Potential Complements: V+得/不+V/Adj
Insert 得 (can) or 不 (cannot) between a verb and its result/direction complement to show whether the result CAN be achieved.
✅ 我听得懂中文。(I can understand Chinese by listening.) ❌➜✅ 我听不懂中文。(I can't understand Chinese by listening.)
Common pairs: 看得见/看不见 (visible/not), 找得到/找不到 (findable/not), 来得及/来不及 (in time/not — 来不及 can stand alone without an object), 做得完/做不完 (finishable/not).
Question form: V得Complement V不Complement — 你听得懂听不懂？ (Can you understand or not?)
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 这个字太小了，我看不清楚。 | Zhè ge zì tài xiǎo le, wǒ kàn bu qīngchu. | This character is too small, I can't see it clearly. | 看 + 不 + 清楚 (negative potential complement) — unable to achieve the result of seeing clearly. |
| 别担心，八点前我们一定来得及。 | Bié dānxīn, bā diǎn qián wǒmen yídìng láidejí. | Don't worry, we'll definitely make it before 8 o'clock. | 来 + 得 + 及 (affirmative potential complement) — a fixed idiom meaning "there's enough time." |
| 这么多作业，你今天晚上做得完做不完？ | Zhème duō zuòyè, nǐ jīntiān wǎnshang zuò de wán zuò bu wán? | With so much homework, can you finish it tonight or not? | The V得CompV不Comp question form combines the affirmative and negative potential complement in one question. |
What you need first
Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.
The same pattern at other levels
- Potential complements — HSK 4
- Potential Complements — HSK 5
Potential Complements is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
Start at your true level