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How to say “must” in Chinese with 得 (děi)

Subj. + 得 (děi) + Verb Phrase

得 (dé) — must, have to

HSK 4Auxiliary verbs

Rule structure

得 (děi) expresses necessity or obligation. It is stronger than 应该 (yīng gāi) (yīnggāi) and is used in spoken Chinese. Negated as 不用 (bùyòng) or 别 (bié).

Examples

我得走了。

Wǒ děi zǒu le.

I have to go.

你得快点。

Nǐ děi kuàidiǎn.

You must hurry up.

我得去买东西。

Wǒ děi qù mǎi Dōngxī.

I have to go buy things.

Practice

Build the sentence

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Characters

Words from this rule

得

de

Structural particle, indicates manner or result of an action

我

wǒ

I, me

走

zǒu

To walk, to leave, to move

了

le

Particle (completed action or change of state)

你

nǐ

You

快

kuài

Fast, quick

点

diǎn

A little, drop; hour, o'clock

去

qù

To go

买

mǎi

To buy

东西

dōngxi

Thing, things, object

上班

shàng bān

To go to work, to start work shift

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “must, have to” in Chinese with 得?

Use the structure: Subj. + 得 (děi) + Verb Phrase. For example: 我得走了。 — “I have to go”.

What is an example sentence with this grammar rule?

我得走了。 — “I have to go”.

Which HSK level includes this grammar rule?

This grammar rule is part of HSK 4.

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More HSK 4 grammar rules

不用 — don't need to

Subj. + 不用 (bú yòng) + Verb Phrase

全 — whole, entire

全 (quán) + Measure Word + Noun

到 — until (time/place/degree)

Verb + 到 (dào) + Time / Place / Degree

连 + verb — not even

连 (lián) + Verb + 都 (dōu) + 不 (bù) / 没 (méi) + Verb

原来 — it turns out, originally

Subj. + 原来 (yuánlái) + Predicate

不管 — no matter

不管 (bùguǎn)⋯⋯，都 (dōu) / 也 (yě)⋯⋯

无论 — no matter what

无论 (wúlùn) / 不论 (bùlùn)⋯⋯，都 (dōu) / 也 (yě)⋯⋯

难道 — rhetorical question “isn’t it…?”

难道 (nándào) + Statement + 吗 (ma)?