒ zài měiguó mǎi de dào zhège língshí. ——> I can buy this snack in America. 我在美国买得到这个零食。

Nǐ zài zhōngguó chī de dào hěnhǎochī de měiguó cài. ——> You can eat really tasty American food in China. 你在中国吃得到很好吃的美国菜.

Nǐ juéde nǐ zài zhèlǐ zhǎo de dào nǐ de shǒujī ma？ ——> Do you think that you can find your phone here? 你觉得你在这里找得到你的手机吗？

Verb 得de 完wán：

You use this complement to express that you’re able to complete performing the action：

zhège dàngāo wǒ jīntiān chī de wán. ——> I can finish this cake today. 这个蛋糕我今天吃得完.

wǒ jīntiān wǎnshàng zuò de wán zhèxiē zuòyè. ——> I can finish this homework tonight. 我今天晚上做得完这些作业.

Verb 得de 懂dǒng：

You use this complement to tell someone that you understand whatever information you gather by performing the action:

zhèpiān wénzhāng wǒ kàn de dǒng. ——> I can read and understand this article → I understand this article. 这篇文章我看得懂.

wǒ tīng de dǒng. ——> I understand what I’m hearing → I understand. 我听得懂.

Verb 不bù Compliment

If you want to say the opposite of what we went over above, then just replace the de with bù！Simple, eh?

Here are some examples of how to use this structure:

verb bù dào verb 不到	nǐ zài měiguó chībùdào zhèngzōng de jiǎozi. ——> You can't eat authentic dumplings in America. 你在美国吃不到正宗的饺子。
	nǐ zài zhèlǐ kànbùdào nàge yīyuàn. ——> You can't see that hospital. 你在这里看不到那个医院。
verb bù wán verb 不完	zhège dàngāo tài dà le！wǒ jīntiān chībùwán zhège dàngāo. ——>This cake is too big. I can't finish this cake today. 这个蛋糕太大了！我今天吃不完这个蛋糕。
	bùhǎo yìsī，lǎoshī，jīntiān de zuòyè wǒ zuòbùwán. ——> I’m sorry teacher, I can’t finish today’s homework. 不好意思老师，今天的作业我做不完.
verb bù dǒng verb 不懂	wǒ kànbùdǒng zhèběnshū. ——> I can't read and understand this book. =I don't understand this book. 我看不懂这本书。
	Wǒ tīng bù dǒng. ——> I don’t understand (what I’m hearing)! 我听不懂。

Past Tense: Verb Complement 了le

Now you might be wondering："Great! Now I know how to use these complements in the present tense, but what about the past?"

All you have to do is remove the de and add a le at the end！

Let's go through some examples that make it super clear:

verb dào le verb 到了	wǒ zài Costco mǎi dào le hěnduō dōngxi. ——> I bought a lot of stuff at Costco. 我在Costco买到了很多东西.
	wǒ zhǎo dào le yīge xīngōngzuò. ——> I found a new job. 我找到了一个新工作.
verb wán le verb 完了	wǒ chī wán le yīge píngguǒ. ——> I finished eating an apple. 我吃完了一个苹果。
	wǒ kàn wán le yīge diànyǐng. ——> I finished watching a movie. 我看完了一个电影.
verb dǒng le verb 懂了	wǒ tīng dǒng le. ——> I understood (what I heard). 我听懂了.
	wǒ kàn dǒng le. ——> I understood (what I read). 我看懂了.

Negative Past: 没有méi(yǒu) Verb  Complement

Fantastic! You've made it super far! Now, how do you negate the same complements, but in the past tense?

Well, I'll have you know that it's SUPER simple! Just add a 没有méiyǒu before the verb, and do away with the 得de or 不bù!

Here are some examples to help you master the past tense:

méi verb dào 没 verb 到	wǒ méizhǎodào wǒ de shǒujī. ——> I haven't been able to find my phone. 我没找到我的手机。
	wǒ qù chāoshì méimǎidào niúnǎi. ——> I haven't been able to buy milk in the grocery. 我去超市没买到牛奶。
méi verb wán 没 verb 完	wǒ zhōngwǔ méi chī wán wǔfàn. ——> I didn't finish eating lunch this noon. 我中午没吃完午饭。
	zuótiān de zuòyè wǒ méi zuò wán. ——> I didn't finish my homework yesterday. 昨天的作业我没做完。
méi verb dǒng 没 verb 懂	wǒ méi kàn dǒng zhè ge diànyǐng. ——> I didn't understand this movie. 我没看懂这个电影。
	wǒ méi tīng dǒng jīntiān de kè. ——> I didn't understand today's lesson. 我没听懂今天的课。

Things to Look Out for!

When you first read through the complements article, you might have been thinking:

Hold on a second! Can't we just use kěyǐ? Or néng?

And you're right! You can use these words to express the same meaning!

For instance, all of these sentences below mean "I can understand".

wǒ kěyǐ tīngdǒng. = wǒ tīng de dǒng. = wǒ kěyǐ tīngde dǒng.  

我可以听懂 = 我听得懂 = 我可以听得懂　

However, when speaking in the negative, you cannot use kěyǐ and néng！

This is because bùkěyǐ Verb and bùnéng Verb imply that you are not allowed to verb!

Here are a couple of example sentences:

nǐ bùkěyǐ chīwán zhège dàngāo. ——>You're not allowed to finish this cake.

你不可以吃完这个蛋糕。